00:00 Well in news just in, what comes as a shocking revelation coming from United States, an individual
00:05 identified as an Indian government employee has been implicated in a thwarted conspiracy
00:11 to assassinate Gurpatwan Singh Pannu, the founder of the banned Sikhs for Justice organization
00:17 in New York City.
00:18 Now this opens up a Pandora's box.
00:21 So what does it mean, United States charging a quote unquote Indian government employee
00:29 to attempt to kill Gurpatwan Singh Pannu.
00:32 This man needs no introduction.
00:33 He is the founder of the banned organization Sikhs for Justice.
00:39 Now remember if we go back, Hadeep Singh Nijjar also the same sort of profile, the same nature
00:48 of work that he did albeit from the soil of Canada.
00:51 We saw in the last six months how the relations between India and Canada have soured.
00:57 It also opened up the very notion that to whether Canada will get support of United
01:03 States or not.
01:04 Very recently after this Nijjar episode, one piece of information came in just a couple
01:10 of weeks ago that there was a plan in place to eliminate Gurpatwan Singh Pannu also.
01:17 Now this could be completely unfounded also.
01:19 There are no clear mention in the United States records also, police records also that something
01:25 of this sort happened.
01:26 And now suddenly we hear from the White House that a man has been charged with an attempted
01:36 plan to kill Gurpatwan Singh Pannu.
01:38 What does it mean?
01:40 Is United States going the Canada way?
01:43 Are we going to see the same repercussions between these two countries?
01:46 Canada was totally different albeit in the vicinity of United States, but it's altogether
01:51 a different ballgame.
01:52 Remember the camaraderie that both the leaders have shown when Prime Minister Modi visited
01:58 United States not long ago, it was an all Gaga affair.
02:02 Cut to September of 2023, we have the G20 summit that happened where the state heads
02:11 including the US President Joe Biden came to India.
02:16 That spoke volumes about the two countries.
02:19 Now the information that has been just received that Gurpatwan Singh Pannu, the founder of
02:24 the SFJ, Sixth For Justice Organization, which is banned by India, there was an attempt on
02:30 his life and the United States has implicated and identified and charged an Indian government
02:37 employee quote unquote.
02:40 To give you the history, the United States attorney has unsealed charges against 52 year
02:45 old Indian national called Nikhil Gupta in the United States District Court of the Southern
02:50 District of New York, including murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder for hire,
02:56 each carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
02:59 Now New York is very important here.
03:02 Only a few days ago when the country and the world was celebrating Guru Pura, that day
03:08 when US Indian envoy to United States went to one of the Gurudwaras in New York, he was
03:18 heckled there, Mr. Sandhu, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
03:21 He was heckled by pro-Khalistani members in the United States.
03:27 They charged him, they called, they started speaking about how they alleged that India
03:34 is involved in the killing of Nijar, Hardeep Singh Nijar, one of the declared terrorists
03:42 as far as the Khalistani movement is concerned.
03:46 And then in the same breath, those pro-Khalistani members also heckled Mr. Sandhu, saying that
03:54 India is planning and he is planning the killing of Guru Patwan Singh Pannu.
03:59 Now this was a planned effort on the very auspicious day of Guru Pura while the nation
04:08 and the world was celebrating his teachings.
04:12 Now suddenly this group of people tried to stop the US ambassador and heckle him and
04:21 call him names and gave him a statement that India has been trying to kill Pannu.
04:27 And now just two days later, we see this action from the United States.
04:31 So the court documents outline the intricate details of the conspiracy, indicating the
04:36 involvement of an Indian government employee working in collaboration with Gupta and others
04:40 in India.
04:41 Nikhil Gupta is the person who is in question here.
04:43 The government employee described as a senior field officer with a background in security
04:48 management and intelligence allegedly directed the assassination plot from India.
04:53 The indictment terms Pannu as the victim who is a US citizen.
04:57 Remember, Guru Patwan Singh Pannu, like Hardeep Singh Nijar is a US citizen.
05:02 He has the citizenship of India as well.
05:05 And I presume he is a US citizen for sure.
05:08 Whether he has got a Canadian citizenship that we need to check.
05:11 But yes, Hardeep Singh Nijar was a Canadian citizen.
05:16 Canada went all guns blazing against India.
05:19 At the end, nothing was proven.
05:21 India gave a tit for tat response and Canada had to backtrack.
05:25 Canada had to climb down from its moral perch that it was sitting at.
05:29 Now the same thing is happening with India this time around.
05:32 Pannu, there has been no attempt on his life so far.
05:35 His hale and hearty is safe.
05:38 But a US move is certainly something which comes as a shock.
05:44 The indictment also highlights that Gupta residing in India and associated with an Indian
05:48 government employee was recruited to coordinate the assassination plot.
05:52 According to the court documents, the Indian government employee directed Gupta to contact
05:56 a presumed criminal associate for helping in hiring a hitman to murder the victim, which
06:02 is Pannu here in New York City.
06:05 Now this is not very clear.
06:08 The so-called criminal associate was in fact a confidential source working with the Drug
06:13 Enforcement Administration, which is DEA.
06:16 The source introduced Gupta to an undercover DEA officer posing as a hitman.
06:20 The Indian government employee allegedly agreed to pay the undercover officer $1,00,000 for
06:29 the murder with an initial $15,000 delivered as an advance payment by the associate of
06:34 the government employee in Manhattan on June 9, 2023.
06:38 Now these are the details that we are receiving from the reports that have been mentioned
06:44 in the indictment in the court, in the New York court against this Indian official and
06:51 the go-between and the person, so-called person Nikhil Gupta.
06:57 Nikhil Gupta at the direction of the Indian government employee provided personal information
07:00 about Pannu including his home address, phone numbers and daily routines.
07:04 This is also again mentioned in the report in the court documents.
07:09 As the conspiracy unfolded, Gupta reportedly forwarded surveillance photographs of the
07:13 victim to the Indian government employee, keeping them updated on the progress.
07:17 The document said, the court document adding that Gupta instructed the undercover agent
07:21 to expedite the murder but also advised against committing the act during anticipated engagements
07:26 between high-level US and Indian government officials.
07:29 On June 8, 2023 and I am giving you the details of the documents, of the details that are
07:34 there in the court documents.
07:37 On June 18, 2023, masked gunman murdered Hardeep Singh Nijer, an associate of the victim outside
07:45 a Sikh temple in British Columbia in Canada.
07:48 Nijer, a leader of the Sikh separatist movement, which is again a terrorist movement, I would
07:53 say, separate Khalistan issue.
07:56 Nijer was a vocal critic of the Indian government and Gupta allegedly informed the undercover
08:00 officer the next day that Nijer was also the target and mentioned we have so many targets.
08:06 Following Nijer's murder, Gupta reportedly urged the undercover officer not to wait any
08:10 longer and to proceed with the assassination of Pannu.
08:14 The gravity of the situation prompted Damien Williams, the United States Attorney for the
08:19 Southern District of New York to state, and I quote here, "As alleged, the defendant conspired
08:24 from India to assassinate right here in the New York City, a US citizen of Indian origin
08:29 who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state of Sikhs and minority
08:35 group in India."
08:37 Williams expressed gratitude for the efforts of law enforcement partners in neutralizing
08:41 the threat and emphasized the commitment to investigate and prosecute those seeking to
08:46 harm this particular US citizen.
08:48 In case here it is Gurpakwan Singh Pannu.
08:51 Now Assistant Attorney General Matthew McOlson emphasized the Department of Justice determination
08:55 to hold accountable those plotting illegal actions from overseas, commending the dedicated
09:00 law enforcement agents and prosecutors involved in exposing that dangerous conspiracy.
09:05 So this is, these are basically the charges that have been made in the court document.
09:10 Now why it is important that Pannu finds the refuge because in the United States, it has
09:17 been noted time and again that elements like these have been given a safe haven in countries
09:24 like Canada, United States, UK for that matter, we have seen so much happening down there
09:30 up to Australia as well where the pro-Khalistani supporters and elements go on a rampage and
09:37 the police at times just stands by and watches them.
09:40 Well the response that came from Ottawa, from Prime Minister Trudeau's office is that they
09:47 are exercising their right freedom of expression.
09:51 Well when it comes to the safety and security and a national security threat to a particular
09:57 country like India, suddenly the Western partners, you know, turn a blind eye.
10:03 But for them, if they have to cross continents and fire a missile and go and hunt an Osama
10:09 Bin Laden or kill someone in Iraq or Afghanistan or Iran, they don't hesitate.
10:14 So this kind of a double speak, India has been calling out for a long time now.
10:21 And whether or not this involvement is there, it is not proven at all as of now, could be
10:25 a figment of imagination, could be a particular lobby that is working against India and trying
10:31 to connect the dots to how Niger got killed in a gang war and how Gurpathwan Singh Pannu
10:37 faces a lot of threats.
10:39 I mean he was one of the guys who was issuing openly, he was issuing threats that he would
10:42 blow up Indian Airlines flights or during the World Cup finals which has recently concluded
10:49 in India.
10:51 So no US action was taken.
10:53 If a US national is threatening to blow up a civilian airlines, which what happened in
10:58 Canada also with the Kanishka bombing, then the US must have taken note of it.
11:03 That should have been the first focal point where the United States should have cracked
11:07 down upon Gurpathwan Singh Pannu who openly stands in front of a United Nations building
11:12 in New York and issues threat to India, to Indian Prime Minister, to Indian envoys who
11:17 are working in Australia, Canada, US and other parts of the world.
11:22 So this dichotomy must end here and needless to say New Delhi would be responding shortly
11:28 and will keep a close eye on these developments and the way the India-Canada saga played out.
11:35 I'm sure White House would be, Washington would be also treading its ways cautiously
11:42 and not take any step in haste.
11:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments