Pannun puts out poster threatening Indian High Commissioner to Canada
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who has been in the news for his proKhalistan activities, has once again come into focus after he put out a poster that is suggestive of violent attacks against Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma.
The poster in question began circulating in North American social media after the India Canada Chamber of Commerce announced that Mr. Verma would participate in a networking event to be held in Edmonton on March 11.
“We have always tried to carry all sections of the IndoCanadian community in our work and neither the High Commissioner nor we have cancelled the programme despite the posters. We believe that while living outside, we are all known because of our Indian roots and there is no difference among us. So we hope this problem can be overcome before the event,” said Ravi Prakash Singh, Chair, IndoCanada Chamber of Commerce (Alberta).
Soon after the organisers sent out the poster of the event, another poster bearing the face of murdered proKhalistan figure
Hardeep Singh Nijjar began to spread online. It also had Mr. Verma’s image painted in the middle of a target, saying, “Challenge, target, question.”
Aggressive campaign
Pannun has in the past courted controversy by calling on international passengers to avoid Air India, hinting that the airline could suffer sabotage.
His aggressive poster campaign, which in the past linked Indian diplomats based in the U.K., Canada, the U.S. and Australia with the Nijjar assassination, had been cited by India to shut down its consular services, including evisas for Canadians. The evisa services were restarted in November 2023.
Nijjar was shot and killed by unknown assassins in Surrey, British Columbia in June 2023. The incident subsequently became a political hot potato when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a startling statement accused Indian secret service agents of being responsible for the murder.
The IndiaCanada relations, which have been on a downward spiral ever since, recovered somewhat in January after outgoing Canadian National Security Adviser Jody Thomas said India had begun cooperating with Canada in its investigation to find the killers of Nijjar.
Meanwhile, another case involving Pannun hit the headlines after the American authorities accused an overseas Indian, Nikhil Gupta, of trying to kill the proKhalistan lawyer.