India to revoke OCI cards of Khalistani militants and their supporters

Government sources stated on Sunday that the Center has instructed its security services to locate all Khalistani militants and their supporters who are based in the US, Canada, Britain, Australia, and other nations so that their Overseas Citizenship of India can be revoked and their entry banned.

According to a security officer with the Union home ministry, "the agencies have also been asked to identify and seize the properties and bank accounts these people have in India."

The agencies have so far located 19 fugitive Khalistani terrorists who are residing in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan.

The action comes as tensions between India and Canada over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's assertion that Indian government operatives were involved in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June are intensifying diplomatically.

The official claimed that by taking this action, the government will be able to stop the flow of money from India to Khalistani terrorists and stop their supporters from traveling to the nation.

In accordance with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the National Investigation Agency seized a parcel of property and a portion of a home on Saturday that belonged to "designated individual terrorist" Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who resides in Canada.

Pannu is the "general counsel" for the banned Sikhs For Justice, a group based in North America and accused of promoting secession in Punjab.

The names of 312 accused Khalistani sympathizers were removed from a blacklist of 314 people in 2019 by the Narendra Modi government, who had previously banned them from entering India. At the height of Khalistan's militancy in the 1980s, the blacklist was established.

The 312 names had been removed by the Modi administration, making them eligible for OCI cards and Indian visas.

Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was accused of funding the 1985 Kanishka bombing, which killed more than 300 people on board, but was ultimately found not guilty due to a lack of evidence, was one of those who was permitted to travel to India as a result. At the time of his visit to India, he was on a US no-fly list.

Malik thanked Modi in a letter he sent to him in January 2022 for everything that he has done for the Sikh community. He praised Modi in a second letter to the neighborhood, adding, "I do not believe it is right to unfairly criticize the Prime Minister."

The letters were sent at a time when Modi's three farm legislation and his handling of the farmer protest had angered the Sikh community in India. The BJP ecosystem attempted to portray the farmers who were demonstrating as Khalistanis.

Later that year, Malik passed away.

Nijjar had ruled out involvement in the murder.