Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
Related Articles
In a dossier, India mentioned 30 instances of Sikh pilgrims being subjected to anti-India propaganda
In a dossier to Pakistan, India has mentioned nearly 30 instances in the past four years when Sikh pilgrims visiting the neighbouring country were subjected to “anti-India propaganda” such as espousing the Khalistani cause. The 23-page dossier was handed over to the Pakistani delegation during the Kartarpur corridor talks held at Wagah last week. Gopal Singh Chawla, a key “Khalistani element”, instigated the Sikh community to support Kashmiris for the formation of “Azad Kashmir”, says the dossier accessed by The Hindu . In April, Chawla, president of the Punjabi Sikh Sangat (PSS), “raised the demand of liberation of Punjab and Kashmir from India” during a function at Panja Sahib in Pakistan’s Attock where Indian pilgrims were present, the dossier says.
The dossier contains a photograph of Chawla with Hafiz Saeed, founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Under a 1974 bilateral protocol, four Sikh jathas visit important gurdwaras in Pakistan every year. The Kartarpur corridor will link two revered Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan and is expected to be operational before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November.India said that Chawla was a well-known “Khalistani element who often spews venom against India in his speeches and supports militancy in Punjab”. The paper also contained a “pictorial catalogue of his anti-India activities on social media”. Jagroop Singh Rupa, who went with a jatha to Pakistan in 2016, was imparted arms training by two fugitive Sikh militants Lakhbir Singh Rode and Harmeet Singh, alias PhD, to “carry out terror attacks in India.” India said the recently banned Sikhs for Justice was given a free hand to promote secessionism during visits of pilgrims.
