What intel reveals about Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's big plan to divide India

As India and Canada witnessed diplomatic relations deteriorate in the backdrop of accusations about the death of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun added fuel to the fire. Pannun, the chief of the banned Sikhs for Justice group, warned Hindu Canadians to leave the country – a move that top Ottawa officials denounced albeit without mentioning But what do we know about Pannun? What does new intel reveal about him? Let’s take a closer look: What do we know about Pannun? Pannun is the head of the pro-Khalistan group Sikh for Justice. His organisation, the SFJ, is a banned fringe group run by a few radical Sikhs of foreign nationality in the US, Canada, the UK. He is a lawyer based in New York. As per India Today, Pannun was born in Amritsar. His family had migrated from Pakistan during the Partition and settled in Amritsar’s Khankot Village. His father Mahender Singh worked at a Punjab company. Pannun’s brother, Magwant Singh, lives abroad. His mother, Amarjit Kaur Pannun, is around 80 as per The Times of India. Pannu was married to Dhariwal resident Kulwinder Kaur –also known as Nikki. They have a son and a daughter. Pannun received his law degree from Panjab University.

As per The Week, his firm ‘Pannun Law Firm’ has locations in New York and California.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said investigations into Pannun’s SJF revealed that the group was attempting to radicalise youth and urging them to commit acts of terror. As per NIA, Pannun has been using social media to urge gangsters and youth to take up the pro-Khalistan cause. [caption id=“attachment_13110362” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), at the gathering of the Khalistani separatists at the Guru Nanak Singh Gurudwara in Surrey. ANI[/caption] The agency first registered a case against Pannun in 2019. An NIA court issued non-bailable warrants against Pannun on 3 February 2021. Pannun was declared a ‘proclaimed offender’ in November 2022. Pannun was declared as an “individual terrorist” under the fourth schedule of Unlawful Activities Prevention Amendment Act (UAPA) in 2020. Multiple agencies have filed cases against Pannun under the UAPA. What does the dossier say? As per India Today, a new intelligence report has said Pannun is aiming to “disintegrate India on religious lines”.

According to the report, Pannun wants to carve out of India a Muslim state entitled the “Democratic Republic of Urdustan.”

Pannun is said to be working to radicalise the people of Kashmir with the ultimate aim of separating the region from India. NDTV quoted from the report as saying that Pannun “has challenged the unity and integrity of India through audio messages”. Pannun faces 16 cases in Punjab, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand. Of these, nine are under the UAPA. Of these, four are in Delhi, two in Punjab, another Gurugram in Haryana and another in Dharamshala. The NIA filed the ninth case under the UAPA. Pannun also has two dozen more cases in Punjab including three sedition cases, as per NDTV. He is said to have offered a $2.5 million reward to anyone able to raise the Khalistani flag at India Gate. He also offered a million dollars to any police who halted the Indian flag from being raised at the Red Fort on Independence Day in 2021. As per Outlook, Pannun was accused of being behind the pro-Khalistani banners and graffiti that was put on the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly building in Dharamshala The International Criminal Police Organisation or Interpol in October 2022  sent back India’s request seeking a Red Notice against Pannun. The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is the national central bureau of India to liaison with the Interpol, had sent the request of National Investigation Agency seeking Red Notice against Pannun but it was returned with further queries. Government sources told Outlook that contrary to some reports, Interpol did not flag any “misuse” of the UAPA.

Sources added that Interpol makes no such comment.

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The National Investigation Agency Saturday confiscated the property of banned outfit Sikhs for Justice’s chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannu here, said official sources. A ‘property confiscation notice’ was put up outside the residence of pro-Khalistan Pannu in Chandigarh, they said. [caption id=“attachment_13164312” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] House of the chief of banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) Gurpatwant Singh Pannun after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) confiscated his immovable properties, in Chandigarh. File image/PTI[/caption] The action was taken under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. “1/4th share of house no 2033, sector 15-C, Chandigarh, owned by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a proclaimed offender in NIA case stands confiscated to the state under section 33 (5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 by the orders of the NIA special court, SAS Nagar, Mohali, Punjab. This is for information of general public,” read the notice put up outside Pannu’s house. The Centre in a 10 July, 2019, notification had deemed the group unlawful under the provisions of Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The Government of India, banning the SFJ for five years, said its primary objective was to establish an “independent and sovereign country” in Punjab. The Centre added that the SFJ openly espouses the cause of Khalistan and in that process, challenges the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India. This was later upheld by an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act tribunal headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN Patel. With inputs from agencies