By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
An American Sikh who was the target of an alleged assassination plot arranged by an Indian government official has said he is still getting hundreds of threats a day, even as India has claimed it is investigating the murder-for-hire conspiracy.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a New York-based lawyer, said the threats on social media and other forums have continued unabated since the Department of Justice alleged that an unnamed Indian government official with ties to intelligence – known as CC-1 in a US indictment – arranged to kill the Sikh activist on US soil. CC-1 also appears to have played a role in the murder of another activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada last June.
“They want me dead. I know that because I am organizing a Khalistan referendum to liberate Punjab from the Indian occupation,” Pannun said in a phone interview. In some cases, Pannun said he is being compared on social media posts with the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in an airstrike ordered by the White House under Donald Trump in 2020.
“They are saying if the US can kill him, why can’t India kill me?” Pannun said.
The 56-year-old activist, who was born in Punjab but moved to the US and became an attorney, was listed as a terrorist by India in 2020 for allegedly challenging India’s domestic security.
This story was originally published in theguardian.com. Read the full story here.
