NEW DELHI (Diya TV) —  Sikhs for Justice, a banned Khalistani separatist organization, issued another threat through their leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, telling Sikhs to boycott certain flights from India to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. Pannun released a video wherein he stated certain flights such as AI 187 and AI 189, from New Delhi to Toronto and AI 185, New Delhi to Vancouver and several others headed for Europe and Australia as being subject to boycott.

Decades after the Air India bombing in 1985 blamed on Khalistani separatists based in Canada, Pannun has gone on record several times in recent months calling for boycotts of Air India. The Indian government has already filed charges against Pannun for his past threats.

Pannun also mentioned flights AI 111 and AI 161 (New Delhi to London), AI 129 and AI 131 (Mumbai to London), AI 302 (New Delhi to Sydney), AI 308 (New Delhi to Melbourne), and AI 121 (New Delhi to Frankfurt).  In his video, he appealed for a complete boycott of Air India flights and other Indian-made goods and asked for “economic killing” of India. He further implored the Sikh community to remember the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the hands of her Sikh bodyguards 40 years ago, on October 31.

Air India is taking the threat seriously. “More and more measures are being taken to ensure that the operation of Air India is enough in terms of safety,” said an intelligence officer. “He [Pannun] is declared a wanted terrorist in the country, yet he lives free in countries like America, Britain, and Canada,” said another intelligence person. “It is ironic and alarming that these states allow a man who poses an open threat of resorting to violence against this country to function without censure,” said a high-ranking Indian intelligence officer.

The threat comes at a time of heightened tension between India and several Western nations, particularly Canada, which has been criticized for failing to curb the activities of Khalistani extremists. Indian intelligence officials believe that Pannun’s objective is to provoke radical elements and disrupt the growing cooperation between India and these countries.

The authorities have told the passengers to keep calm, saying that very stringent security measures are in place to protect all the flights and passengers. Air India has said that it is working closely with the law enforcement agencies to ensure that its operations are safe.