Why India is entitled to hit back at Khalistani separatist  Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

India’s next target should be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun , chief of the banned group Sikhs For Justice ( SFJ). This terror don has used his safe haven in Canada to publicly threaten violent attacks against Indian missions in Ottawa , Toronto and Vancouver . He has also threatened Hindus and asked them to return to India because they are, in his convoluted opinion , still loyal to their home country. Pannun has a right to be more white than white Canadians and PM Justin Trudeau can get his government to bear the cost of Pannun’s skin surgery .

The SFJ boss , who calls the assassinated Hardeep Singh Nijjhar his brother , has obviously been encouraged by Trudeau’s unsubstantiated allegations involving India with Nijjhar’s assassination in parliament because his  threats against Indian diplomats and Hindus has followed Trudeau’s parliament speech and not immediately after Nijjhar’s  assassination in June. So Trudeau, who has taken refuge behind  parliamentary privilege to avoid likely defamation cases to come up with grave allegations of an Indian hand even before the probe into Nijjhar’s assassination is complete, can now be justifiably accused of abetment to violence. If one Indian diplomat is attacked in Canada , the Modi government should approach the International Court of Justice to punish the killers and simultaneously sue Justin Trudeau for abetment to violent crimes.

The US should keep away from giving India unsolicited advice to cooperate with Nijjhar assassination probe. It should advice blood brother Canada to stop sheltering Khalistan terrorists and criminals who resort to violence in India and against Indians abroad. If the US has a right to invade Afghanistan to retaliate the 9/11 Twin Tower strikes , India has a right to strike down those responsible for blowing up the Air India flight Kanishka  with 329 on board. If US special forces could initiate special operations to kill Osama Bin Laden to avenge Twin Tower strikes and other acts of violence against US interests , India has a right to strike Pannun who is breaking Canadian law by his open call for violence . Bangladesh has long complained that Canada was sheltering the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and a Canadian minister even critiqued US for sending back one Mujib killer Mohiuddin .

After Khalistan Commando Force ( KCF) topgun Paramjit Singh Panjwar was killed by unidentified assailants at Lahore on May 6 this year , the Khalistani-sponsored violence in Punjab ( raising of Khalistani flags and burning of Indian flags) has sharply dropped. Babbar Khalsa topshot Ripudaman Singh Malik , the prime accused of the 1985 Kanishka bombing who was let off after acquittal of all charges by a  Canadian court , was shot dead in Surrey in July last year . There is no evidence with Pakistan or Canada to prove an Indian connection but if an Indian agency has pulled these off, they should be quietly rewarded for what they have done and shielded from probes initiated by western powers . Israel does it all the time.  India has every right to follow suit in our right to self defence.

India should no longer put up with western double standards regardless of strategic alliances with some of the leading Western powers. It is time we deal with them on our terms because they need India to counter China as much as we need them for similar reasons.

On Trudeau’s orders , Canadian intelligence has blocked efforts by the Modi government to reach out to the Khalistani groups based in that country . The expulsion of Indian diplomat Pawan Kumar Rai , who had done a stint in R&AW, was meant to block Indian conciliatory approach to read out to the mad fringe in Canada’s Sikh society.

That Trudeau is doing it for cheap votebank politics to please the hardline Khalistani fringe is evident. He create a fuss during G20 over staying in his designated hotel suite and was discourteous in refusing Modi’s offer to fly him out on our Air Force One. And then he has the chic to say he does not want escalation !

But  what is not yet clear is whether he is encouraged by big brother US and UK who also shelter hardline Khalistanis and allow them freedom of violent action under cover of Rule of Law and freedom of speech.

If any of our diplomatic mission or diplomat is attacked in Canada, Indian agencies should strike down SFJ boss Pannun. Without any mercy. And wherever found. And Canada should be asked to extradite Khalistani terrorists and gangsters with track record of violence in Punjab, against whom Interpol lookout notices have been sought by Punjab police.
If Trudeau is so keen to appease Jagmeet Singh-led New Democratic Party to stay in power, he can pass a resolution to create a Canadian province ( or an Autonomous state) of Khalistan  around Vancouver .

(Subir Bhaumik is a former BBC- Reuters correspondent and acclaimed author on South Asian conflicts)