LONDON: Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s factually truthful statement in Washington DC acknowledging that Sikhs are facing an existential threat in India will serve as a catalyst for the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) Khalistan Referendum campaign and will amplify and bolster the support for the independence of Punjab, the group’s Counsel General Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has said.

Pannun said that extremist Hindutva groups such as BJP, RSS and Jana Sangh members, who are condemning Gandhi for acknowledging the facts, are enemies of Sikhs, Punjab and Khalistan.

Gandhi has also briefed members of Congress about the persecution that Sikhs are facing in Modi’s India, he said.

Pannun said in a statement: “Gandhi’s statement not only justifies Khalistan referendum for the independence of Punjab, but it also reflects a realisation by the Congress party, by the opposition leader, that Punjab is on the verge of seceding from the Union of India to become an independent Sikh country, a new neighbour of Pakistan and India.”

“That is why the opposition leader has launched his diplomatic move to build rapport with future neighbour Khalistan. Gandhi has signalled to the US that the Congress party has accepted that Punjab will be an independent country because Sikhs are facing an existential threat in Modi’s India,” he added.

The New York-based lawyer said: “These BJP, RSS and Jana Sangh leaders such as Manjinder Sirsa and Iqbal Lalpura are enemies of Sikhs, Punjab and Khalistan and they will be held accountable. Prime Minister Modi, it is high time you realise that the people of Punjab are seeking independence from the Union of India through the global Khalistan referendum.”

Pannun referred to Gandhi’s address to a gathering of Indian Americans in Herndon, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, on September 9 this year, in which the Congress leader accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of considering some religions, languages, and communities of being inferior to others and said that the fight in India is about this and not about politics.

When asked the name of a turbaned person in the gathering, Gandhi said, “The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That’s what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions.”