Urgent national security meet sought after “threat to life warnings” based on Indian “hit list”

A cross-party group of MPs have requested an urgent meeting with UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat following reports of “threat to life warnings” being given to British Sikhs.

Reports of the “Osman warnings” hit UK news this week, as some targeted spoke with The Times about the situation. Despite hollow suggestions the warnings from West Midlands Police were to do with internal fractures within Sikh communities, panthic (Sikh path/community focused) groups and UK politicians have connected the threats to an Indian State “hit list”.

The now well-known anti-Sikh transnational repression agenda of India has led to the MPs issuing an open letter to Tugendhat requesting a meeting to address concerns of Sikh constituents, who have reached out to their political reps regarding the issue.

Indian media have released various “hit lists” of Sikhs they are targeting, lists which often place gangster types alongside activists, getting allegations of terrorism conflated with Khalistani advocacy (which is largely illegal in India) to justify the targeting of human rights activists. Such lists have previously included the likes of Shaheed (martyr) Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar (assassinated in Canada) and Shaheed Bhai Avtar Singh Khanda (died of suspected poisoning in the UK), both who passed away in 2023. Both were openly threatened by Indian nationalists, with Khanda even being named by an Indian Army figure as someone who would be “eliminated” just months before he suddenly passed.

One such list featuring Khanda was shown to Jagtar Singh Johal, the political prisoner who has been arbitrarily detained since 2017 by the Indian State, to interrogate the Scotsman on which activists he is connected with, and thus who India can target next. This occurred months before a series of raids on activists were carried out by UK counterterror units, which Indian media had intimate detail of (including the leaked names of those raided), whilst quoting a government source saying the raids where the result of “diplomatic pressure”.

Slough’s Labour Party MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi spoke in parliament today (18.01.24) stating he was “seeking reassurance from the government that it is taking appropriate steps to support and protect the British Sikh community”, with concerns based on “an intelligence ‘hit list’ appeared on Indian broadcast news naming 20 Sikhs in the diaspora as ‘enemies of the state’, including the now deceased Hardeep Singh Nijjar as well as six British Sikhs.”

The issue of UK Sikhs being threatened by the Indian State (and fanatical supporters) due to advocating for the Khalistan (free Sikh homeland) movement has become more widely recognised since Canadian and US authorities exposed India’s anti-Sikh transnational repression program last year. Yet, many within the community feel Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Government have not adequately addressed the issue to this day.

One Sikh man given a recent Osman warning, who is in his thirties, said to The Times he had tried to find out from West Midlands police who was behind the threat against him and his family, but was told that they could not give any more information. “They’ve just told me to take security steps to protect myself,” he said. “The police haven’t done anything else.”

Speaking on the situation, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said:

“The first thing to know about this situation, is that suggestions the warnings relate to internal Sikh community disputes in the UK are baseless and irresponsible. Whilst there are tensions and the possibility of petty conflicts turning into something physical is there, this is far away from the very real threat posed towards Sikh activists from the Indian State.

“With three deaths of Sikh activists attributed to the Indian State last year, Sikhs across the world will be heartened to see UK MPs – led by Tan Dhesi – recognise the source of these threats. Efforts to have this addressed by the UK Security Minister are being applauded, and now Sikhs across the world are waiting on tangible action from the UK government.”