Amid Ajit Doval’s protest, Khalistan Referendum voting continues in UK

LONDON: The Indian government’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Ajit Doval, has protested with the British government over Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) holding major Khalistan Referendum events across the United Kingdom, attracting huge Sikh participation.

The Indian media reported that Ajit Doval has made it clear to his UK counterpart Stephen Lovegrove that the Modi government takes strong exception to the UK allowing Khalistan Referendum by “weaponising” a “section of the Indian diaspora”.

Indian media reported that Doval conveyed India’s serious concerns to London for allowing “banned pro-Khalistan organisation Sikhs For Justice to hold a referendum on the secession of Punjab on October 31”.

The UK-India tension was reported on the day on Sunday 14th November as the organizer NGO “Sikhs For Justice” (SFJ) held yet another phase of voting from Birmingham and Barking (London) for the Khalistan Referendum campaign, which kicked off in Central London on 31st October, bringing out around 30,000 Sikhs only for the first phase of referendum in London as it was held on the day of Indian premier Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

The SFJ’s Khalistan Referendum seeks votes from the Sikh diaspora on the question of secession of Punjab and other Sikh majority areas from India. The November 14 voting was held in Birmingham, a heavily Sikh populated town, at Gurdwara Guru Har Rai Ji and at Gurdwara Singh Sabha of Barking, an East London neighborhood with a considerable Sikh population. At both places, thousands of Sikhs attended the Gurdwaras to cast their votes. Dozens of Sikhs volunteers and activists stood outside both venues to help the voters. The queues for voting, formed on Sunday especially in Birmingham, broke previous records of long queues formed three weeks ago in London.

Khalistan Referendum organizers have announced plans to hold the voting in major cities and towns across the UK throughout the month of November before moving the campaign to other European and North American countries with a cluster of Sikh diaspora.

Since 2019, India has banned SFJ as an unlawful entity under draconian colonial era law “Unlawful Activities Prevention Act” (UAPA) and has declared its General Counsel, a US based lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as “terrorist”, but the western democracies like UK, USA and Canada continue to view SFJ and its referendum activities as a legitimate expression of political opinion covered under the principle of “freedom of expression” – hallmark and cornerstone of democracy. These countries have taken no action against the SFJ and Pannun under Indian request.

Indian media reported that Ajit Doval protested with the UK government during a meeting of National Security Advisers from both countries.

In a reference to the SFJ, the Indian media said that Doval conveyed India’s serious concern that the UK government is turning a “blind eye to the open radicalisation of the Indian diaspora by Sikh banned groups to promote their secessionist agenda”. According to reports, Doval told the UK govt that India was displeased that it was allowing an “illegal referendum” but SFJ has said that it has followed the UK and Europe laws each step of the way and India’s protest carries no weight. In the next phase, voting for Khalistan Referendum will be held in Leicester, Coventry and Derby on 21st November, 2021.