India, in a dossier to Pakistan, has mentioned nearly 30 instances in the past four years when Sikh pilgrims visiting the neighbouring country were subjected to ‘anti-India propaganda’ such as espousing the Khalistani cause, reports The Hindu on July 18. The 23-page dossier was handed over to the Pakistani delegation during the Kartarpur corridor talks held at Wagah on July 14. Gopal Singh Chawla, a key “Khalistani element”, instigated the Sikh community to support Kashmiris for the formation of “Azad Kashmir”, says the dossier.
In April 2019, Chawla, president of the Punjabi Sikh Sangat (PSS), “raised the demand of liberation of Punjab and Kashmir from India” during a function at Panja Sahib in Attock District in Pakistan where Indian pilgrims were present, the dossier says. The dossier also contains a photograph of Chawla with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)‘chief’ Hafiz Saeed. India said that Chawla was a well-known “Khalistani element who often spews venom against India in his speeches and supports militancy in Punjab”.
The paper also contained a “pictorial catalogue of his anti-India activities on social media”. Eleven photographs culled out from Chawla’s Facebook account include posters of J.S. Bhindranwale, a Sikh separatist killed in 1984 during the anti-Sikh militancy raids in Amritsar, and “Referendum 2020”. Jagroop Singh Rupa, who went with a jatha to Pakistan in 2016, was imparted arms training by two fugitive Sikh militants Lakhbir Singh Rode and Harmeet Singh alias PhD, to “carry out terror attacks in India.” India said the recently banned Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) was given a free hand to promote secessionism during visits of pilgrims. The dossier also mentioned names of others like Tara Singh, Bishan Singh and Maninder Singh were named in the dossier for displaying Khalistani propaganda and leading a protest against India at Wagah border in July 2017.