Sukhi Chahal, a well-known Indian-American Sikh activist and fierce critic of Khalistani separatist propaganda, died under mysterious circumstances in California on Thursday night.
The 50-year-old reportedly collapsed after dinner at a friend’s home in San Jose and was declared dead on the spot. While early reports suggest a heart attack, the suddenness of his death—just weeks before a controversial “Khalistan referendum” event he was opposing—has prompted demands for a full, transparent investigation. An autopsy report is awaited.
Chahal was the founder of The Khalsa Today and chairman of the Punjab Foundation, known for building platforms to counter extremism and disinformation targeting the Sikh diaspora. He had long warned that separatist propaganda was endangering Sikh youth abroad and distorting realities in India.
In one of his two interviews to StratNewsGlobal, Chahal posed a direct and pointed question that has since taken on added weight.
Referring to the repeated threats made by New York based lawyer and Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun—including one where Pannun warned Sikhs not to fly Air India as he “might bring it down”—Chahal asked: “Why hasn’t Air India sued him yet? Pannun publicly threatened to bring down an aircraft—this is terrorism. If he said something like that about American Airlines or British Airways, he would be in jail within 24 hours. Why are we quiet?”
He was clear in calling out double standards in both enforcement and outrage. “If such a statement had been made against any Western airline, their entire national security apparatus would’ve moved,” he said, adding, “But when it’s India, there’s complete silence.”
Throughout the interview, Chahal emphasised that India remains a safe and democratic country for Sikhs. “India is the only country where Sikhs have had a Prime Minister, a President, and an Army Chief,” he said. “So how can anyone say Sikhs are unsafe in India? This is a lie being sold to confuse our youth.
“India is a democratic country. No Sikh in India is being denied the right to go to a gurdwara, or to wear a turban. So how are Sikhs not safe in India?” he asked.
Warning that the Khalistan movement does not speak for the Sikh masses, he said: “They don’t talk about jobs, healthcare, education, or development. Just slogans and protests. That’s not leadership. That’s manipulation.”
Originally from Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, Chahal moved to the United States in the 1990s, built a successful tech business, and later turned to advocacy. Through The Khalsa Today, he led coordinated campaigns to counter separatist narratives in the US, Canada, and the UK, working closely with diaspora leaders and lawmakers.
His sudden death has shaken the global Sikh and Indian communities, particularly those who viewed him as a rare voice of clarity in an increasingly polarised debate.
With the controversial “referendum” on Khalistan scheduled for August 17 in Washington, D.C.—a campaign Chahal was actively opposing—his death has triggered serious concern, with supporters are calling for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his passing.
While law enforcement has yet to announce findings, his friends and community members point out that Chahal had been physically attacked and received death threats from Khalistani activists including Pannun and his followers several times.
In a career spanning three decades and counting, Ramananda (Ram to his friends) has been the foreign editor of The Telegraph, Outlook Magazine and the New Indian Express. He helped set up rediff.com’s editorial operations in San Jose and New York, helmed sify.com, and was the founder editor of India.com.
His work has featured in national and international publications like the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Global Times and Ashahi Shimbun. But his one constant over all these years, he says, has been the attempt to understand rising India’s place in the world.
He can rustle up a mean salad, his oil-less pepper chicken is to die for, and all it takes is some beer and rhythm and blues to rock his soul.
Talk to him about foreign and strategic affairs, media, South Asia, China, and of course India.
