New Delhi, November 30: In what establishes a link between Pakistan and pro-Khalistan groups pressing for a Referendum 2020 — the demand for a separate Sikh state — Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a New York-headquartered pro-Khalistan organisation has called for Kararpur Sahib convention, with an aim to ‘influence’ Sikhs from Punjab in India on their right for ‘self-determination’. SFJ, which describes itself as a ‘Human Rights Advocacy Group’ with an aim to ‘liberate Punjab from India’s occupation through Referendum 2020′, plans to influence Sikhs from India, who would be visiting Kartarpur Sahib in November 2019 for the commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Sikh Guru Nanak Dev.
“SFJ is going to organise Kartarpur convention called Referendum 2020. We will be organising this in Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan on Sikhs’ right to self-determination, with a motive to influence Sikh pilgrims from Punjab and the Sikh community who will come from all over the world, and we will give them the international law on how Sikhs qualify to be a nation and Punjab will be liberated from Indian occupation,” SFJ’s legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh is seen saying in a video message released by the organisation.
Pak-Khalistan link out. @madhavgk gets you the details | #SidhuPakHero pic.twitter.com/nChtirybx5
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) 29 November 2018
The organisation has been promoting Referendum 2020 on their social media platforms saying, “Under Referendum 2020 Various Pro Khalistan Organisations Headed by SFJ Demanding a Plebiscite in Punjab For Separate Nation.”
Meanwhile, Congress leader and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu came under fire for posing with Gopal Singh Chawla, general secretary of Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (PSGPC), believed to be a supporter of the pro-Khalistan movement. Sidhu, however, claimed that he did not know who Chawla was and said, “There were probably 5 to ten thousand pictures taken of and with me there (in Pakistan), I don’t know who Gopal Chawla is.”
