Shaukat Dar
LONDON: Sardar Paremjeet Pama, the International coordinator of the Pro-Khalistan secessionist group, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), has said that more than a million Sikhs have so far voted in the referendum demanding the liberation of Indian Punjab, as he dismissed New Delhi’s propaganda that only a handful of people are part of the Khalistan movement.
In an exclusive interview with WE News in London, Sardar Paremjeet said the Indian government had denied the Sikhs their democratic right to hold a referendum in Punjab, and therefore, a ballot was being held all over the world to demand the liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation and the establishment of a sovereign Sikh state.
“Over a million Sikhs have so far participated in the referendum which started from London, with an initial 25 voting centres, and then expanded to several other countries, including Switzerland, Austria and Canada,” he said.
“Khalistan referendum being monitored by int’l experts”
Sardar Paremjeet said the Khalistan Referendum was being held in accordance with the principles of international law and direct democracy. He said this ballot was being organized by the Punjab Referendum Commission (PRC) – a panel of independent and non-aligned direct democracy and political experts. He said the PRC has members from seven countries with expertise in non-binding referendums.
“We wanted to hold this referendum in Punjab, and we put this demand before the Indian government several times, but neither the centre nor the state government gave us any response. Therefore, we are holding this referendum on our own because if this issue was ever put before the United Nations, we would be able to argue that we always wanted to hold a referendum, but India didn’t allow us to do so.”
Indian atrocities
Commenting on the atrocities committed by the Indian government against the Sikhs living in Punjab, Sardar Paremjeet said, “To date, tens of thousands of Sikhs, including my family members, were killed by Indian law-enforcement agencies including Punjab police.”
“In a highly undemocratic move, the Indian government illegally arrested around 400 Sikhs who were in favour of the referendum or spoke about Punjab’s freedom. Demanding one’s freedom is a democratic right, but India doesn’t allow Sikhs to exercise this right and frames cases against those who do so.”
Dismissing allegations that countries like Pakistan were supporting the pro-Khalistan movement, Sardar Paremjeet said, “People from all over the world were supporting our movement; however, we are not being financially assisted by any government and we have sufficient financial resources to take forward this movement. Finances are not a problem for us, we will spend another ten million on this movement if we have to.”
Talking about a recent happening in which the Indian flag was removed from the Indian High Commission building in central London and replaced with the Khalistan flag, he said, “It is hypocrisy on the part of a state like India that it is protesting for its flag when it had committed genocide against minorities living in its own country.”
The Indian government massacred over hundreds and thousands of Muslims, Sikhs, and other minorities, and it was only but natural for these communities to record their protest. He added such protests were a normal occurrence, and they would keep on happening all over the world, and Sikhs would continue burning the Indian flag whenever they get a chance.
Talking about the International community’s response to the Khalistan movement, he said, “The global community supports us. Whichever country we visit, its people encourage us and make videos in our favour.”
Speaking about the future role of a sovereign Sikh state with regard to foreign affairs, he said, “After we achieve independence and create Khalistan, like any other state, it will maintain ties with all neighbours, including Pakistan, China and even India.”
In a message to the people of Punjab, Sardar Paremjeet urged them to remain steadfast and strong, adding that Punjab would soon achieve independence from Indian occupation.
