NEWYORK: A prominent leader of the Khalistan movement and ‘Sikhs for Justice,’ Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said that the day Punjab gains freedom from Indian domination, Kashmir will also be liberated.
He said that the map of India will change in the next twenty years and that the country will be fragmented into nine parts.
He was addressing a press conference in New York. Speaking at the press conference in New York, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun alleged that India is known globally for promoting terrorism and is also involved in backing elements hostile to peace in Pakistan.
Responding to questions from journalists, Pannun said that their message is clear: there can be no peace without freedom, and their struggle is a purely political movement, not a religious one.
He said that though Sikhs have not forgotten how to use firearms, they have now adopted the power of the ballot and the vote as their weapon. He announced that the next phase of the Khalistan referendum is scheduled to take place in Edmonton, Canada, on October 18.
In response to a question, the Sikh leader said that India wants the Sikh nation to lack a distinct identity, desiring instead for the world to view them merely as a subset of Hinduism.
He alleged that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah is involved in propagating extremist Hindu ideologies and patronizing the drug mafia. He added that 9,000 Sikh youths have been killed over the past twelve years.
Earlier, Pannun informed journalists that a comprehensive legal memorandum had been sent to the President of the UN General Assembly, member states, and the Secretary-General.
The petition calls upon the international community to intervene by recognizing Indian Punjab as an occupied territory and supporting the Sikh community’s right to self-determination.
