Narco-terrorism in the Khalistan Movement

The earlier Khalistan movement viewed the smuggling and sale of drugs as a lucrative money-making venture, something that the Khalistani movement has adopted today.

In recent years, the Khalistan movement has found support among the unlikeliest of groups: the ultra-liberal elements in Western countries, especially Canada, the United States and Britain. Time and time again you see the emergence of uprisings that are defeated. However, in the case of the Khalistan movement, the external support and, even worse, the legitimacy of external players, contribute to serious national security problems related to the smuggling and sale of drugs and psychotropic substances in India. The term narco-terrorism came into common use in the 1980s, when cartels and drug syndicates based in Latin America began using acts of terror to expand their vile activities. US support for the Taliban in the fight against the Soviet Union in the 1980s further allowed drug syndicates to develop and flourish. The earlier Khalistan movement, like many other separatist and terrorist groups, viewed the smuggling and sale of drugs as a lucrative money-making venture, something that the Khalistani movement has adopted today.

INTENTIONAL SUPPORT
Support for the Khalistan movement may not be the official policy of the states involved. Yet their support is clear, even if its nature remains implicit. On the one hand, you see growing and expanding diplomatic ties between India and the US (and others) in defense, trade, technology and services. On the other hand, however, you see the ill-fated support of these terror elements in these countries under the guise of supporting a self-liberation movement. Such support is not complete, but it appears to be enough to allow these groups to escape justice and continue their radical agenda.
Whether it is Pannun in the US or Nijjar in Canada, the authorities’ nitpicking is shameful and, in the long run, damaging to their relations with India and their own efforts to combat terrorism. These countries may not feel the obvious impact of the current support for the Khalistan movement. Nevertheless, the inevitable consequence of supporting terrorism outside is confronting terrorism within. The regular events of these groups desecrating the Indian flag on India’s national days (Independence Day and Republic Day), especially in Britain, are also an example of this.

LESS SPOKEN ASPECT
The public understands that the Khalistan movement today is purely political, something many Wokes in Western countries like to believe. Yet the evidence emerging paints a very different picture. The narco-terrorist element of the Khalistan movement poses a compelling threat for the governments and its agencies to address in a timely manner. An astonishing factor that is seen emerging is that the movement is becoming a cartel in the form of an organized crime, with activities that extend extensively into the sale of drugs, psychotropic substances, kidnapping, money laundering and human trafficking, among others.
In August, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized several ‘secret bank lockers’ of Jasmeet Hakimzada in New Delhi and several other cities and discovered smuggled gold and diamonds. Hakimzada is an international drug smuggler and a member of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), which India designated as a terrorist organization in 2023. In recent years, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charges against several other individuals of KTF and other Khalistan-linked individuals involved in narco-terror cases. According to the publicly available information, the modus operandi of these terrorists is to sell drugs and narcotics in India and launder the money through Hawala through various channels. This laundered money is then used to perpetuate smuggling and narcotics trafficking, while also funding the Khalistan movement.
The money has been used by the Khalistan movement to influence the vast Sikh diaspora around the world through persuasion and coercion. The hundreds of individuals accused of criminal acts in the 1990s and 2000s were able to find their way to Canada, as did Nijjar, where they interpreted their escape from India as political asylum, not as an escape from justice for criminal acts such as theft . murder, possession of undeclared weapons, among others.
Drug smuggling as a way to make money was used by the Khalistan movement in the 1990s. But after the movement was dismantled and delegitimized, such cases also reduced. The recent strengthening of such measures is rooted in and supported by one stark reality: the demographic strength of Khalistani supporters in several countries where electoral politics have given them space to exert influence. For example, in Canada, regardless of the political orientation of the ruling government, it is known that without catering to the Sikh community, they will find it difficult to secure a victory in the elections. So Khalistani’s supporters use the laundered money to lobby and pressure to advance their interests.

SUPPORTING TERRORISM DEVELOPS TERRORISM
The support for terrorism, explicit or implicit, is terrorism. Whether it concerns conflicts in the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia or Europe, terrorism is a threat. The proponents of terrorism live in a fantasy land where they think that supporting terrorism elsewhere today will come back to haunt them. How misunderstood the policy of supporting terrorism can be from the experiences of Pakistan and the US. Their US support for the Taliban in the 1980s came back to haunt them not long after, when the US soldiers were killed by the Taliban. Similarly, Pakistan, which was so comfortable in embracing and supporting terrorism, learned the hard way how dangerous such acts were.
The US claims to be fighting terrorism, but its inability to curb the Khalistan movement is the abject failure of its principled stand against terrorism. What is even more hurtful is the implicit support and legitimacy it gave to the Khalistan movement with the Pannun case, in which Khalistan terrorists gained power through such an act. Lest one forget, Pakistan is still a dominant player in embracing terrorism. The country refuses to learn from its Taliban adventures and is now playing a major role in enabling drug trafficking in India, in collaboration with the Khalistan movement. The despicable economic situation did not prevent her support for terrorist activities. In 2020, Indian authorities reported efforts by Pakistan’s ISI to “link” the Khalistan movement with Kashmiri terror groups such as Hizbul Mujahideen through narco-terrorism.

In conclusion, there is an urgent need to recognize the narco-terrorist dimension of the Khalistan movement to defeat them and their radical agenda. The nonchalance of the US, Britain and Canada is a crucial obstacle to achieving such a goal. There is no easy way to fight terrorism and tough decisions have to be made. Working solely for petty electoral politics would bring disastrous benefits to these countries that today so shamefully back the Khalistani terrorists. The leadership and intelligentsia in these countries must recognize that now is the time to combat these radical ideologies. India’s zero tolerance policy towards terrorism is of utmost importance if we are to suppress and eliminate terrorism. The governments in the US, Britain and Canada must stand firm and not give in to their pernicious radical agenda of targeting children and youth with drugs, which are proving to be deadlier than bullets as they attack the soul of the nation. Rest assured, support for terrorism today would be a costly payback for these countries tomorrow by the same terrorist groups they so willingly support.

Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit is the Vice Chancellor of JNU.