New Delhi: On April 29 the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) launched a voter registration for a Khalistan Referendum targeting the Sikhs living in India. The venue where the announcement was made was the Karachi Press Club. The SFJ and its chief, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun are both proscribed by the Indian government.
Officials say that this shows the open support that the Pakistan establishment offers the SFJ despite the outfit calling for violent attacks in India and also the assassination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
An official said that Pakistan is playing this game out in the open and is not even bothering to conceal the fact that it is backing a terrorist organisation.
The SFJ has openly called for the assassination of Indian leaders. It has praised the likes of Bhindranwale and considers those who carried out the Kanishka bombing, as heroes.
Offering the SFJ space in the Karachi Press Club is a clear sign that the ISI wants to drive the Khalistan narrative from its soil as operations for this group have become harder in Canada and the United Kingdom.
It is a desperate move to rake up the movement in India after multiple attempts have completely failed.
Earlier this week, the Punjab police uncovered a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the ISI and Khalistan outfits. The police recovered RDX, RPGs and grenades which were meant to be used in massive attacks across the state.
With multiple such busts being reported in Punjab and neighbouring states, the SFJ which is the mouthpiece of the Khalistani outfits decided to launch a voter registration for a Khalistan Referendum.
Pannun while launching the voter registration said that 1.8 million had taken part in the same, worldwide. He, however, added that in India it would be carried out in a phased manner.
The registration would be carried out with the Gurdwaras and would begin in Delhi and later move to Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and lastly Punjab.
He said that he would back Pakistan to the fullest in the event of future tensions with India. He also generously praised Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that the SFJ has fudged numbers in the past. They out an exaggerated figure trying to give an impression that there is a lot of traction for the movement. Their numbers are highly doubtful, the official said while adding that the very fact that there is no traction for the movement in Punjab suggests just that.
Officials are confident that attempts being made by the SFJ in India to launch the registration movement will fail. There is hardly any traction in Punjab and other parts of North India and the SFJ will not succeed in its plans, the official added.
Another official said that what is interesting is that Pakistan has allowed this terrorist group to launch a narrative and propaganda war from the Karachi Press Club.
The official, however, said that the agencies would need to be on high alert to prevent such a voter registration from taking place.
There may be no traction, but sometimes a spark is sufficient to set off a fire, the official said.
The agencies say that what they would need to watch out for is the narrative and fake propaganda war that the SFJ is set to undertake. They would attempt to flood social media and other chat groups with a false narrative.
The focus would largely be on fake videos which would attempt to show the plight of the Sikhs in India.
The SFJ has also been playing with the idea of generating content using Artificial Intelligence to show Punjab in a bad state as it is part of India.
The Intelligence agencies are closely monitoring activities by the SFJ and will do everything to prevent such fake campaigns from going viral.
(IANS)
