India renews 5-year ban on Sikh separatist group based in US

India extends ban on Sikhs for Justice group first imposed in 2019, citing anti-national and separatist activities

NEW DELHI:

India on Tuesday extended the ban on a US-based Sikh separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) for another five years, according to an official notification.

The group was first banned in 2019.

The SFJ outfit “propagates anti-national and separatist sentiments prejudicial to the territorial integrity and security of the country,” New Delhi said in the notification.

It also said the group continues “advocating the secession of Punjab (state) from Union of India and formation of Khalistan.”

The renewed ban will take effect from Wednesday.

Read also: Indian man pleads not guilty to plotting Sikh leader's murder in US

New Delhi’s latest move comes as India last November said it was investigating US concerns over a foiled assassination plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual American-Canadian citizen.

Pannun is the general counsel for Sikhs for Justice -- the US-based group that is part of a movement pushing for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan in northern India.

He has been designated as a "terrorist" by the Indian government.

The report of the foiled plot came two months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said there were “credible allegations” that the Indian government was behind the shooting of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18, 2023, in front of a Sikh temple in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia.