Khalistanis Abroad Hurting Sikh Credibility

NEW DELHI: Sikhs for Justice, the outfit led by New York-based lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, is nothing but a bunch of criminals and goons, believes Sukhi Chahal. A San Jose, California based IT Entrepreneur, Speaker, Activist & Philanthropist and Founder, CEO & Editor-In-Chief of The Khalsa Today, Chahal asserts that while Khalistan is no longer an issue in Punjab, it is being fanned in the west by people like Pannun who are using it to try and take over some prominent gurdwaras. Tracing Pannun’s growth and how fringe elements rejected by the Sikh community fell under his spell, he says 99 per cent of the Sikh community are angry and upset because this is ruining their credibility. “The reason I am calling them criminals and going after them is because this organisation (Sikhs for Justice) abused Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in front of the Indian Consulate in San Francisco,” he said. “They also shouted “Sukhi sala Chor hai” (Sukhi is a thief)”. Being a Sikh, “I cannot tolerate such nonsense directed against the Indian government, because I am not am not a ‘namak haram,’ (traitor),” he says. Asked about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s public assertion that Indian agencies were behind the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh involved with the Khalistan movement, Chahal says that while anyone found guilty should be punished, the accusation without offering any proof would certainly hurt Trudeau in the elections next year. Watch the full interview to understand more about the Khalistani movement among the Sikh diaspora, why young Sikhs migrating to Canada and the US are taking to organized crime instead of trying to earn a honest living like their forefathers did, and why Chahal believes Air India should sue Pannun in a US court.