The Government of India on July 10 banned the pro-Khalistan radical group, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) for five years and declared it as an “unlawful association” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, reports The Times of India. A senior Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) official said all the major Sikh bodies consulted ahead of the five-year ban had supported the action and that the Centre had largely relied on the “material” sent by Punjab Government to impose the ban.
The US-based secessionist outfit with the primary objective of establishing an independent and sovereign country has its top leadership based in US, UK and Canada, with just 8-10 active members and negligible support base in India. It has been aiding and funding small groups of radicalised Sikhs to revive militancy in Punjab, as evident from investigations by National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Punjab Police in 11 related cases. UMHA sources said SFJ has active links with Pak-based terrorist outfits and had supported the Pulwama terror attack.
The UMHA, in its notification, stated that SFJ was involved in anti-national and subversive activities in Punjab; was in close touch with militant outfits and activists supporting violent form of extremism in Punjab and elsewhere to carve out a sovereign Khalistan; was encouraging and aiding the activities for secession; and supporting separatist groups in India and elsewhere. SFJ enjoys strong online presence through social media accounts run in its own name or by its leaders — main promoter Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a New York-based attorney, apart from Hardip Singh Nijjer and Paramjit Singh Pamma who are principal proponents of “Referendum 2020” in Canada and UK respectively.