Sikh pilgrims subjected to blatant Khalistan propaganda, India tells Pakistan

India also said a federal minister of Pakistan even eulogised slain Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani and told the pilgrims that Sikhs and Kashmiris are treated like "slaves" in India.
Sikh pilgrims at the shrine for Guru Nanak Dev in Kartarpur, Pakistan ( Photo | The Coversation.com)
Sikh pilgrims at the shrine for Guru Nanak Dev in Kartarpur, Pakistan ( Photo | The Coversation.com)

NEW DELHI: A 23-page dossier handed over by India to Pakistan during the July 14 Kartarpur corridor lists details of pro-Khalistani groups having a free run in Pakistan and “regularly” subjecting Sikh pilgrims from India to anti-India propaganda. 

Sikhs from India visit Pakistan four times a year under Bilateral Protocol to visit Religious Shrines, 1974.

The dossier, accessed by this newspaper, cites specific instances when anti-India groups and individuals subjected Sikh pilgrims to such propaganda.

Pakistan has misused religious occasions at least eight times in the last three-and-a-half years, as per the dossier.

India has raised an objection to such activities, saying they are “against the spirit of the visit and in complete subversion of the objectives of the bilateral arrangement”.

The document states that pro-Khalistan groups and individuals have been putting up anti-India posters and banners at gurudwaras and other religious places visited by Sikh pilgrims.

Such anti-India elements have also been distributing to Indian pilgrims literature propagating anti-India sentiments. India shared several pictures with Pakistan to substantiate the allegations.  

A picture showing pro-Khalistan Gopal Singh Chawla burning an Indian flag is the cover of the dossier.

Chawla, who was recently removed from the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee after India raised objections about his involvement in the Kartarpur project, is also shown with 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed in one of the pictures.

Others named for involvement in anti-India activities are Tara Singh, Bishan Singh and Maninder Singh. 

The dossier says that on November 14, 2016, during the celebration of Guru Nanak’s birthday, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohd Yousuf eulogised slain Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani and told the pilgrims that Sikhs and Kashmiris are treated like “slaves” by the Indian government.

Arms training to pilgrims

The dossier document alleges that  Jagroop Singh alias Ruoa who visited Pakistan along with a Jatha in November 2016 was imparted arms training by Sikh militant Lakhbir Singh Rode and Harmeet Singh alias PHD to carry out terror attacks in India. 

Support to militancy

In 2018-2019, activities of Khalistan groups increased in Pakistan. Four instances cited: on Baisakhi (April), Martyrdom day of Guru Arjun Dev (June), the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (June), Guru Nanak's (November). 

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