The Sikh Federation UK (SFUK) plans to make a formal demand, likely on Monday, for a coroner’s inquest into the death of Khalistani activist Avtar Singh Khanda in Birmingham last June, according to sources aware of the plan.
Pro-Khalistani Sikhs also plan to hold a demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in London on October 2, accusing the Indian government of involvement in the death of a pro-Khalistan activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada. The protest is part of a coordinated strategy by Sikh separatists in various countries.
‘Death threats’
In seeking an investigation by a coroner, the SFUK and Khanda’s family plan to highlight that the activist had allegedly “received a number of threats to his life from individuals connected to the Indian state”, sources said. They will further submit that Khanda’s death “was recorded as being from acute myeloid leukaemia, which can be caused by radiation poisoning”.
Khanda is said to have been the mentor and trainer of Amritpal Singh, who briefly ran amok as a leader of the pro-Khalistan Waris Punjab De in Punjab earlier this year. Khanda was also suspected of being the face of the protest outside the Indian High Commission in London in March, which had pulled down the Indian flag that flies in front of the building.
Diagnosed with leukaemia
Khanda’s family have reportedly appointed a prominent London-based human rights barrister to represent them in what they suspect to be a case of foul play. The U.K.’s Daily Mail tabloid reported that Khanda’s mother Charanjeet Kaur claimed her son was ‘killed by poisoning’, noting that the 35-year old had been diagnosed with leukaemia just four days before he died.
The U.K.’s West Midlands Police stated: “Following speculation surrounding the death of Avtar Singh Khanda, a thorough review was undertaken by West Midlands Police which concluded that there were no suspicious circumstances.”
However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claims allegedly linking Indian government agents to Nijjar’s death have provided the SFUK with a lever to pursue an inquiry independent of the police conclusions.
Canvassing British MPs
The Britain-based International Sikh Youth Federation was banned as a terrorist organisation from 2001 till 2006. By the time the ban was removed, it had morphed into the SFUK. On Monday, it is expected to ask why no autopsy was carried on Khanda’s body and why he was not provided security by British authorities.
The SFUK has also been writing to British MPs asking them to demand protection for Sikh separatists in the U.K. from Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Two such lawmakers with a significant number of Sikh constituents — Virendra Sharma, who represents the West London suburb of Southall, and Valerie Vaz, who stands from Walsall South in the West Midlands — confirmed they have received communications.
Mr. Sharma described it as “a standard letter. Ms. Vaz said: “I don’t like getting involved with Sikh Fed.”
