The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed an FIR against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor of the banned organization Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), for promoting Khalistan and offering Rs 11 crore to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from hoisting the national flag on Independence Day 2025.
The FIR, registered on August 19, 2025, alleges that Pannun hosted a “Meet the Press” at the Lahore Press Club, Pakistan, on August 10, 2025, while addressing journalists via video link from Washington, US. During the session, he openly rejected India’s sovereignty over Punjab and promoted the idea of Khalistan.
Pannun also unveiled SFJ’s new “Delhi Banayga Khalistan” map, which claims Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi as part of the envisioned Khalistan. According to the FIR, he offered Rs 11 crore to Sikh soldiers to stop the Prime Minister from hoisting the Tricolour at Red Fort on August 15, 2025.
Declared a designated “individual terrorist” by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in July 2020, Pannun faces multiple terror-related cases in India.
In a related development, Canadian police arrested Khalistani terrorist Inderjeet Singh Gosal on firearms charges in Ontario on September 23, 2025. Gosal, a member of SFJ, was a close associate of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Khalistani terrorist killed outside a gurdwara in British Columbia in June 2023.
The NIA’s move underscores India’s continued vigilance against cross-border Khalistani terror activities and attempts to undermine national sovereignty.