On 29th November (local time), the United State Justice Department indicted an Indian national identified as Nikhil Gupta for his alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate US-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. The US agencies claimed to have foiled the ‘assassination attempt’.
The indictment claimed that an Indian government employee, who was not named in the documents, recruited Gupta to hire a local hitman to kill Pannun. Gupta is facing murder-for-hire charges with a maximum sentence of 10 years. The Justice Department claimed that the Indian government employee, who has been marked as CC-1 in the documents, directed the assassination plot from India. Gupta is allegedly involved in international narcotics and weapons trafficking.
15 page US court details how the plan was to kill Khalistani extremist Pannu, names one Nikhil Gupta aka Nick who was recruited to "orchestrate assassination of victim"; Mentions how $15000 were arranged, pictures released in the court document. pic.twitter.com/nJPp0L4ueJ
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) November 29, 2023
Furthermore, it was claimed that the hitman Gupta attempted to hire was an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent. The indictment followed recent US disclosures on links between organized crime, gun runners, and terrorists, prompting India to form a high-level inquiry committee to address security concerns. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) highlighted the seriousness of the matter and initiated an inquiry into relevant aspects of the case.
The US is sheltering and actively protecting terrorists
With the indictment details now made public, one aspect is clear, the United States is not only sheltering wanted terrorists but also actively protecting them allowing them to run their anti-India activities from US soil. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a designated Khalistani terrorist declared under UAPA by the Indian Home Ministry. His organization, Sikhs For Justice, was also banned by the Indian government in 2019. Pannun is known for issuing threats and announcing bounties for anti-India activities. Recently, he made a threat to blow up Air India planes, leading to concerns across the aviation industry as the Khalistanis had indeed carried out one of the worst attacks in aviation history, the Air India Kanishka bombing in 1985.
However, the United States, the country that claims to be against terrorism, is openly harboring Khalistani terrorists and moving a step ahead, protecting them by engaging a significant amount of personnel and resources. Gupta, in this case, is innocent until proven guilty. However, issuing a warning to India for an imaginary plan to assassinate a Khalistani terrorist has shown how deep-rooted anti-India activities are allowed to happen in the US.
Pannun established Sikhs For Justice in 2007. Since then, he has been actively involved in anti-India activities. Being a counsel in the US, it is easier for him to find loopholes to stay protected from law enforcement agencies. India has repeatedly requested the US authorities to take action against him, but there has been no positive response.
The arrest and extradition of Nikhil from the Czech Republic on the US’s request was quick. However, India received no positive response when it raised such requests to the US. The US did not even try to stop Pannun from issuing threats to India for years.
Pannun kept threatening India without fearing the consequences
On the other hand, Pannun kept pacing up his anti-India activities, and for over five years, he has been running a campaign named in the name of Referendum Voting, demanding a separate Sikh nation called Khalistan. Pannun has organized so-called voting in the US, Canada, and Australia, where hundreds of pro-Khalistan Sikhs have come forward to vote. Anti-India slogans were raised during such voting events, and no concrete action was taken whenever India raised objections in front of the respective governments. For those who are unaware, pro-Khalistani elements are spread across the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.
On multiple occasions, Indian consulates have been attacked. However, the USA’s actions show that they are more intent on protecting Pannun and his activities than on preventing terrorist activities on their soil against nations they call allies.
The situation got worse in 2023 when a pro-Khalistani separatist leader, Amritpal Singh, was on the run, and central agencies worked with Punjab Police to arrest him. Indian Consulates and Embassies faced threats from the pro-Khalistani elements. Indian flags were desecrated, and diplomats were hackled by pro-Khalistani elements. Even then, no concrete action was taken by the countries’ governments where such incidents took place.
Link between US and Canada allegations
According to the indictment documents, the plot to kill Pannun was foiled in June after the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Pannun and Najjar were associates, and following his murder, Pannun became more active, issuing threats to Indian diplomats and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Posters calling for the assassination of Indian diplomats were raised in Canada and the UK, boldly displayed from buildings. Furthermore, posters appeared in Surrey, Canada, demanding the arrest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pannun remained at the center of such threats, but the US government decided not to act against him.
CC1 Alleged recruited Mr Gupta to kill Pannu:
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) November 29, 2023
-both spoke English, Hindi & Spanish phrases
-Hitman to be given $100,000, of which $15000 advance payment
-Nijjar connect mentioned pic.twitter.com/ygXNWUMgVf
Interestingly, Canada has accused Indian agents of being involved in the murder of Nijjar based on alleged “credible allegations”. Since the allegations were made in the Canadian Parliament by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, India has been asking for concrete proof of Indian agents’ involvement. Still, Canada failed to provide any such evidence. On the contrary, available media reports show that Nijjar was killed in a gang violence-type incident, rather than a sophisticated assassination plot carried out by intelligence agents.
Now, the US has accused India of plotting to kill Khalistani terrorists on US soil, which is again a questionable theory. Several aspects of the case raised eyebrows. For example, it is unclear why the Gujarat Police was mentioned in the indictment documents. If Gujarat Police wanted Gupta and called him repeatedly, why? What was the case against Gupta?
Furthermore, how convenient was it for Gupta to approach an undercover DEA agent posing as a hitman to kill Pannun? The whole scenario looks like a script from a cheap Hollywood movie, if not less. On a lighter note, why would the Government of India spend USD 100,000 on a person like Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who was deemed a CIA agent a couple of months back by NSA Ajit Doval during a conversation with his US counterpart?
Too many coincidences
First, the Financial Times wrote a report on India’s plot to kill Pannun. Then, TIME magazine gives space to Pannun in a lengthy interview. Just a couple of days later, the Justice Department released details of an arrested Indian in a plot to kill Pannun. From Gupta hiring an undercover agent to kill Pannun to Canada accusing India of killing Nijjar, everything came to fruition months before the Lok Sabha elections scheduled in 2024.
India is heading towards Lok Sabha elections scheduled in the first half of 2024. The upcoming General Elections campaign will start unofficially very soon, and all political parties will begin propagating their agendas at the beginning of 2024.
At such a crucial political point, the individuals and organizations with vested interests who want to see a regime change in India are trying to defame the current government. While attempting to do so, they are knowingly or unknowingly feeding anti-India forces, including pro-Khalistani elements sitting in Western countries. Pannun is one such individual who wants to break India into several pieces, and India has the full right to defend its sovereignty against such elements.
