Poonch ambush attack: Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun extends support to J&K militants, says 'referendum only way forward'

In the latest video statement put on the Internet, Pannun, who heads the Sikh separatist organisation Sikh For Justice extended support to the militants for the fatal ambush attack on the Indian Army on Dec 21 in Poonch district in which five soldiers were killed while two others were injured.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): In a significant development, Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is based in the United States, has announced a new front to encourage affiliation with militant organisations in Jammu and Kashmir. The Sikh separatist leader extended support to the militants for the fatal ambush attack on the Indian Army on Dec 21 in Poonch district.

In a video statement released after the Poonch attack, which left at least five soldiers dead and two others injured, Pannun said that the ambush on soldiers was a "consequence of India's violence against Kashmiris," while describing himself as the “spokesperson for the Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front (KKRF)”. Pannun referred to Kashmir as a "disputed" area and stated that a "referendum" was the only way to settle the conflict peacefully.

"I urge Kashmiri freedom fighters to organise and hold the Kashmir referendum, just as 'Sikhs For Justice' (SFJ) is holding the Khalistan referendum to challenge Punjab's association with the Union of India," he said. Following his subdued warning to attack the new Parliament building in reaction to US assertions of "India's foiled assassination" attempt on him, the Sikh separatist leader called for unity with militants in Kashmir.

Pannun recently declared that he would "shake the very foundations of Parliament". Pannun is one of the main leaders of the Khalistan movement, which calls for the creation of a religion-based independent state called Khalistan, to be divided from Punjab and several of its surrounding regions in India. In July 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs designated him as an "individual terrorist."

He is also the leader of the separatist Sikhs for Justice organisation. Pannun, who possesses both Canadian and US citizenship, is wanted in India on terror-related allegations. A video that Pannun posted last month urged people not to fly on November 19 on Air India planes. In reaction to an alleged failed assassination attempt on his life, he had also threatened to strike the Parliament of India.