{"id":7089,"date":"2023-09-23T18:30:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T18:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/india-confiscates-properties-of-top-sikh-separatist-daily-times\/"},"modified":"2023-09-23T18:30:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T18:30:06","slug":"india-confiscates-properties-of-top-sikh-separatist-daily-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/india-confiscates-properties-of-top-sikh-separatist-daily-times\/","title":{"rendered":"India confiscates properties of top Sikh separatist – Daily Times"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

India\u2019s top investigation agency confiscated Saturday the properties of a prominent Sikh separatist and close ally of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whose killing has sparked a diplomatic row between India and Canada.<\/p>\n

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer believed to be based in Canada, was designated as a terrorist by Indian authorities in 2020 and is wanted on charges of terrorism and sedition.<\/p>\n

He is also the founder of the US-based group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), whose Canada chapter was headed by Nijjar before he was gunned down by masked assailants in June near Vancouver.<\/p>\n

The group, which has been banned by India, has been a vocal advocate for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan.<\/p>\n

A diplomatic firestorm erupted this week with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying there were \u201ccredible reasons to believe that agents of the government of India were involved\u201d in Nijjar\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

New Delhi dismissed Trudeau\u2019s allegations as \u201cabsurd\u201d, tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions followed, and India has stopped processing visa applications by Canadians.<\/p>\n

Pannun jumped into the raging row and issued a video telling Canadian Hindus to \u201cgo back to India\u201d, claiming they had adopted a \u201cjingoistic approach\u201d by siding with New Delhi.<\/p>\n

In an interview with an Indian news channel, Pannun said Nijjar had been his \u201cclose associate\u201d for over 20 years and was like a \u201cyounger brother\u201d to him. He also blamed India for Nijjar\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n

Soon after his interview was aired, the Indian government issued an advisory to news networks asking them to refrain from giving a platform to people accused of \u201cheinous crimes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Armed with court orders, officials of India\u2019s National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday confiscated Pannun\u2019s house in Chandigarh, the capital of the Sikh-majority state of Punjab, it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The NIA also confiscated agricultural land belonging to him in Amritsar, it added.<\/p>\n

It accused Pannun of \u201cactively exhorting Punjab-based gangsters and youth\u201d on social media \u201cto fight for the cause of independent state of Khalistan, challenging the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sikhism is a minority religion originating in northern India that traces its roots back to the 15th century and drew influences from both Hinduism and Islam.<\/p>\n

The Khalistan campaign was largely considered a benign fringe movement until the early 1980s, when a charismatic Sikh fundamentalist launched a violent separatist insurgency.<\/p>\n

It culminated with Indian forces storming the Golden Temple, the faith\u2019s holiest shrine in Amritsar, where separatists had barricaded themselves.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s prime minister Indira Gandhi was subsequently assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards.<\/p>\n

The insurgency was eventually brought under control and the Khalistan movement\u2019s most vocal advocates are now among the large Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada, Britain and Australia.<\/p>\n

But memories of the violence \u2014 in which thousands died \u2014 still haunt India, which has outlawed the Khalistan movement and listed several associated groups as \u201cterrorist organisations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

India\u2019s top investigation agency confiscated Saturday the properties of a prominent Sikh separatist and close ally of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whose killing has sparked a diplomatic row between India and Canada. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer believed to be based in Canada, was designated as a terrorist by Indian authorities in 2020 and is wanted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dailytimes.com.pk\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/09\/23\/sikh.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t