Canada-based advocacy group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which is campaigning online for Khalistani cause, is a fringe group without support from the global Sikh community, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday. The Ministry spokesperson said the group had supported violence against India and majority among the Sikh community did not support it.
“We have taken up this matter very strongly with the Government of Canada and we continue to do so. The Sikhs for Justice has been outlawed by the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. It has supported anti-India activities and violent forms of extremism in Punjab and elsewhere,” said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.
The official Indian statement came a day after the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification banning the group accusing it of being involved in seditious and violent activities. The spokesperson said India took no “cognisance” of fringe groups like Sikhs for Justice, adding, “this group has no traction in the mainstream Sikh community. We will continue to make efforts to engage with the Indian community in Canada and other countries in the world.”
The issue of Sikh radicalism has been worrying India, especially in view of the presence of Khalistan sympathisers in the Pakistani side who play a role in the management of holy Sikh places in Pakistan. India had earlier protested after such individuals featured in Pakistan’s team for the Kartarpur corridor project.
Indian diplomats had taken up the need for insulating Indian pilgrims from pro-Khalistan propaganda and activists after the Kartarpur corridor grants access to Indians to travel to the holy shrine which is in the Pakistani territory.
Sikhs for Justice has been campaigning for Referendum 20/20, an online international movement demanding a separate Sikh homeland. Reports suggest that the group will hold protests in the coming weeks coinciding with the August 15 Independence Day celebrations in India and in world capitals.
The MEA spokesperson pointed out that the group has been championing “subversive activities.” “Such fringe groups who are into spreading hate and communal disharmony, should not be given any importance. We will continue to build bridges with Indians living abroad,” said Mr. Kumar.