01-12-2020 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA 01-12-2020 to 15-12-2020 9
SFJ annouces $1M aid for agitating
farmers, AGENCIES VIGILANT
New Delhi : As thousands of farmers
from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are
rallying at Delhi's three interstate border
points, banned secessionist group Sikhs For
Justice (SFJ) is trying to fish in troubled
waters by announcing $1 million aid for
farmers who suffered injuries or damage to
their vehicles while facing police action in
Haryana.
The information has sent security agencies
into a tizzy, with many deployed on
protest spots in plainclothes to keep a close
tab on SFJ supporters who may mingle with
protesters as part of their "ill-intention" to
lure innocent farmers and take undue advantage
of the situation in the name of helping
them.
In its recent announcement through a
social media platform, the SFJ said it will
provide $1 million aid to farmers from
"Punjab and Haryana who have suffered
bodily injuries or damage to their vehicles
while facing police action during their hardfought
journey to Delhi".
The SFJ's message mentions its plan for
opening a 24-hour call centre on November
30 in the US, Canada, the UK, France and
Germany to accept online applications from
New York : Christina, a 74-
year-old woman, only spent
about five minutes buying a
toaster oven at Macy's flagship
store in New York city on Black
Friday morning. "It was quick, it
was a short line. It is not very
busy now," the shopper, who did
not give her surname, told
Xinhua. There were a few dozen
farmers of Punjab and Haryana to reimburse
for their losses and also to register votes for
its "Khalistan Referendum". "SFJ is kickstarting
the Khalistan Referendum voting
from London on August 15, 2021 for the
independence of Punjab," mentions the message
circulated by SFJ's US-based General
Counsel and group's key leader Gurpatwant
Singh Pannun -- designated a terrorist by the
Indian government. Assuring farmers of
Punjab and Haryana that the SFJ will bear all
the losses they have suffered, Pannun stated
that "once Punjab is liberated from Indian
occupation, the loans of the farmers will be
waived and free power supply granted".
The group has also threatened to take up
the matter at the international level if the
Indian government did not repeal its three
contentious farm laws enacted in September.
"If the Modi government does not scrap the
farm bills, as demanded by the farmers, SFJ
will initiate legal action against India at the
international level with the backing of various
kisan organisations," Pannun said in the
message.
Security establishment, including anti-terror
agencies, have since intensified efforts
against the group banned by the MHA via a
Black Friday in-store shopping
drops amid pandemic
in-store shoppers at Macy's flagship
store, Saks Fifth Avenue
and other retailers' stores in New
York City on Black Friday, a
sharp contrast to the crowded
scenes in the same time any
other year. Black Friday, one of
the most anticipated days by
consumers, shifted its consumption
patterns due to the COVID-
19 pandemic this year. More
shoppers have opted for online
sales, and in-store shoppers tend
to buy things much faster than
before.
"This year is scary. You want
to get out of the store quicker to
protect yourself even though we
have masks. We have to prevent
socializing and gathering with
large crowds. We have to keep a
distance," the 74-year old shopper
said. U.S. consumers' online
spending made a new record
high of $5.1 billion on
Thanksgiving Day with a yearon-year
growth of 21.5 per cent,
according to the data issued by
Adobe Analytics. As of
Thursday afternoon, coronavirus
deaths have added up to 24,241
and confirmed cases to 302,522
in New York City, according to
The City, a project that tracks the
spread of confirmed COVID-19
infections and fatalities in New
York City.
notification dated July 10 last
year under the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act
(UAPA) following its "anti-
India activities" to disrupt
law and order in the country.
However, the security officials
maintained, no suspicious
activity of the group
has been noticed in the
national capital or in the
interstate border areas so far,
even as central agencies are
keeping a strict vigil to avoid
any untoward activity.
It is the third such message
circulated by the SFJ in
the past one week. The SFJ
earlier this week had called
upon farmers of Punjab and
Haryana to raise Khalistan
flag at the India Gate here on
the 12th anniversary of a terrorist attack in
Mumbai on November 26, following which
the national capital was put on high alert.
The SFJ had announced anti-India campaign,
'Referendum-2020', in November this year to
seek secession of Punjab from India. The
move followed inputs that the Sikh community
across India has rejected the Inter-
Services Intelligence (ISI) sponsored propaganda
of 'Referendum-2020'. Pakistani intelligence
agency ISI has been backing the
malicious campaign launched by the SFJ as a
large number of Pakistani Twitter handles
have started tweeting in favour of the socalled
'Referendum'.
Dubbing Sikhs in Kashmir as "freedom
fighters and Sikh soldiers", the US-based
Khalistani radical outfit has urged them to
support its most infamous agenda,
'Referendum-2020'. The group is already on
the radar of the National Investigation
Agency (NIA), which has been taking action
against its key leaders such as Pannun and
many others. In the beginning of September,
based on NIA's inputs, the MHA had issued
an order to attach the properties of Pannun
and SFJ's Canada coordinator Hardeep Singh
Nijjar.
Farmers reject Centre's offer to shift
to Burari, says its conditional
New Delhi : The farmers on Sunday rejected the proposal by the
Centre to shift all agitation to Delhi's Burari ground and lift the
blockade at the borders. The farmers said the offer of talks is conditional
and they will not move to the Burari.
The farmers had been instructed to stay put wherever they were
till further instructions from their leaders. Bharatiya Kisan Union
(BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said they have also decided to stay at
Ghazipur. "We will not leave this spot. We will not move to Burari.
The Centre should come forward and listen to the farmers," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asserted that he was
committed to the welfare of hardworking farmers, and the Centres'
new farm laws were a step in this direction.
Refusing to accept the Centre's offer to shift to the Burari ground
in north-west Delhi to hold their proposed protest against the three
central farm laws, thousands of farmers continued to rally for the
third consecutive day on Sunday at Delhi's three interstate border
points. As the farmers continued to protest peacefully by shouting
slogans against the government at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur
entry/exit points on the Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Bahadurgarh and
Delhi-Uttar Pradesh routes respectively, their numbers were swelling
as more and more farmers were arriving at the spots.
The farmers were adamant on their demand that the Centre revoke
the three farm laws to end the impasse, though they were not clear
about their next course of action as leaders of multiple farmers'
unions were holding meetings since Sunday morning to decide on
their future strategy.
Farmer Satbir Singh, a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib district in
Punjab, asserted at the protest site that it was the "biggest revolution
against the three farm laws enacted by the Central government".
"Even the Punjabi diaspora in the US and Canada have come in
support of the farmers' protest. We will not move back an inch until
and unless they repeal the laws. We will not go back until these draconian
laws are done away with," Satbir said.
He asserted that a general consensus among the protesting farmers
was to refuse the Union Home Minister's offer to shift to the
Burari ground before the government holds parleys with them. "We
will not move from the Singhu and Kondli borders. The supply chain
has been disrupted and the pressure is mounting on the government."
Drone spotted in J&K's
Jammu district along
India-Pakistan border
Jammu : Alert security
forces deployed on the international
border with Pakistan spotted
a drone in Jammu district in
J&K and fired to force it to
return to the neighbouring country,
police said on Sunday.
Police said the drone was
spotted on the Indian side of the
international border in Arnia
Sector in RS Pura area on
Saturday evening. "The BSF
troops fired at the drone after
which it withdrew to the
Pakistan side," police said.
Drones have been used in
recent times by militants and
their handlers to drop weapons
etc on the Indian side of the
international border.
of weapons two months back, aerial vehicles along the international
border and the line of con-
After shooting down a drone the security forces are maintaining
extra vigil against unmanned trol in Jammu and that carried a huge consignment
Kashmir.