Patiala Police arrested 28-year-old Jagmeet Singh, his mother 50-year-old Jasvir Kaur and his friend 23-year-old Ravinder Singh for allegedly campaigning for the so-called Referendum 2020 of terrorist organisation Sikhs For Justice. They have been accused of appealing to the Sikhs on social media to vote for the referendum. Jagmeet Singh had made headlines as the face of farmer protests in November 2020 when his videos went viral facing water cannons of Haryana Police.
As per reports, Police said the trio has no previous case registered against them. Jagmeet and his mother originally hail from Durgapur village in Gurdaspur. However, currently, they are living in Banur’s Housefed Society. His friend Ravinder hails from Jasda village in Mandi Gobindgarh in Fatehgarh Sahib. All three have been campaigning for the referendum for some time. The trio has been sent to six-day police remand. The investigation is underway to find out if they had received any foreign funds for the campaigning.
The trio is accused of campaigning for a referendum in Rajpura during langar that was being organised to mark the martyrdom of Mata Gujri and the sons of Guru Gobind Singh. A case has been registered against them under Sections 153 A, 505 (2), 505 (3), 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.
GS Bains, DSP, Rajpura confirmed that Jagmeet was the same person whose video had gone viral during farmer protests last year. He said, “The trio accused were campaigning for a referendum in connivance with banned organisation Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and were also motivating the masses to vote online for the referendum. Jasvir was the key campaigner. The bank accounts of all the accused are being examined to search if they got any foreign funding.”
HS Bhullar, SSP, Patiala said the Police recovered seized 692 forms and pamphlets, plastic plates, spray bottles, pens, and other campaigning material for the so-called Referendum 2020. He said, “Jasvir’s brother-in-law Manjit Singh was area commander of Babbar Khalsa International group, whereas her husband, Kuldip Singh, was working as a superintendent with Chandigarh Transport Undertaking. Ravinder is Jagmeet’s friend.”
On the other hand, the farmer leaders said they would see if he was being punished for participating in farmer protests. SS Pandher, leader of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, said, “We will take serious notice if Jagmeet has been punished for supporting farmers’ agitation.”
Jagmeet Singh’s viral video
On November 25, 2020, when protesters were marching towards Delhi to mark their protest against the now-repealed Agriculture laws, the Haryana Police used water cannons to disperse the protesters.During that time, Jagmeet stood in front of the water cannon and did not move for several minutes. Videos of Jagmeet went viral on social media platforms, and supporters of the farmer agitation hailed him as a ‘hero’.
During farmer protests, evidence showed that the movement was captured by anti-India forces, including Khalistani organisations, Naxal sympathisers and professional protesters. Khalistani terrorist organisations SFJ had announced a cash reward for anyone who hoisted the Khalistani flag on Red Fort on January 26, 2021. Two flags with Sikh Holy symbol were hoisted amidst riots in Delhi. Links to Khalistani sympathisers like Mo Dhaliwal were also revealed during the farmer protests.
