Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun
Bornc. 1970s
Khankot village, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
CitizenshipUnited States
Occupations
  • Political activist
  • lawyer
OrganizationSikhs for Justice (SFJ)
Known forPromoting the Khalistan movement

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun (born c. 1970s) is an American Sikh political activist and lawyer. He is the leading figure of the Khalistan movement in the United States and is serving as the general counsel of the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) since 2009.

Pannun has been designated as a terrorist by the Indian government since 2020 and was the subject of an assassination attempt in 2023, which is believed to be linked to India by the United States.

Early life and background

Pannun was born in the c. 1970s in the Khankot village at the outskirts of Amritsar, Punjab, India.[1] He studied at a local school in Ludhiana and then enrolled in the Panjab University, Chandigarh.[2] He moved to the United States in 1992, later acquiring American citizenship.[3] Pannun has also claimed to have Canadian citizenship, although this is unconfirmed.[4]

Activities

Pannun has campaigned for a separate Sikh state called Khalistan, organizing events and rallies around the world, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He has said that the Modi government wants him dead and that Indian politicians have threatened him and other Sikh separatists in parliament.[2][3] The Washington Post has described some of these potential threats as credible.[5]

According to the BBC, Pannun has released hundreds of videos censuring India and offering monetary rewards to people who write anti-India graffiti or hoist Khalistan flags on government buildings, or desecrate the Indian flag. In September 2023, he was recorded calling for the "political death" of Prime Minister Modi and two of his ministers. Pannun has also claimed responsibility for posters which read "kill India" along with the names and pictures of Indian diplomats. He has denied that the posters incite violence against the diplomats.[2][6]

In September 2023, a video surfaced in which Pannun warned Indo-Canadian Hindus to leave Canada, further accusing them of having "repudiated their allegiance to Canada".[7] The video elicited condemnation from several Canadian politicians, including Federal party leaders, Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh. Canada's Public Safety Minister, Dominic LeBlanc, described the video as "offensive and hateful".[8]

In November 2023, Pannun warned of danger to individuals planning to travel by Air India on 19 November (the date of the 2023 Cricket World Cup finals).[9] Shortly after, Canada's Transport Minister, Pablo Rodriguez and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced an investigation into the incident. Spokesperson Kristin Kelly stated that the RCMP was collaborating with domestic and international partners and "industry stakeholders" in an investigation into "the threat against Air India flights."[10] Pannun stated that his message was about boycotting, not bombing Air India.[4]

Assassination attempt

In November 2023, the Financial Times (FT) reported that United States authorities had thwarted a plot to kill Pannun in the United States, and that federal prosecutors had filed a sealed indictment against a suspect in a New York district court.[2][3][11][12] The FT also reported that the US had issued a diplomatic warning to India over concerns that the Government of India was involved in the plot.[12] The report came two months after Canada accused Indian agents of being involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.[3] A White House spokesperson confirmed the US had informed India about the incident sometime after the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US in June 2023. The Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated that the Indian authorities were examining the US inputs.[4] In October 2024, a former Indian intelligence official, Vikash Yadak, was charged by the US with the attempted murder of Pannun.[13][14] In January 2025, India's Ministry of Home Affairs recommended legal action against an individual allegedly involved in the assassination plot.[15]

In 2020, Pannun was designated as a terrorist by the Government of India and his agricultural land was attached under Section 51A of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,[2][16][17] though he rejected the charge.[11][6] In October 2022, Interpol rejected India's second request to issue a Red Corner Notice on terror charges against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, on the grounds of insufficient information.[18] International criminal law and human rights lawyer Richard Rogers, who represents Pannun, has accused India of falsifying evidence through the Interpol red-notice system.[19]

References

  1. ^ Brar 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Pandey 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Lucas 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Mason & Patel 2023.
  5. ^ Miller 2024.
  6. ^ a b TIME 2023.
  7. ^ Yousif 2023.
  8. ^ Public Safety 2023.
  9. ^ Patel 2023a.
  10. ^ Air India 2023.
  11. ^ a b Mollan & Yousif 2024.
  12. ^ a b Sevastopulo 2023.
  13. ^ Ellis-Petersen 2024.
  14. ^ Shamim 2024.
  15. ^ Lahiri 2025.
  16. ^ The Gazette of India 2020.
  17. ^ Mollan 2023.
  18. ^ Doherty 2022.
  19. ^ Mercer 2024.

Sources

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