NEW DELHI: Banned outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) on Monday threatened to target “MahaKumbh 2025,” scheduled to be held in Prayagraj, UP next year. SFJ chief and designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said this was to challenge “Modi’s Hindutva ideology.”
He also commended Bangladesh’s PM for arresting an ISKCON priest. Pannun said in a statement: “The SFJ urges Canada to follow Bangladesh’s model and rein in Indo-Canadian Hindutva organisations and Hindu temples.”
Pannun also offered a bounty of USD 25,000 for “targeting” the Statue of Unity in Gujarat. The National Investigation Agency has charged Pannun with criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, and various offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the United States and Canada, was designated a terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs in July 2020 on charges of sedition and secessionism, as he spearheads SFJ, a group advocating for a separate sovereign Sikh state. India has banned SFJ as an “unlawful association” for engaging in “anti-national and subversive” activities.
