London: India faced another awkward moment when British Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill raised the issue of transnational repression in the UK Parliament.
Gill claimed during a House of Commons session that agents with links to India are targeting members of Sikh community in the UK, with several British Sikhs appearing on a ‘hit list’, reported PTI.
Gill, without taking names, referred to alleged assassination plots against Sikhs abroad and asked Security Minister Tom Tugendhat about steps taken by the British government to deal with the issue.
“In recent months, Five Eyes nations have raised concerns about the actions of agents with links to India targeting Sikh activists in the United Kingdom,” the Shadow Minister for Primary Care & Public Health stated.
Five Eyes refers to an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US and the UK.
“Most disturbingly, there have been alleged assassinations and foiled assassination plots. The US and Canadian authorities have taken the lead at senior levels to publicly call out this challenge to their sovereignty, the rule of law and their democratic values,” said the MP of the Labour party.
“Given the reports of British Sikhs facing similar threats, what steps are the Government taking to secure their safety? Will the Minister show the same strength as our partners do in publicly defending their democratic rights,” she questioned.
Tugendhat responded that his department is continually assessing potential threats to individual rights and freedoms and safety across the UK.
“Let me be completely clear. If there are any specific threats against any British citizen by any foreign power, we will take immediate action. The Sikh community should be as safe as every other community in the United Kingdom,” the minister said.
Last September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that there were “credible allegations” of Indian government agents being involved in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dismissed the allegation as “absurd and motivated”, but the issue led to a major diplomatic row between India and Canada.
In November, US authorities charged an Indian man, who was allegedly linked to a government official, of conspiring to murder US-Canadian citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, another designated terrorist in India.
The Indian government said that the issue was a “matter of concern” and “contrary to government policy”.
