Air India fliers get threat from Khalistani separatist Pannun: ‘Don’t fly from November 1 to 19’

Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has issued a threat to Air India passengers during the period of the anti-Sikh riots anniversary, saying, “Don't take Air India flights from November 1-19”, as per an India Today report.

The report noted that Pannun, a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, issued a similar threat during the same period last year as well.

The renewed threat gains importance as airlines have reported increased bomb threats to flights over the past few weeks, with as many as 100 flights receiving hoax threats this week alone. “IndiGo, Vistara, Akasa Air and Air India are among the airlines that received bomb threats, including international flights," sources told PTI. Six flights each of IndiGo, Vistara and Air India received the threats on October 20, they added.

This also comes amid a strained relationship between India and Canada over the alleged “assassination” of another Khalistani leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has designated both Pannun and Nijjar as “terrorists”.

Notably, in November 2023, officials in the United States reportedly averted a plot to murder Pannun, and the White House said that it had taken the matter up with Indian authorities at the highest levels “with utmost seriousness”.

Who is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun?

Pannun is a Canadian and American citizen who works as the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice. The pro-Khalistan lawyer has been a key organizer of nonbinding referendums that seek a separate Sikh state — held in countries with large Indian diasporas such as Canada, the UK and Australia.

“India wants to kill me for running the referendum campaign. India’s transnational terrorism has become a direct challenge to the sovereignty of the United States,” he had claimed last year.

Pannun was born in Khankot village on the outskirts of Amritsar — the son of a former Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board employee named Mahinder Singh. He is believed to have graduated from Punjab University in the 1990s and founded the SFJ in 2007. The New York-based organisation advocates for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan to be carved out of India.

The Indian government banned the SFJ in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for its anti-India activities. A year later Pannun was declared an “individual terrorist” under the UAPA for promoting secessionism and allegedly encouraging Punjabi Sikh youth to take up arms.

Pannun had claimed during an earlier interview that Nijjar had been his “close associate” for over 20 years and was like a “younger brother” to him. He blamed India for the latter's death.

(With inputs from Agencies)