GUWAHATI: Ulfa (I) chief Paresh Baruah in an open letter asked the US-based pro-Khalistan group to "refrain from issuing such undesired remarks", a day after it threatened Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The Khalistani group alleged that the Waris Punjab De members lodged in a jail in the state are being harassed and tortured and CM Sarma will be ‘held accountable’ for that.
After Assam Police received the information of the audio clip of Sikhs For Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Sarma's security was strengthened.
Assam CM Sarma is currently protected under Z+ with CRPF cover.
Assam Police have also registered a case and launched an investigation into the case, Assam DGP GP Singh said.
The audio clip, purportedly by Pannun, designated as a terrorist by the central government in 2020, said, "This message is for Assam CM Himanta Sarma. Your government is harassing and torturing pro-Khalistan Sikhs in Assam. And also torturing those who are in jail. Listen carefully, CM Sarma, the fight is between pro-Khalistan Sikhs and the Indian regime. Sarma, you should not fall prey to this violence. We are seeking the liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation through a peaceful democratic process of the Khalistan referendum. Sarma, if your government is going to torture and harass Sikhs, you will be held accountable."
Responding to the audio clip, Ulfa (I) leader Baruah wrote in his open letter to Sikhs For Justice, "...that the alarm you have sent to the Chief Minister of Assam by telephone seems unfortunate and misunderstood, we feel. This is because in the aftermath of Operation Bluestar" at the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984, "a wave of anti-Sikhism spread throughout India" but "tholgiri (indigenous) people of Assam refrained from any mental or physical harassment of the Sikhs living in Assam and the West-South-East Asia [WeSEA] region".
Baruah’s letter went on to say, "There is no example of a Sikh in Assam or West-South-East Asia [WeSEA] being killed or harassed during the brutal killing of Sikhs in the subsequent period of 31 October 1984, when the late Prime Minister of colonial India, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguard," adding that, "Even the political leaders of Assam at the time abstained from making negative comments against the freedom-loving Sikhs and today is no exception. This is the generosity of the Tholgiri people of Assam and its customs."
Baruah pointed out that the indigenous people of Assam know the history of the Sikhs, love the revolution, and understand the essence of the freedom struggle. For that reason, the leaders of 'Sikhs for Justice' were urged by Baruah to refrain from issuing such undesired remarks.
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