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17-01-2024
LONDON: Pro-Khalistan Sikhs living in Britain have been warned by the UK’s counter terrorism police that their lives are in danger amid the rise of Khalistan activism and state-sponsored intimidation by Narendra Modi’s regime, according to media reports.
The Times has reported that pro-Khalistan Sikhs in the UK have been handed “Osman notices”, in which West Midlands Police warned of a “threat to life” against them. British Sikh activists fear they could be linked to assassinations planned in the United States and Canada by agents of the Indian regime.
The UK police issued Osman notices after calls for further investigation into the sudden death of Khalistani activist Avtar Singh Khanda, 35, who campaigned for a separate Sikh state and died suddenly and mysteriously in Birmingham in June. Sikhs For Justice Canada chapter leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed a few days later by the Indian state agents on Canadian soil. Khanda’s family and Sikh groups have said they suspect he was killed in a possible poison attack by the Indian regime.
Osman threats letters are issued by the UK police to warn of a death threat or risk of murder to the prospective victim. An Osman Warning (called “a threat to life warning”) is issued when police have enough information to be aware of the risk of danger but not enough evidence to arrest the potential killer. The issuing of Osman notices to Sikhs, which are ordinarily associated with warring organised crime gangs and allow police to warn a potential victim, underline the extent of such tensions.
Sikh leaders in Britain have warned for a long time that the Indian government is clamping down on dissent in the diaspora and is trying to silence separatists who want an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan.
One Sikh given an Osman warning told the paper that he originally believed the threat came from religious fundamentalists in the West Midlands community, who targeted him because he was not afraid to speak out about their rhetoric. However, since Indian agents were accused of a murder in Toronto and of plotting assassination in New York of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) founder and leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, he believes it’s the Indian state.
In November 2023, the US State Department accused an agent of the Indian government of directing the attempted assassination of American citizen Pannun on US soil. The indictment made public also provided new evidence that the Indian agents killed Nijjar and were desperate to kill Pannun.
The man, whose brother and father were also handed an Osman notice in West Midlands, said: “An Indian government connection would make sense because I and my dad are vocal in the community and we are independent. I’ve posted stuff on Twitter and Instagram against the regime. There’s a lot of serious stuff going on in the Sikh community and I don’t think it’s impossible.” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
