The FBI has warned Khalistan separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of an imminent threat to his life, which has led to an investigation into the latest danger facing the prominent Sikh activist. The information came from Pannun and his organisation.
Pannun, general counsel of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), told CBS News that FBI agents came to his New York City home earlier in the day. He said they warned him of what he called an “imminent threat to my life.”
Agents link threat to planned Edmonton referendum
According to Pannun, the agents said they were looking into several leads. He said they tied the danger to a possible trip he might make to Canada to take part in a planned Khalistan referendum, but they gave no further details.
Pannun holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He has been an outspoken critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Canadian police warnings and the October 18 vote
The warning arrives days before a referendum that SFJ has organised in Edmonton, Alberta, on October 18. Sikh voters there will be asked whether Punjab, a state in northern India, should become an independent country called Khalistan.
In a statement, Pannun argued that the key issue was not whether he would survive another alleged assassination plot. He asked instead whether threats against his life could stop Sikhs from exercising their right to self-determination.
Pannun also said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had recently warned him about death threats and possible security risks linked to his home in Ontario. SFJ has maintained that the Edmonton referendum will go ahead as planned on October 18, despite reported threats against its organisers.
Questions over Canada-India security ties
The warnings come as Canada and India renew diplomatic contact. On October 13, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Modi reaffirmed their commitment to a comprehensive economic partnership agreement and stronger bilateral security cooperation.
Pannun criticised Ottawa’s push to expand trade and security ties with New Delhi, noting that Sikh separatist organisers were reportedly receiving warnings about threats to their lives and homes. He urged the Canadian government to say whether India had halted assassination operations in Canada, or whether Ottawa had changed how it handles such threats.
Responding to the FBI warning, Pannun restated his commitment to the Khalistan movement. He said: “Punjab’s independence or death, nothing in between.” He acknowledged that Indian authorities might kill him before Khalistan is established, but said he remained determined that future Sikh generations would live in an independent Punjab.
Pannun was previously the target of an assassination plot in the United States in 2023. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta and former Indian intelligence officer Vikash Yadav in connection with that conspiracy. The plot emerged around the same time that Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh separatist and a friend of Pannun, was shot dead outside his gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023. In September 2023, Canadian officials said they had evidence linking Nijjar’s killing to agents of the Indian government.
