Khalistan Supporter Gopal Singh Chawla Met JuD Chief Hafiz Saeed: Photographs Sparks Controversy
Photographs have surfaced showing Inter Services Intelligence’s link with Khalistan Militants. In the photographs Jammat-Ud Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed is seen with Sikh Militant Gopal Singh Chawla in Lahore.
Lahore, April 17: Photographs have surfaced, showing Inter Services Intelligence’s link with Khalistan Militants. In the photographs Jammat-Ud Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed is seen with Sikh Militant Gopal Singh Chawla in Lahore. Pakistan based terror outfits are backing Khalistan Sikh Militants to launch a proxy war against India.
Gopal Singh Chawla, under the instructions from the Pakistani authorities, recently stopped Indian officials from entering Gurudwara Panja Sahib on April 14, reported ANI. On April 12, after reaching Wagha – the first station after train crosses over to Pakistan, the Sikh pilgrims were not allowed to meet the officials. It is a standard practice by the embassy officials to help their citizens in the country they visit, so according to set protocols the embassy officials went to meet the Indian officials.
A group of around 1800 Sikh pilgrims travelled to Pakistan on April 12 on the occasion of Baisakhi, which marks the 320th birth anniversary of the Khalsa, to visit Sikh Shrines in Pakistan. Both the countries had signed a bilateral agreement in 1974 that allows citizens of the two nations to make pilgrimages in each other’s territories.,
Supporting Pakistan's anti-India propaganda, the Sikh militants also placed posters of Sikh Referendum 2020 in Parikarma of Gurudwara Panja Sahib, the holy Sikh shrine, reported ANI. According to media reports Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, who was to greet the pilgrims on Baisakhi, was also "compelled" to return for unspecified security reasons while on his way to Gurdwara Panja Sahib.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement described it as an ‘inexplicable diplomatic discourtesy’ in the violation of the Vienna Convention. According to MEA’s statement, this also violated the 1992 bilateral protocol on the treatment of each other's diplomats, which the two countries ‘reaffirmed’ recently
The terror outfits in Pakistan are backed by the country's intelligence agencies, including the ISI. Gopal Singh Chawla was removed from the post of general secretary in 2015 by Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC), but continued to be a chairman of Punjabi Sikh Sangat. According to reports of CNN News 18, Pakistan has also given Visas to Sikh extremists of Canada and ISI handler Abbas Rana was also spotted at Pakistan's Gurudwara.
(With inputs from ANI)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2018 04:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).