On Thursday, amid the ongoing ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign launched by the central government ahead of the 75th Independence Day, the tricolour was hoisted at the house of Sikhs For Justice’s Gurpatwant Singh Pannun at Sector 15 in Chandigarh. Congress supporters led by Congress leader Gursimran Singh Mand from Ludhiana reached the house of Pannun and hoisted the Indian national flag at its main gate.
According to the reports, they carried the tricolours with them and also raised slogans like ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ outside Pannun’s house. This came days after Gurpatwant Pannun, who is the founder of the banned organization SFJ, had opposed the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign and had asked the people to hoist Khalistani flags on Independence Day instead.
#SFJ what about this!!! #HarGharTiranga . Indian tricolor at #chandigarh home of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun pic.twitter.com/2xt6JGkeXO
— Simrat (@simrat_here) August 11, 2022
Pannun also tried to instigate the people of Punjab to burn the Tricolour on August 15. Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann had also called for a boycott of the Centre’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign. “I request you to hoist the Nishan Sahib on August 14-15 at homes and offices. Deep Sidhu, who is not among us, said that Sikhs are independent and a different community”, Mann was quoted.
SFJ has reportedly ‘challenged’ the Indian government that they will replace the tallest Tiranga at the Attari border and replace it with the Khalistani flag. In yet another announcement about the ‘Khalistan Referendum’ by SFJ’s Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, they announced that they will launch a ‘Ghar Ghar Khalistan’ campaign from August 15 till January 26 when the Khalistan Referendum will materialize in Punjab.
Another SFJ video doing rounds on social media also shows SFJ’s Pannun making claims that the Tricolour will be burned and every house in Punjab will fly the Khalistan flag. It is notable here that the SFJ has, in the past, offered cash rewards for anyone who hoists the Khalistani flag at key Indian establishments. In November last year, they offered 125,000 dollars for anyone who unfurls the Khalistani flag at the Indian parliament on the first day of the winter session.
Earlier this month, the pro-Khalistani group Dal Khalsa had opposed the Ghar Ghar Tiranga campaign and had asked Sikhs to hoist the Nishan saheb instead. It is notable here that the 360-foot tall flagpost at the Attari-Wagah border was inaugurated in 2017, hoisting India’s tallest Tricolour.
