Former pro-Khalistan chief and founding father of Dal Khalsa Jaswant Singh Thakedar mentioned the Khalistan referendum marketing campaign being organised in few western international locations is a doing of ‘Pakistan’s ISI’ and it has nothing to do with Sikhs in India. He added that ‘some Sikhs are working as tools’ for the Pakistan authorities. He additionally mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi labored on ‘major demands’ by the Sikh group.

The UK-based Sikh separatist chief was being interviewed by information company ANI and he was referring to a referendum marketing campaign kickstarted by the US-based secessionist group known as Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), headed by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in 2020 in search of consensus amongst Sikhs in a bid to secede Punjab from India.

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Thakedar mentioned these in Punjab do not demand the referendum and added that folks in Canada, US or Britain do not have the appropriate to vote for the secession.

“It is ‘pakhand’ (sham) to mislead people. People are understanding it a source of income for them,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.

Pointing out the incident of defacing the Indian Consulate in San Francisco final 12 months allegedly by some pro-Khalistani miscreants, Thakedar mentioned ‘there is no hand of Sikhs in this’.

Talking on final month’s Ajnala violence by supporters of ‘Warris Punjab de’ chief and Khalistani separatist chief Amritpal Singh, Thakedar mentioned he is aware of nothing about Khalistan however ‘earned a lot on the name of it’.

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“He (Amritpal Singh) himself, when he was in Dubai, was clean-shaven. He was not a (traditional) Sikh. He does not know anything about Sikh history. I must add that several Amritpal like him will come because those who are used by ISI, they are not used for lifetime,” he added.

The former pro-Khalistan chief lauded PM Modi’s work for the nation’s Sikh group. He mentioned PM Modi has labored ‘to meet major demands put forward by members of the Sikh community’.