NEW YORK: A group of Khalistani protesters aggressively interrupted Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu at a New York gurdwara a day before.
Mr Sandhu was visiting Hicksville Gurdwara in Long Island on the occasion of Gurpurab when the protesters contained him and started shouting. They accused him of plotting the assassination of Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and also conspiring to get another Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun murdered.
A video circulating on social media shows Sandhu being confronted by Pro Khalistan people. These individuals voiced support for Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, both labelled terrorists by India.
The video showed the exchange of hot words between Mr Sandhu and the Sikh protesters. The video opens with the ambassador telling the protesters that he is visiting the gurdwara for seva (service).
Khalistanies tried to heckle Indian Ambassador @SandhuTaranjitS with basless Questions for his role in the failed plot to assassinate Gurpatwant, (SFJ) and Khalistan Referendum campaign.
Himmat Singh who led the pro Khalistanies at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York also accused… pic.twitter.com/JW5nqMQSxO
— RP Singh Ntnl Spokesperson BJP (Modi Ka Parivar) (@rpsinghkhalsa) November 27, 2023
A protester is heard shouting in Punjabi, “You are responsible for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. You plotted to kill Pannun [another Sikh leader].” Others in the video are seen trying to defuse the situation. The protesters followed Sandhu and are heard asking, “Why don’t you answer?”
The situation escalated, forcing the envoy to leave quickly. Outside the Gurdwara, a protestor was seen waving the Khalistan flag.
Mr Singh said the protest was led by one Himmat Singh. Himmat Singh who led the pro-Khalistan people at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York accused Ambassador Sandhu for India’s role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was President of Surrey Gurdwara and the coordinator for Canadian Chapter of the Khalistan Referendum.
The ambassador later posted on X about his visit to the gurdwara but did not mention the heckling he faced.
Pro Khalistan leader Nijjar was shot dead by masked men at a parking lot in Canada’s British Columbia. Months later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that Indian agents were behind the killing, sparking a massive diplomatic row. India asked Canada to provide evidence backing its allegations.
Earlier this month, Financial Times reported that US authorities had thwarted a conspiracy to kill another leader of Khalistani organisation ‘Sikhs for Justice’, Pannun on American soil. Asked about the report, the White House replied the US is “treating a reported plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil with utmost seriousness” and has raised the issue with the Indian government “at the senior-most levels”.
The incident isn’t isolated. Two months back, in a similar incident, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, was stopped from entering a Glasgow Gurdwara. A pro-Khalistan activist blocked his entry, as seen in an Instagram video by ‘Sikh Youth UK’.
