South Asia Terrorism Portal

INDIA

Punjab: SFJ: Struggling for Relevance
Indrajit Sharma
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
 

On December 18, 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), filed a chargesheet against 10 accused, including designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of the banned secessionist organization – Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) – before the NIA Special Court at Mohali in the Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar District of Punjab. Originally registered by Punjab Police at Sultanwind Police Station, Amritsar (City) on October 19, 2018, the case was subsequently re-registered by the NIA (RC-19/2020/NIA/DLI) on April 5, 2020. The case relates to a series of acts of violence including acts of arson in Punjab in 2017-18, carrying out propaganda activities, both online and on ground campaigns in support of SFJ and the purported ‘Referendum 2020’. These acts were committed by a gang of radicalised Sikh youth under the direction and financial assistance from SFJ handlers located abroad, as part of an organized conspiracy by the accused for the launch of a concerted secessionist campaign for the creation of ‘Khalistan’.

The 10 accused include Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, r/o New York, US; Pargat Singh, Sukhraj Singh aka Raju, Bikramjit Singh aka Vicky, Manjeet Singh aka Manjit Singh aka Manga, Jatinder Singh aka Goldi, Gurwinder Singh aka Gurpreet Singh aka Gopi, Harpreet Singh aka Happy, Kuldeep Singh aka Kuldip Singh aka Keepaand and Harmeet Singh aka Raju. Other than Pannun, who is a resident of New York, and Harmeet Singh, who is a resident of Delhi, the remaining accused are all residents of Punjab. In a press release dated December 18, 2020, the NIA stated,

Earlier, on December 9, 2020, the NIA had filed a chargesheet against 16 foreign-based 'Khalistanis', members of SFJ, before an NIA special court in New Delhi. The chargesheet related to a case (RC-02/2019/NIA/DLI) registered on January 15, 2019, pertaining to an alleged organised conspiracy by the accused to launch a concerted secessionist campaign under the banner of 'Referendum 2020' for the creation of so called 'Khalistan' by "liberating Punjab from Indian occupation."

The 16 chargesheeted individuals in this case include Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Avtar Singh Pannun (New York, US), Gurpreet Singh Baagi (United Kingdom, UK), Harpreet Singh aka Rana Singh (New York, US), Paramjit Singh aka Pamma (UK), Sarabjit Singh Bannur (UK), Amardeep Singh Purewal (California, US), J. S. Dhaliwal (Canada), Kulwant Singh Mothada (UK) Dupinderjit Singh (UK), Hardeep Singh Nijjar (Canada), Kulwant Singh aka Kanta (UK), Harjaap Singh aka Japhi Singh (California, US), Sarabjit Singh aka Sabi Singh (California, US), Jatinder Singh Grewal (Canada) and S. Himmat Singh (New York, US). The NIA stated,

Significantly, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has been chargesheeted in both this case (RC-02/2019/NIA/DLI) as well as in the April 2020 case (RC-19/2020/NIA/DLI).

It is useful to recall that, since July 2020, SFJ has intensified efforts to propagate its 'Referendum 2020' campaign on social media. However, the Government of India (GoI) has been prompt in blocking the websites foiling SFJ's attempts. For instance,

SFJ’s Facebook page has already been banned in India after the inclusion of the group as an “unlawful association” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by UMHA.

On July 1, 2020, UMHA declared SFJ’s founder and legal adviser – Gurpatwant Singh Pannun – as a terrorist under the UAPA for his involvement in acts of terror and pushing the ‘Khalistan’ movement.

Despite this, on September 7, 2020, SFJ announced that its pro-Khalistan ‘Referendum 2020’ would take place in the month of November 2020. Consequently, an alert was issued by Indian security agencies to State Police Forces and counterpart wings therein, especially in Punjab, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Delhi, to keep a close watch on social media, which were the likely tool SFJ would use to drive its ‘Referendum 2020’ campaign from foreign soil.

Further tightening the grip over social media, on November 2, 2020, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued orders to block 12 websites containing Khalistani content. The websites were linked with and being directly operated by SFJ. The blocked websites included SFJ4Farmers, pbteam, seva413, pb4u, sadapind, among others, with "org" extensions.

Reacting to the strict monitoring and regulation of social media for SFJ’s propaganda activities, the organization has resorted to new ways to push its secessionist agenda.

On September 16, 2020, SFJ announced that it would undertake a door-to-door drive for voter registration in Punjab for its ‘Referendum 2020’. SFJ adopted the tactic as its online ‘Referendum 2020’ voter campaign on Canadian and Russian portals failed to secure traction. The secessionist organization announced that it would ‘cover’ 12,000 villages of Punjab in 30 days, starting from September 21 and, to this end, would recruit 1,000 ‘qualified referendum ambassadors’ who would register voters in their respective assigned geographical areas for ‘Referendum 2020’. SFJ promised to pay a monthly stipend of INR 7,500 each to these ‘referendum ambassadors’ for their services. There was, however, no evidence of implementation on the ground, and the plan failed entirely.

Further, according to NIA, as reported on December 10, 2020, SFJ has been attempting to undermine the security of the Indian State by instigating Sikh personnel in the Indian army to rise in mutiny against India.

Meanwhile, backed by the Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), SFJ is trying to exploit the various political crises the Indian Government currently faces.

On November 29, 2020, amid the escalating protests by farmers against the three farm legislations passed in the Parliament in September 2020 [Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act], SFJ offered support of USD 1 million to the protestors. SFJ’s Chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannu released a video, promising aid to the protestors who were injured or whose tractors were damaged during the protests. There is no evidence of any actual disbursement of funds.

Moreover, in a letter dated December 5, 2020, addressed to the External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Union Minister of State for External Affairs Vellamvelly Muraleedharan, SFJ conveyed its intention to block Indian Missions in USA, Canada, UK and Europe, to ‘stand in solidarity’ with the protesting farmers of Punjab.

On September 9, 2020, the Macdonald Laurier Institute, a think tank based in Ottawa (Canada), released a report Khalistan: A Project of Pakistan, which stated that 'Khalistan' was a project sponsored by Pakistan, and was detrimental to the national security not only of India but of Canada as well. Terry Milewski, one of Canada's prominent journalists, who authored the report, revealed that Pakistan had launched the 'Khalistan' insurgency using Sikhs in Indian Punjab to avenge its own defeat in the Indo-Pak 1971 war. The report also claimed that western democracies with large Sikh communities, such as Canada, the UK and the US were aware of this absurdity and were, consequently, sceptical about the 'Khalistan Referendum.' 

Indeed, while Canada conveyed that it "respects the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India", the UK Government, following Canada's lead, dismissed SFJ's campaign observing,

Nevertheless, despite the recurrent failure of its strategies, SFJ announced, on November 25, 2020, that it would organise a "global referendum" from the UK on August 15, 2021. The group's 'General Counsel' Gurpatwant Singh Pannun circulated this information on some internet platforms.

INDIA

Assam: BTC/BTR Transition
Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On December 15, 2020, former All Bodo Student’s Union President, Promod Bodo, of the United Peoples’ Party Liberal (UPPL), took oath as the new the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of Bodoland Territorial Council/Bodoland Territorial Region (BTC/BTR). Former National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militant leader, Gobinda Chandra Basumatary, also of the UPPL, was sworn in as deputy CEM.

However, on December 18, a bench of the Gauhati High Court, in response to a writ petition filed by former CEM Hagrama Mohilary has directed the BTC to maintain status quo on its administrative works. The order, passed by the single-judge bench of Justice Suman Shyam, comes at a time when the newly-elected council members are yet to begin discharging duties. The next hearing on the case has been fixed for December 22. The former CEM in his petition has alleged that the current CEM Promod Bodo and other elected members have been appointed in violation of the provisions of the Bodoland Territorial Council (Election) Rules, 2004 and the provisions of the Assam Autonomous District (Constitution of District Councils) Rules, 1951.

Earlier, on December 13, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided post-poll to team up with the Promod Bodo-led United Peoples’ Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Naba Sarania (former United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militant turned Kokrajhar Member of Parliament)-led Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) to forge a coalition to form the ‘Council.

Significantly, in the two-phase elections (December 7 and 10) for 40 BTC seats, the Bodo Peoples’ Front (BPF) emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats, followed by the UPPL, 12 seats; the BJP, 9 seats; and the GSP and Indian National Congress, one seat each.

The BTC comprises of 40 elected members. Besides the elected members, another six members (compulsorily including two women) are nominated by the Governor of Assam from un-represented community. The members nominated are Madhav Chandra Chetry (Gorkha), Champawati Deka (Sarania Kachari), Wilson Hasda (Santhal), Pradip Kumar Bhuyan (Keot), Hemanta Kumar Rabha (Rabha) and Arpana Medhi (general).

Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD), which extends over an area of 8,970 square kilometers in the four Districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri, came into existence on October 31, 2003. Subsequently, the BTC was formed on December 7, 2003. The term of the council is five years. So far, four elections (including the latest one) have been held.

Notably, the 2020 BTC/BTR elections were peacefully conducted with not even a single fatal incident reported between the date of notification (March 11) and polling dates (December 7 and 10), as per the partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). Two minor incidents, however, were reported on December 10 (the last day of elections): miscreants attacked a vehicle carrying ballot boxes at Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar District, a presiding officer was assaulted in Chirang District during a clash between supporters of BPF and UPPL over allegation of unfairly influencing voters. On both occasions, Police had to open fire to control the situation.

The 2020 BTC elections were notified on March 11, 2020. As per the notification, the election was supposed to be held on April 4, 2020. However, on March 20, 2020, the Assam State Election Commission deferred all electoral procedures, including “campaigning, polling and re-polling (if any)” indefinitely due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Election Commission on November 17 announced a two-phase election schedule on December 7 and December 10, 2020.

2015 BTC elections were also peaceful. No fatal incident was reported between the date of notification (March 18) and polling date (April 8). No violence was reported on the polling day as well.

Also, the newly constituted BTC has brought an end to the long reign of BPF led by former Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) leader Hagrama Mohilary. The BPF was in power since the inception of the BTC.

The change of the current occupants is expected to help in smooth transition of BTC to BTR as conceptualised in the January 27, 2020, Bodo Accord. The new accord promises greater autonomy and inclusion of additional Bodo dominated areas under the proposed BTR.

Remarkably, Kwrwmdao Wary, the assistant general secretary of the ABSU, one of the signatories of the January 27, 2020, Bodo Accord, in an interview given to Scroll on December 6, 2020, refereeing to the implementation of the accord had asserted, “And for that [implementing the accord], the government must change” arguing “It was only fair… that the major signatories [of the new accord] should form the new government.”

On the other hand, the incumbent CEM Hagrama Mohilary was dismissive of the accord even though he was one of the signatories. He had even dismissed the Memorandum of Understanding as ‘zero’ possibly sensing the growth of alternate poles diminishing his role in the region.

Notably, earlier Bodo accords of 1993 and 2003 had failed primarily because there were different power centres in the BTC and in the State Government, as well as ABSU and NDFB were outside the purview, and thus there were clashes of interest. It led to increased factionalism within Bodo groups. The Accords had not been able to end violence in the region, though violence had reduced relatively. According to SATP, the creation of BTAD did not eradicate the violence in the troubled area. A total of 607 fatalities (277 civilians, 21 Security Force personnel and 303 militants) have been recorded in the BTAD region since its creation.

In such scenario, alternate power centres in BTC/BTR and State Government could have led to increase friction and potentially derailing the accord.

However, there are still worries. The fissure between the Bodos and the non-Bodos is yet to be bridged. Political parties have repeatedly tried to play these sentiments to garner votes. In this election too, sentiments such as 'Bodo Pride' and equal land rights for the non-Bodos were cynically used. Keen observer of State Politics fear that the entry of BJP into these elections could further this divide. On December 2, 2020, Gauhati University Professor Monirul Hussain said,

Such distrust could potentially hamper the boundary determination exercise. On September 28, 2020, State Government notified the five-member Commission to look into the issue of the alteration of the boundary of the BTAD Districts.

Another issue is the backtracking of NDFB from several provisions of the 2020 accord. On October 6, 2020, all four NDFB factions - Dhiren Bodo, Gobinda Basumatary, Ranjan Daimary and B. Saoraigwra - demanded omission of the phrase 'comprehensive and final' from the agreement and 'exclusion of villages from BTAD', general amnesty for all members of NDFB without the distinction of heinous and non-heinous crime category and inclusion of NDFB members in the constituted Commission for inclusion/ exclusion of villages within BTR.

Additionally, NDFB factions Dhiren Bodo, Ranjan Daimary and B. Saoraigwra, all three on March 9; and Gobinda Basumatary faction, on March 10, were disbanded as per the 2020 Accord, the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), fighting for a separate Kamtapur State for Koch Rajbongshis, is still actively group operating in the region. According to a May 2020 report, post the signing of the Accord, the KLO was trying to gain prominence in lower Assam region that includes BTC.

The peaceful conduct of BTC elections is a remarkable achievement by the Government along with the signing of the third Bodo Accord. However, to fully realise the peace dividend the tricky issues of inclusion and exclusion of tribal and non-tribal villages, rehabilitation of NDFB cadres, and amnesty for militants need to be dealt thoughtfully by the Government. Any lackadaisical approach could lead to violent ethnic strife among the inhabitants and also revival of Bodoland State movement by unhappy Bodo groups.