'Bold and pioneering': Khalistani separatist Pannun backs Rahul Gandhi's Sikh remark in US

Rahul Gandhi at National Press Club in Washington DC

Day after Rahul Gandhi stirred up a controversy with a comment about the religious freedom of Sikhs in India, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) co-founder and Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has come out in support of the Congress leader’s remark.

At an event held in Washington DC on Tuesday, Gandhi said, “Fight in India is whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear turban and kada, go to gurdwara.”

“Rahul’s statement on ‘existential threat to Sikhs in India’ is not only bold and pioneering but is also firmly grounded in the factual history of what Sikhs have been facing under successive regimes in India since 1947 and also corroborates SFJ’s stance on the justification for Punjab Independence Referendum to establish Sikh homeland Khalistan,” the separatist leader said in a statement, backing Gandhi's views.

“This happens when you start speaking without briefing and out of turn. Speaking against the country outside gives momentum to people like Pannun. No Sikh is unhappy in India and internal matters will be resolved internally,” News18 quoted a government source as saying.

Union minister Piyush Goyal condemned Gandhi's remark and said, "Can anybody in his right mind justify or endorse the deplorable statements. The absolutely shameful manner in which India and every Indian is being defamed on foreign soil by a senior leader of the Congress."

Earlier, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri condemned Rahul Gandhi’s comments: “Rahul’s language is quite similar to the fugitive from our law who lives in New York, Pannun….is he meeting him?” said the minister.

This is unprecedented. Sikhs For Justice, the banned Khalistan terror group, has backed Rahul Gandhis mis-informed comments on the Sikh community, in the US.After Ilhan Omar, this is yet another instance of Congress in cahoots with anti-India forces.Congress and Rahul Gandhi pic.twitter.com/vOQr0dgn6z

Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) September 11, 2024

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla reacted to Gandhi's stance, “The Congress party is once again in alliance with terrorists. Rahul Gandhi’s statement about turbans has no support within the country, but terrorist organizations outside the country are supporting his statement. The Congress party is shamelessly accepting this support and has not yet denounced it.”