What does the red corner notice issued against Khalistani Gurpatwant Singh Pannu mean?
In recent news, the International Criminal Police Organization — INTERPOL, issued a red corner notice against Khalistani Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of Sikhs for Justice, the face behind the alleged Khalistan campaign. Alongside, seven other Khalistani militants have also been attributed in this notice. The list includes names like Harmeet Singh alias PhD who is a Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) leader, Canada’s Gurjit Singh Cheema and Gurpreet Singh, Jagdish Singh Bhura from Belgium, and Gurmit Singh Bagga alias Doctor belonging to the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF).
What is the red corner notice?
The red corner notice by INTERPOL issued against the accused means ‘a request to locate and provisionally arrest an individual extradition’. A warrant can be issued against any individual who has been accused by a member country, and thus can be arrested.
What needs to be noticed here is that India’s request of issuing a red corner notice against Gurpatwant Singh Pannu prior to this was not accepted by INTERPOL. While there were allegations that spoke of falsehood, a notice only after a few months clearly indicates that the earlier intimation to INTERPOL was completely valid and backed by proofs.
After revelations that came from NIA’s investigation in the murder of Shiv Sena and RSS leaders in 2016–2017, the Khalistani ideologues PhD, Cheema and Gurpatwant Singh Pannu were found to be involved in the killings. This and many more such incidents that have recently come to light, have played a major role in INTERPOL issuing this notice.
In the Tarn Taran blast case that led to the arrest of four Khalistani militants in Punjab belonging to the Khalistan Zindabad Force, one of the captured terrorists revealed that they were assigned to kill dera leaders in India, and the task was assigned to them by Sikhs for Justice, the alleged human rights organization.
Another incident was the arrest of a Malaysian woman who was found to have connections with Sikhs for Justice, and was responsible for funding terrorist activities. Drones were also found to be smuggling arms from Pakistan to Punjab, raising the doubts of a mishap further. One of the drones was also found in the Tarn Taran district in burnt condition.
The questions that come across after such disclosures are even if the so-called Khalistan campaign is really peaceful. A group that was formed keeping in mind a better future for Sikhs with the claim of another religion-based state, is now inching towards militant ideology? Or was peace just a cover that was kept in order to hide the Khalistani terrorist activities going behind the curtains, further investigations will reveal.
