Sikh Restaurant Owner Receives Threats For Anti-Khalistan Video In London, report

A Sikh restaurant owner in London, Harman Singh Kapoor and his family have claimed that they have been receiving constant online threats after they posted a video about the Khalistan movement on social media, Khalsa Vox reported.

This comes despite repeated assurances by police of safety and special safeguarding measures. The family has experienced three attacks, and they do not feel safe, according to Khalsa Vox, a portal on news related to Punjab politics, history, culture, and heritage.

Harman's restaurant was attacked by pro-Khalistan supporters, an incident that occurred after the Indian High Commission in London was vandalised last month.

Harman then posted a video which garnered two million views in two days, leading to abusive calls, social media trolling, and threats against him and his family.

He claimed that the threats began after he posted a video on TikTok, in which he said, "This Khalistan movement started a while back and then it died down. Today again, a section of people who are settled in Canada, in England and Australia want Khalistan but those in India don't want it."

Harman said that following the video, he received death threats and his restaurant was attacked. The attackers demanded that he remove the video, raise pro-Khalistan slogans, and burn the Indian flag, or face death.

Harman said his wife and his daughter even received several rape threats. "Our address was put online with calls to rape and kill them. Videos of miscreants licking the pictures of my wife and daughter were posted as well," he added, according to Bitter Winter.

An independent report commissioned by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed concerns over the rising influence of pro-Khalistan extremists within the British Sikh community, Khalsa Vox reported.

The Bloom Review, an independent report commissioned by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has called on the Rishi Sunak government to address the issue urgently and safeguard most of the Sikhs in the UK who do not support the extremist ideology.

The report stressed on the timeliness of addressing the issue. The report noted that the Sikh communities in the UK face coercion and intimidation by fringe Khalistani elements, Khalsa Vox reported. These pro-Khalistan groups artificially inflate their influence and attract disproportionate attention by lobbying political bodies under the guise of human rights activism.

As per the news report, the actions of pro-Khalistan groups create a false image of legitimacy which is not according to the beliefs of the Sikh faith. It is important to understand that Khalistani separatists do not represent the views of most of British Sikh communities, as per the Khalsa Vox report.