17 Oct Rejection of Delhi Interpol Red Corner

Rejection of Delhi Interpol Red Corner Under UAPA Act

The topic is based on UAPA Act. It tells how the Rejection of the Delhi Interpol Red Corner impacts Indian Polity and Constitution. 

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains GS II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.GS  III: Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.

Why in the news?

The ongoing story

• Interpol has canceled the 2nd request of India for issuing a  Red corner notice on terror change against the Sikh for Justice (SFJ)a Canada-based founder and legal advisor for pro-Khalisthan setup, stating that authorities of India were unable to provide the required information to support their case.

What is Interpol?

• Its stands for International Criminal Police Organization
• They are an inter-governmental organization.
• They have 195 member countries, and they help police in all of them to work together to make the world a safer place. Interpol is the world’s biggest international police organization.
• It was established in 1923.
• The objective of Interpol is to provide international police cooperation even between those countries where diplomatic relations are not present.

Who is the ‘Sikhs for Justice (SFJ)’ group?

• Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is an organization, formed in 2007.
• It is based in the United States
• This group is seeking a “Khalistan” homeland from Sikhs  
•  A law graduate from Punjab University, now an attorney at law in the US, is considered the face of SFJ . his name is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, he is also the legal advisor of the organization.
• He had  launched the secessionist Sikh Referendum 2020 campaign, which was eventually discontinued later
• It was claimed in ‘Referendum 2020’  they wanted “liberate Punjab from Indian occupation”.
• Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was one of the 9 individuals designated as “terrorists” by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in July 2020.
•  Under the UAPA Act, the Sikh association is an unlawful association

UAPA Act

• UAPA act stands for Unlawful activity prevention act
• It was passed in 1967.
• The objective of this act is to provide effective prevention from unlawful activities executed by the associations in India.
• Unlawful activity implies any action taken by an association or individual intending to create havoc in the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.
• The Act assigns absolute power to the central government, by way of which if the Centre deems an activity as unlawful then it may, by way of an Official Gazette, declare it so.
• This act has given the central government absolute power, by which the centre can count action as unlawful, then it can be declared so by an official Gazette.
• It has the authority to give the death penalty and lifetime imprisonment has the highest punishment.
• Under this Act, both National and international guilty can be charged. If the crime has been committed in a foreign land, it will be applicable to the offender in the same manner, which will be applicable to the offender in the country  

Pic: Rejection of Delhi Interpol Red Corner

What is the history of the Khalistan movement?

• The partition of India in 1947, was not a joyful event for the nations, especially for Sikhs as they lost there their traditional land.
• In 1955, the Akali Dal -a Sikh dominated political party, initiated a movement by the name of the Punjabi Suba Movement.
• Through the movement of the Punjab Suba, they seek re-organisation of Punjab along linguist line, seeking division of the state into Punjabi and non-Punjabi speaking regions
• However, the division turned into a communal riot, with Sikh voting for Punjabi as their mother –tongue and Hindus voting for Hindi as their mother tongue.
• The demand for a separate statehood by the Akali dal was rejected by the State organization commission.
• As a consequence of this movement, Punjab got divided into three states namely, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh
• The Khalistan dispute was created because of the disputes between Chandigarh and the water sharing of Ravi- and bias between the two states.

The course of the Khalistan Movement

• The movement’s main objective is to form an independent state for Sikh people.
• The idea of Khalistan came to the light in the 1940s, but remained idle however was revived by an NRI seeking a separate homeland for Sikhs.
• The movement emerged in the early 1980s, as a large separatist movement, encouraged mostly by the bias of the Indian Government against Punjab in the case of Chandigarh and also the sharing of Ravi-Beas waters.
• There was an intense political conflict between Congress Party and the Akali Dal at that time period, Akali Dal was slowly gaining ground as the political representative of the Sikh community.
• The leadership of the congress party of that time tried to divide the Akalis by propping up diverse groups of people within the Akali Dal.
• Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the most known name directed Khalistan as an extremist movement, at first he was used as a pawn by the congress party leadership to counter Akali Dal but later he was influenced by the Khalistan ideology and turned against the Indian government.
• Under the shadow of Pakistan, ‘the movement was fed on arms who were looking for revenge for the creation of Bangladesh.
• Bhindranwale come out as the extremist voice of Sikhs, over-ruling the moderate voices of leaders declared himself as the protector and arbiter of Sikh rights and acquired arms.
• Demands for separate nation-hood for Punjab were carried out through violent protests and innocent as well as famous congress leaders of the nation like our PM Indira Gandhi   

The Recent Status 

• The  recent status of the Khalistan Movement
• Raising flags of imaginary Khalistan were put up on the gate of the housing complexes, and slogans were scribbled on the walls.
• June 6  is announced as Khalistan’s “referendum day” made the State police seal the border.
• A U.S.-based Khalistani separatist named Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has been charged in Himachal Pradesh under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
• On the very same day, the police in Punjab stated they had to stop a terror attack after arresting two men, considered to be  Khalistani sympathizers, with explosives. 

How this movement affected Indo-Canadian relationships?

• International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF)has been declared a terrorist setup and put banned on it, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2001 by India .
• The organization is also banned in Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA, which have sizeable Sikh populations.

Source:

The Indian Express 

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