US panel seeks sanctions against RAW for alleged targeting of Khalistan separatists

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom on Tuesday recommended the imposition of sanctions against India’s foreign intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing for its alleged involvement in plots to assassinate pro-Khalistan separatists.

Khalistan is a proposed independent nation for Sikhs.

The panel, which an independent American government agency that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion and makes policy suggestions, also recommended that US President Donald Trump’s administration impose targeted sanctions on individuals such as Vikash Yadav, a former Research and Analysis Wing officer.

The US has charged Yadav with murder-for-hire and money laundering in connection with an alleged plot to kill Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.

Citing alleged “culpability in severe violations of religious freedom”, the panel said that persons such as Yadav and entities such as the Research and Analysis Wing must be barred from entering the country or have their assets frozen, or both.

The commission reiterated its recommendation that India be designated a “country of particular concern” for allegedly “engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations”. This is the sixth time that the panel has made this recommendation, which Washington has so far not accepted.

The latest recommendations were made in the panel’s annual report and are not binding.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs...

Read more