Sunday, July 13, 2025
ADVT 
India

SFJ referendum campaign barely visible in the West

Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Dec, 2021 11:46 AM
  • SFJ referendum campaign barely visible in the West

New Delhi, Dec 16 (IANS) For most of the world, the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) referendum campaign is barely visible – a mere curiosity in the backwaters of the internet, wrote Terry Milewski in an article for Gateway House.

It is simply not news – although it might be if it were banned in the West, not just in India. For Canada, Britain and the US, freedom of speech is the rule and there's been no effort to silence SFJ. Although this irritates Indian authorities, Western politicians do not pay any price for tolerating speech which voters hardly notice, Milewski said.

Rather, what is missing in the West is not Indian-style censorship, but loud and public disapproval by political and community leaders. They also have freedom of speech – but they rarely use it, even to denounce the veneration of Talwinder Parmar in Canada, where some key electoral districts hang in the balance. Traditional vote-bank politics leads all parties to avoid even mild criticism of Khalistani propaganda, the article said.

US-based separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) head Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has shifted his aim to Amarinder Singh's successor as Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Channi.

The SFJ video thunders a warning, leaning heavily on reminders of the murder of CM Beant Singh, with pictures of the victim and the wreckage of his car to reinforce the message, wrote Terry Milewski in an article for Gateway House.

Pannun has recently produced and starred in two menacing videos aimed at the former and current Chief Ministers of Punjab – Capt Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi – both staunch opponents of the Khalistan movement.

The first video, entitled "I Am Dilawar," was released on the anniversary of a 1995 suicide bombing by Dilawar Singh, who killed Chief Minister Beant Singh, along with sixteen bystanders. Illustrated with grim scenes of the wreckage of Beant Singh's car, the video features closeups of a portrait of Capt Amarinder being shot in the face by an off-screen gunman. Any crackdown on Khalistanis, the video warns, will have consequences – perhaps the same fate that befell Beant Singh: "Capt Amarinder is following the footsteps of slain CM Beant", as per the article.

Such videos are posted and re-posted on a sprawling network of websites and Facebook pages which animate a frenetic game of whack-a-mole, as Indian authorities manage to shut one down, only to see another pop up in its place. This allows a page to run Sikhs for Justice material for years, linking to an SFJ home page and using the SFJ name and logo, only to be disowned as unofficial if trouble arises, Milewski said.

But wherever the content appears, the veneration of terrorist martyrs is a constant. In yet another video, Pannun shakes his finger at the camera and promises to give new iPhones to anyone who flies the Khalistan flag in honour of "Shaheed" Beant Singh, one of the bodyguards who shot Indira Gandhi.

Despite such provocative content, Sikhs for Justice has exploited Facebook's willingness to keep its internet presence alive in the face of the Indian government's attempts to suppress it, the article said.

MORE India ARTICLES

Accept proposal for waiver of farmers' debt: Channi writes to Modi

Accept proposal for waiver of farmers' debt: Channi writes to Modi
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday exhorted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept his proposal for complete waiver of farmers and farm labourers' debt, adding the state is ready to take over its share of debt burden along with the government of India.

Accept proposal for waiver of farmers' debt: Channi writes to Modi

No data on farmers who died, so no compensation: Govt

No data on farmers who died, so no compensation: Govt
Among other questions, the MPs had sought to know the number of cases registered against farmers in connection with the agitation; the data on the number of farmers who died during the agitation held in and around the National Capital; and whether the government proposes to provide financial assistance to the kin of farmers who died during the said agitation.

No data on farmers who died, so no compensation: Govt

MSP panel: Govt seeks five names from farmers, SKM seeks more clarity

MSP panel: Govt seeks five names from farmers, SKM seeks more clarity
A day after the three contentious farm laws were repealed by the Parliament, the government on Tuesday reached out to the agitating farmers, asking them to suggest five names to be included in a committee to be formed to discuss farm related issues, including MSP.

MSP panel: Govt seeks five names from farmers, SKM seeks more clarity

Offensive photo shoot at Kartarpur annoys Sikh community

Offensive photo shoot at Kartarpur annoys Sikh community
Pakistan Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and members of the Sikh community expressed annoyance over the fashion photoshoot at the Kartarpur shrine, Pakistan Observer reported.

Offensive photo shoot at Kartarpur annoys Sikh community

Chandigarh man who fed thousands of hungry people for decades passes away

Chandigarh man who fed thousands of hungry people for decades passes away
Popularly known as 'langar baba', Jagdish Lal Ahuja, who was battling cancer, had been serving free food in the langar -- the practice of a free community kitchen and open to all -- across Chandigarh since 1981.

Chandigarh man who fed thousands of hungry people for decades passes away

Farm Laws Repeal Bill passed in Rajya Sabha too

Farm Laws Repeal Bill passed in Rajya Sabha too
The Bill was passed by a voice just as it was passed by the Lok Sabha two hours earlier. When the Rajya Sabha assembled at 2 p.m., the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar moved the motion in the Rajya Sabha.

Farm Laws Repeal Bill passed in Rajya Sabha too