“Khanda was poisoned…India killed two in the UK…There’s no escape”

One of India’s leading national security writers has publicly stated India’s “corridors of power” had British Sikh activist Shaheed (martyr) Bhai Avtar Singh Khanda “poisoned”.

Anirudhya Mitra, a former journalist turned screenwriter and national security propagandist who boasts about access to senior government and intelligence agents, made the statement as part of promotion for his new book, “The Delhi Directive: Once You’re Marked, There’s No Escape”.

Sikh Federation UK, a community legal and political advocacy organisation, shared clips of Mitra exposing India’s overseas terror whilst again demanding the UK government “publicly acknowledge and call out India’s extra-judicial killings”. Khanda, a leading figure of the Khalistan (free Sikh homeland) movement and a respected UK community voice, died in 2023 from suspected poisoning, although the official cause of death was ruled as leukemia, which Mitra says was done for “protection…on the record”. Khanda was openly cited as a target for India for years before his death, based on entirely unproven and at times provably false accusations of terrorism linked to his Khalistan activism. According to Mitra, Khanda was one of TWO killings India conducted in the UK, with another 64 (66 altogether) overseas targets killed by Narendra Modi’s regime.

Read more on Khanda’s death and targeting here:

• Fabricated Indian media allegations against Khanda
• “India assassinated him, UK Covered it up” – Thousands attend Sikh activist funeral | SikhPA
• Openly threatened by Indian media

The death of Khanda was part of a transnational repression campaign which was first spoken on by former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2023, which caused a geopolitical ripple still ongoing today. Trudeau spoke in parliament regarding the assassination of Shaheed Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Khalistan leader shot dead at the Gurdwara where he was President in Surrey (BC), just days after Khanda died. It was later revealed by US authorities that the FBI then foiled an Indian State directed attempt to have Gurpatwant Singh Pannun killed the same week. Pannun is a New York based Khalistan activist and lead of Sikhs For Justice, heading up the Khalistan Referendum campaign.

Various Sikh public figures and activists were killed from Italy to India in either assassinations or mysterious circumstances from 2022-2024 in incidents now considered part of India’s anti-Sikh transnational repression campaign. Reports from outlets including Bloomberg News, Washington Post and Guardian newspaper later confirmed this campaign of overseas Indian nationalist terror, via interviews with intelligence agency sources.

India have since bragged about the overseas terrorism, which is a line Mitra seems to be pushing as part of a relentless media campaign for his new book. His promotional tour for the book has seen him do dozens of interviews, where he praises figures like India’s head of intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) Ajit Doval for “protecting India” whilst menacingly promoting the idea of a “Delhi Directive” which leaves any target “marked for death” and unable to “escape”. The promotion of India’s transnational terror is believed to be partly driven by Modi’s attempt to appeal to a fanatical Hindutva (Hindu extremist) fanbase, which views him as a new breed of “Indian strongman”.

Within this promotional effort, Mitra has also spoken on how the Bishnoi gang -an Indian nationalist terror outfit linked to a current extortion crisis in Canada– “works for” the Indian government, carrying out killings on the likes of world renowned musician Sidhu Moosewala and aforementioned Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar with “New Delhi’s backing and blessing”, going on to say India has many “mercenaries” at its disposal.

With individuals working at the behest of India now on trial in Canada and the USA, Sikh groups have been questioning why the UK is still ignoring blatant foreign interference on its soil. Along with Sikh Federation UK, groups not just in Britain but also in Canada (regarding the Bishnoi quotes) will be reincentivised to press their governments on India’s anti-Sikh transnational terror.

Only weeks ago did Guardian news report India is still looking to kill two other UK Sikh activists, underlining the importance of UK authorities taking the revelations from Mitra seriously.

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