Sikh activist says he received new RCMP ‘duty to warn’ of threat to life

A prominent Canadian Sikh activist has revealed he received a new "duty to warn" notification from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), informing him of a credible threat to his life. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is also a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen and lawyer for the New York-based group Sikhs for Justice, stated that the RCMP indicated the threat was credible and imminent, though they did not disclose the source or motivation.

“

(The RCMP) stated that since I’m a Canadian citizen … this is our duty to give you a warning that there is exactly the same thing as what the FBI stated, that there’s a credible threat to your life.

Pannun views this warning as concrete evidence of ongoing transnational repression by India targeting the pro-Khalistan movement. He asserted that the RCMP's notification mirrored a similar one he received from the FBI earlier this month. He also claimed that several other pro-Khalistan activists have recently been issued "duty to warn" notifications by Canadian law enforcement, and that these individuals are included on a "kill list" of over 100 Canadians allegedly under surveillance by Indian intelligence.

“

They stated since this threat is credible and imminent, it is still under investigation.

This development follows a previous alleged assassination plot against Pannun, which U.S. court documents indicated was orchestrated by a senior Indian intelligence officer. The U.S. Justice Department had accused this officer of recruiting Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national and businessman, to carry out the killing. Gupta pleaded guilty in February to charges including murder-for-hire and conspiracy, and is awaiting sentencing.

“

there should not be any doubt who is behind these assassination plots and death threats to me or to my Khalistan referendum coordinators and organizers in Canada.

India has consistently denied any involvement in alleged plots against Sikh activists or politicians in Canada. However, Pannun argues that the previous foiled plot leaves little doubt about the perpetrators behind assassination attempts and death threats against him and other Khalistan referendum coordinators in Canada. He believes the common link among those receiving such threats is their involvement with the Khalistan referendum.

“

Since (the foiled plot), I have received multiple death threats.