With the Punjab Police hot on the heels of fugitive radical leader Amritpal Singh, pro Khalistani groups have now resorted to threatening the US-based family of Punjab Chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
Mann’s daughter, Seerat Kaur Mann, who lives in Seattle, wrote a social media post stating how she and her 17-year-old brother Dilshan have been targeted “regarding the situation in Punjab”.
Reacting to Seerat’s post, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal appealed to the Indian Embassy in the US to ensure the safety of the US-based children of Punjab CM.
“Read reports of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s daughter receiving death threats in the USA. It is an act of extreme cowardice. I appeal to the Indian Embassy in the US to ensure her safety,” Maliwal tweeted.
“For the past several days, my brother and I have been receiving threats online, through the phone, and even during meetings that are held in the gurudwara here regarding the situation in Punjab right now,” the 22-year-old posted.
“I’d like to reiterate that we are NOT at all involved with the decision-making of any politician in India, particularly the CM of Punjab. So, I don’t understand why we are being targeted,” Seerat wrote.
“We have been very concerned about our safety the past week and therefore would appreciate that if you hear or see anything about us, you can understand this and can explain the same to someone if needed,” she appealed.
Mann’s daughter, and her brother, live with their mother, Inderpreet Kaur Garewal, in the US. Garewal and Mann separated in 2015.
Sources in the Punjab government told The New Indian that state government officials are talking to their “counterparts” in the US.
The call is suspected to be from a pro-Khalistani element who said that whatever her father (Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann) is doing in Punjab is not right. The caller also abused Seerat and her father during the call.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government has come under fire from the pro Khalistani lobby for taking action against Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh.
Amritpal Singh is on the run after a massive crackdown by the Punjab Police on him and his pro Khalistani organisation, Waris Punjab De, for their anti-national activities in the state.
The move came after Amritpal and his supporters stormed into the Ajnala police station in Punjab to free one of his key aides, who was arrested in a kidnapping case.
Amritpal Singh and his supporters also injured six policemen during the attack on the Ajnala police station.
Despite his total disregard for the rule of law, the pro Khalistani lobby has raised voices in support of Amritpal’s cause in the US, Australia, Canada and the UK – countries that have a sizeable Sikh population.
The pro Khalistani supporters also attacked embassies at various places. In the United Kingdom’s Birmingham, they attacked the Indian embassy and pulled down the Indian tricolour.