On Saturday, March 18, Punjab Police launched a massive crackdown against pro-Khalistan separatist leader Amritpal Singh. Since then, pro-Khalistani elements worldwide have come out to support him, including Khalistani terrorist organisations Babbar Khalsa, Sikhs For Justice and notorious organisations like Dal Khalsa UK. Apart from a well-oiled campaign by pro-Khalistan individuals and organisations, media houses that promote Khalistani ideology are putting their might into the “cause” to save Amritpal Singh. One such channel that OpIndia came across is Satluj Network, based in Glendale, Arizona in USA.
The Government of India has already blocked selected videos of Satluj Network’s Satluj TV, an online channel. However, the channel is still accessible on YouTube and other social media platforms in India. In one of the videos that have been blocked on YouTube but accessible on Facebook, the news anchor, Ginger Jeffries, called Punjab “Indian Occupied Punjab”. It is similar to the notion used by Pakistanis for Kashmir, as they call it “IOJK” (Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir) or “IOK” (Indian Occupied Kashmir). The Indian government has blocked the video on YouTube. Keeping it in mind, we have refrained from sharing it in this report.
WTAF….. “Indian Occupied Punjab”??? @GingerKUSI Punjab has always been part and parcel of India! What right do these white supremacists have, blatantly spreading such false information…. 😤😤😤. Absolutely clueless nonsense!
— 💕DesiDiva💕 (@desi_diva1) March 23, 2023
You will note her twitter page does not exist… pic.twitter.com/JRhKekNRK8
The report further claimed that the anti-drug drive of Amritpal Singh became a headache for the government and drug mafia, resulting in a crackdown against him. Notably, OpIndia recently reported how he was being projected as a good person for his “social activities”, including de-addiction centres. Interestingly, Singh was found to be using his de-addiction centre to recruit vulnerable addict youth for his private militia.
Jeffries claimed the Police made over 1,000 arrests in the case linked to Amritpal Singh, while the actual number stood at just over 110. The report also claimed Amritpal Singh has already been arrested, which has been denied by the Punjab Police on several occasions. Jeffries’ LinkedIn profile says she is a freelancer.
A day earlier, another video with news anchor Bob Williams was published on YouTube by Satluj TV, where he also referred to Punjab as “Indian Occupied Punjab”.
Who is behind Satluj Network?
Satluj Network and Satluj TV were founded by Mangat Group, owned by Tony Mangat, at the beginning of 2022. According to a report by Local Today, it started producing news in September 2022. As per the report, Mangat Group’s Tony Mangat and Satluj Network’s co-founder and director Surinder Singh were planning to launch a news channel by the end of 2022.
The website of Satluj Network was registered in February 2022.
The YouTube channel of the network started in July 2022. However, the first video on the channel was only released in February 2023.
The Facebook page of the channel was started on February 9, 2023.
The one-month-old channel is owned by Mangat Group, which is a service provider in multiple sectors, including filmmaking, real estate, and trucking. According to Bloomberg, the Mangat group was founded in 2004. Its main business is trucking transportation services. Tony Mangat owns Mangat Group and co-founded Satluj Network. There is not much information available about him.
However, the co-founder of the channel, Surinder Singh, has an interesting history. According to his LinkedIn profile, Surinder did his graduation from Punjabi University. He started his career at ANI in March 2006. In January 2007, he shifted to Global Punjab. In January 2011, he joined Day and Night News Channel. In October 2013, he joined Global Punjab TV (USA). Simultaneously, he started his own media house by the name Talking Punjab. In June 2022, he joined Satluj Network as its co-founder.
Surinder’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, social media accounts have been blocked in India.
However, it did not stop him from spreading misinformation about India and Punjab. He is the man behind calling Punjab “India Occupied Punjab”. In a post in Punjabi he wrote, “Indian Occupied Punjab” is a term that has never been discussed. But from the Sikh point of view, it should have been/is the first issue for the intellectuals and Sikh thinkers of Punjab. In the report presented by Sutlej TV, instead of answering on human rights, responsible Indian people working at a high level and with money got irked by only one thing. “Indian Occupied Punjab”.”
In 2022, Surinder’s Talking Punjab released a web series titled “And They Occupied Me”. Though it is not available in India, its description reads, “The Sikhs in Punjab started a peaceful movement for their rights and independence. In June 1984, the Indian military launched a massive attack to curb the Sikh movement in which thousands of Sikhs were killed. The army fails miserably to capture Sant Jarnail Singh and obtains permission to use the tanks’ main guns. Whereabouts of Sikh fighters are smashed with tanks.” The trailer shows the Government of India in a bad light and paints the Khalistani terrorists as if they were the victims.
His LinkedIn profile noted that he produced a 67 hours audio documentary on the “June 1984 attack on Sikhs”. It further reads, “Now working as a freelance news analyst and covering Punjab independence struggle. Hosting and presenting “Talking Punjab” show on social media”.
