india

Updated: Nov 10, 2015 09:06 IST

Intelligence agencies have alerted the government that radical Sikh outfits are planning to hold massive protests during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United Kingdom between November 12 and 14.

An intelligence report reviewed by HT says Khalistani groups in the UK are planning to hold protests at venues like Wembley Stadium (where Modi is going to address the Indian diaspora), the Hindu temple, airport, 10 Downing Street (the residence of British Prime Minister David Cameron), Parliament Square, Indian high commission and outside the hotel where PM Modi would stay.

A UK-based non-governmental organisation has created a twitter handle (Dal Khalsa-UK) and a Google+ page to mobilise people for protests. The twitter handle of Sikh Federation, UK is indulging in anti-Modi visit propaganda.

Read: British media see Bihar shadow over PM Modi’s UK visit

The report says terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International has started an internet radio station called Babbar Khalsa Radio and it can be accessed from ‘www. khalsafauj.net’ and it regularly glorifies militants killed in Punjab during the 90s.

During the visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to ask his British counterpart David Cameron to rein in activities of Sikh radicals in the United Kingdom.

According to the report, few weeks back, Sikh Federation, UK held its annual convention at a gurdwara in Wolverhampton and was attended by around 2,500 people from across UK. The convention declared that the establishment of Khalistan is their goal and a donation of around £97000 was collected for the federation.

During the 80s and 90s, Punjab witnessed violent cycles of militancy, from active support from Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, resulting in killing of thousands of innocent people. Militants wanted to establish a separate Khalistan nation but it was crushed in the mid 90s by the state police working in tandem with the intelligence agencies.

Intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned that Pakistan’s ISI keeps on trying to revive militancy in Punjab and the July 27 Gurdaspur attack by three Pakistani terrorists was an effort in this direction.

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