Pro-Khalistan separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is making headlines as he sues the Indian government and several senior intelligence officials, alleging they plotted two assassination attempts against him, the Times Of India reported. This includes the recent killing of a prominent leader of the Khalistan movement, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Pannun, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada is a designated terrorist in India.
Pannun, designated as a terrorist by India, is seeking damages from India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, former R&AW chief Samant Goel, R&AW officer Vikram Yadav, and Nikhil Gupta, accused of attempting to murder Pannun. Gupta is currently being held in a Brooklyn prison awaiting trial. According to the Times of India, Pannun’s lawsuit, filed in a New York federal district court, claims the Indian government was involved in the assassination plots. India has denied any involvement
Nijjar was gunned down outside his gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., in June. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September 2023 that the assassination appears to have been ordered by India. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has charged four Indian nationals residing in Canada with Nijjar’s murder.
One of the defendants in Pannun’s lawsuit is Nikhil Gupta, who is currently held in a Brooklyn prison while awaiting trial for his alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire plot. The other officials—Vikram Yadav, Samant Goel, and Ajit Doval—remain in India and have not been charged. “While this action is only indicting the foot soldiers, this lawsuit is really against the government of India,” Canada based The Globe and Mail quoted Pannun as saying.
“They were successful in killing Mr. Nijjar. The same would have happened to Mr. Pannun if not for the fact that the person Mr. Gupta tried to hire was an undercover U.S. agent,” His lawyer, Matthew Borden, said while speaking to the The Globe and Mail.
This lawsuit arrives just days before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States. Although the Indian High Commission in Ottawa declined to comment and the Indian embassy in Washington did not respond, Pannun clarified that Modi is not named in the suit because of his diplomatic immunity.
Pannun’s group is behind an unofficial global referendum for Khalistan’s independence from India. He intends for the lawsuit to hold the Indian government accountable for its alleged role in the assassination plots, although his lawyers acknowledge that pursuing justice through criminal courts may prove difficult.
Pannun has faced backlash in the past for his inflammatory remarks, including a warning to Sikhs not to fly on Air India, citing safety concerns. This comment was tied to the 1985 Air India bombing, which killed 329 people after taking off from Montreal.
