On Wednesday, the Union Home Ministry submitted a statement to an Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) tribunal, claiming that the Khalistani terrorist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) was behind efforts to provoke the Muslim, Tamil, and Christian communities in Manipur to seek independence from India. 

This information about SFJ was included in a background note prepared by intelligence agencies and shared as part of the Ministry's submission to the tribunal. On January 27th, the tribunal confirmed the ban on the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) for another five years. SFJ, led by Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was initially banned in 2019 for five years. In July 2024, the ban was extended for another five years. The tribunal's note stated that SFJ had planned terrorist activities, including threats against Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. 

“SFJ has been trying to provoke on social media, the Sikh Soldiers of the Indian Army for mutiny by asking them to leave the Indian Army and join SFJ. Pannun had urged Sikh Soldiers to join the SFJ movement and offered ₹5,000 more than the salary given by the Indian government. He also tried to provoke the Sikh soldiers posted in Ladakh not to fight for India against Chinese aggression. Pannun also tried to provoke the Punjab Police officials urging them not to stop farmers going to Jalandhar, Pathankot and Abohar and to stop the Prime Minister from his upcoming rallies,” the Union Home Ministry’s submission said. “Dividing people on communal lines by provoking minority communities against the other communities has become a major tool for the SFJ to push up its anti-India agenda,” the note reportedly stated.

The note also mentioned that the SFJ, led by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, had been encouraging the Christian community in Manipur to demand a separate country. Additionally, it claimed that the group was urging Tamils and Muslims to push for the creation of ‘Dravidstan’ and ‘Urduistan’ respectively. The government also stated that SFJ activists and supporters were involved in two railway sabotage incidents in Punjab in 2023.

According to the government, on March 14, 2023, following instructions from Pannun, clips were removed from a track in Lehra Mahout village, Bhatinda. A few days later, around 50 clamps were taken off the railway track near Pathrala Railway Station, also on his orders. "Sabotage railway tracks in Punjab to cause derailment or accident of passenger and goods trains, particularly those ferrying migrant labourers to take revenge of recent killings of pro-Khalistani Elements based abroad," according to the government, was what Pannun instructed PKEs to do.

In 2023, the Punjab Police filed a case against the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) for issuing death threats to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Since 2018, more than 122 cases have been filed against the SFJ by various state police forces and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In May 2023, violence broke out in the northeastern state of Manipur between the Meitei and Kuki tribal communities.