The sudden death in the United Kingdom of Sikh activist Avtar Singh Khanda last June could be linked to the murder, three days later, of another Sikh activist in Canada and the attempted murder of a separatist leader recently reported by the government US. According to family and friends, Khanda, who died in a Birmingham hospital after being diagnosed with leukemia four days earlier, had reported threats by the Indian police to him and his family, The Guardian newspaper has learned.
British authorities have said Khanda's death, four days after he was admitted to Birmingham's Sandwell hospital feeling unwell and in pain, was the subject of a "thorough review" by police and that there was no reason to suspect foul play. crime.
Officially, Khanda, 35, is said to have died of acute myeloid leukemia, the treatment of which was complicated by blood clots, two days after she was diagnosed with the aggressive blood cancer.
But an investigation by The Guardian contradicts official statements that the death was investigated by West Midlands Police. They have also revealed that Khanda was considered by the Indian government to be a close associate of Amritpal Singh, a fugitive former Sikh separatist who is considered a terrorist by Indian authorities.
Khanda's family and friends claim that the British police did not take statements from friends and family after his death, did not speak to his employers or co-workers, did not investigate what happened in the days before his sudden illness or the threats he received.
Khanda himself had reported that he received constant calls from police from India in which he was threatened with death and that his own family in the Indian province of Punjab was being harassed. His mother and his sister were detained for days to pressure Khanda to reveal Singh's whereabouts, something he always said he did not know. These threats, together with recent news that Indian officials have been involved in organizing the murders of Sikh activists in both Canada and the United States, have redoubled the suspicions of their relatives, who are demanding that the United Kingdom review the case.
Regarding the other two cases, India has committed to cooperating with the United States, which has detained an Indian citizen suspected of having sponsored the plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in New York, while diplomatic tensions continue in Canada.
The US Department of Justice announced this week that it was prosecuting an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, for plotting to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in New York at the instigation of a New Delhi agent.
In response to these statements, the Indian Foreign Ministry announced that New Delhi had "created a high-level commission of inquiry on November 18" after being informed by Washington of "connections between criminal organizations, arms traffickers, terrorists and others". "The Indian government will take necessary measures based on the findings of the inquiry commission," said ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi.
This reaction stands in stark contrast to India's furious reaction in September, when Canada incriminated its intelligence services in the June 18 assassination of Indian-Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on its soil.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested the involvement of Indian authorities in this murder and asked "the Indian government to collaborate" to "shed light" on the matter. India then denounced “absurd” accusations and a diplomatic crisis occurred between the two countries.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned in September, after Canada incriminated India, that the United States would be "extremely vigilant whenever there are allegations of transnational repression."
These developments undermine the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recent host of the G20, to restore his image on the international stage.
According to the indictment made public by the US Department of Justice, an agent of the Indian government allegedly recruited Nikhil Gupta, involved in drug and weapons trafficking, to murder "the victim" in exchange for dropping the criminal case against him. .
Gupta, arrested on June 30 in the Czech Republic, was charged with ordering a murder, “in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate an American citizen” of Indian origin in New York.
Although the ministry has not identified the alleged target, the Financial Times identified him as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a founding lawyer of the American organization Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which calls for an independent Sikh state in northern India. Designated a “terrorist” by New Delhi in 2020, he is wanted for “terrorism and sedition.”
The situation, potentially damaging for Narendra Modi on the international stage, is very different in India, where the Sikh independence movement is accused of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984 and the attack on a passenger plane.
These developments could, on the contrary, galvanize supporters of the Hindu nationalist Prime Minister, who will seek a new term next year.
