Khalistan Threat Escalates: How SFJ's Cultural War Targets India Abroad

The connection between November and the Khalistan issue stems from the November 1984 genocide that took place following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31 1984.

Pro-Khalistan elements in Canada, the US and the UK organise events to draw attention to their demands for a separate Punjab nation.

Last November, SFJ chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun issued threats against the Ram Mandir and other Temples. The same month, he had warned people not to fly Air India between November 1 and 19. This year, he has threatened Diljit Dosangh's Aura 2025 concert scheduled for November 1 in Melbourne.

While the Australian police have raised the alert levels, Indian Intelligence officials have also warned that Khalistan elements could try and carry out attacks in India.

Officials say that the primary objective of the SFJ this year is to undermine India's cultural diplomacy abroad. They also want to drive fear into the minds of Sikhs who do not subscribe to the Khalistan view.

Hence, by threatening such events, the SFJ wants the Sikhs to stay away from such events. The agencies say that the SFJ has started several groups on social media and messaging platforms.

There is a massive amount of funding coming in from several groups that are linked to the SFJ. There are encrypted Telegram channels through which propaganda is being spread and hate is instilled. The same channels are also being used to collect funds.

The agencies have also learnt that these channels are operated through the servers in the US and Canada, which help the SFJ mask its activities. The SFJ and other pro-Khalistan groups are using the 1984 genocide as an emotional issue to draw the Sikhs into their fold.

This is, however, not a recent phenomenon, and such groups have been carrying out activities such as this for a long time. However, this year, the agencies say that the SFJ and its affiliated groups are desperate, and things could well spiral out of control.

The SFJ has not used foreign soil for the first time to create a ruckus. It has done so many times through the various referendums it has called for. Such events have taken place in Australia, the US, the UK and Canada in the past.

An official said that although many threats in the past have turned out to be damp squibs, one cannot take a chance. The Melbourne police have raised the alert levels from moderate to high.

Further, one must also take into account that these groups are becoming extremely frustrated that their movement has not kicked off in India. This would mean that there could be a reckless act that could be attempted.

In Australia, there are reports that the SFJ and its affiliated groups could use a lone actor to carry out an attack or disrupt the show. These developments also come in the wake of the ISI seeking to go all throttle on the Khalistan movement.

It recently tasked the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) to be the umbrella organisation for all other Khalistan terror groups.

The ISI felt that this would ensure better coordination, and activities would be better streamlined. While the BKI would oversee the ground activities, the SFJ's role is to issue threats, encourage recruitment, collect funds and run the propaganda for the Khalistan movement.

The ISI, which has sheltered these elements for long, has now decided that it is time to go all out, at least in Punjab for now.

- IANS