The US Department of Justice today announced criminal charges against an Indian government official for his involvement in the attempted murder of a US citizen in New York City.
The criminal case was announced in the same week that two members of an Indian inquiry committee investigating the conspiracy were in Washington to meet with US authorities about the investigation.
Also this week, Canada revealed that it had identified India's top diplomat in the country as a person of interest in the murder of a Sikh activist in the country and announced his expulsion, as well as that of five other diplomats.
“The Department of Justice will be relentless in holding accountable anyone - regardless of their position or proximity to power - who seeks to harm and silence American citizens,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland, quoted in the statement announcing the charges.
The murder-for-hire plot was first disclosed by federal prosecutors last year, when they announced charges against a man, Nikhil Gupta, who was recruited by an unidentified Indian government official at the time to orchestrate the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in New York.
Gupta was extradited from the Czech Republic to the United States in June, following his arrest in Prague last year.
In a statement, the target of the assassination, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, stressed that the indictment means that the US government has “reaffirmed its commitment to its fundamental constitutional duty to protect the life, liberty and freedom of expression of US citizen at home and abroad”.
He added: “The attempt on my life on American soil is the glaring case of India's transnational terrorism, which has become a challenge to America's sovereignty and a threat to freedom of expression and democracy, which unequivocally proves that India believes in using bullets while the pro-Khalistan Sikhs believe in votes.”
In the 1970s and 1980s, a bloody rebellion in northern India was crushed by government repression, with thousands killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
The movement for Chalistan has gradually lost its political power, but still retains supporters in the Indian state of Punjab and among the Sikh diaspora.
Although the active insurgency ended years ago, the Indian government has repeatedly warned that Sikh separatists are trying to stage a comeback.
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