Islamabad: A Khalistan advocate and former President of the now-defunct Punjabi Sikh Sangat (PSS), Gopal Singh Chawla, has publicly accused the Pakistani authorities and intelligence agencies of harassment asserting that they have placed him in prolonged confinement and levelled “fabricated” allegations against him, a report highlighted on Wednesday.
In recently surfaced audio messages, Chawla claimed that he has been kept under house arrest for the past two-and-a-half years, restricted to a “safe and protected” location under what he describes as a false narrative that he faces an imminent threat to his life from India.
According to a report in ‘Khalsa Vox’, Chawla alleged that the Pakistani authorities have consistently prohibited him from residing with his family, while during the period of confinement, he was granted only four or five brief meetings with his wife and children—mostly at Gurdwara Sri Nankana Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
“Expanding his criticism, Chawla alleged that more than 300 gurdwaras in Pakistan are currently under the influence of land mafias. He accuses these groups of neglecting the religious sites, illegally selling or leasing gurdwara land, and undermining the Sikh community’s rights and heritage,” the report detailed.
“He further states that agency officials warned him of alleged threats from Afghanistan—warnings he dismisses as diversionary. Instead, Chawla asserts that his true safety concerns stem from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and from Ramesh Singh Arora, a key Sikh figure in Pakistani politics,” it added.
Chawla stated that his prolonged confinement at Gurdwara Chowa Sahib (Rohtas) in Punjab has resulted in severe social isolation, financial difficulties, and deteriorating health.
He appealed to the Sikh leaders across the world to highlight his case on international platforms, seeking to safeguard his personal well-being and to expose what he termed “severe mismanagement of Sikh religious sites in Pakistan”.
“In response to the emerging situation, the local Sikh Sangat of Sri Nankana Sahib — led by former granthi Mahindra Pal Singh — released a video urging Pakistani authorities and security agencies to ensure Chawla’s safety and wellbeing,” the report noted.
Earlier on Monday, a report in the UK-based newspaper Asian Lite highlighted that the deteriorating condition of Sikhs in Pakistan reflected the steady erosion of religious freedom, with incidents of disappearance, forced conversion, or targetted killings eroding the fragile promise of equality enshrined in the country’s Constitution.
“From missing persons to coerced conversions, from targetted killings to systemic discrimination, Sikhs in Pakistan endure a reality where justice is elusive and prejudice unchecked. Unless urgent steps are taken to safeguard minority rights, the community’s survival in Pakistan will remain under grave threat, and the country’s commitment to pluralism will continue to erode,” the report noted.
