Police in the United Kingdom have advised a high-profile Sikh activist to significantly enhance his personal security, citing intelligence about threats from Hindu nationalist elements.
Police Intervention and Security Measures
Paramjeet Singh Pamma, 52, confirmed that officers visited his home and gave him verbal advice to increase his safety precautions. The advice included installing security cameras and reinforcing the locks on his doors.
Singh Pamma, a figure associated with the campaign for an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan, stated the threats are linked to the Indian government. He accused UK ministers of failing to adequately address what he called "relentless" transnational repression by India. The Indian embassy declined to comment on the matter.
A Pattern of Transnational Repression
This case emerges against a backdrop of increasing concern over foreign states targeting dissidents on British soil. MI5 reports that investigations into state threats have risen by 48% since 2022. In a significant development, the UK's Joint Committee on Human Rights listed India as a "country of concern" for transnational repression in its 2024-25 report, alongside China and Russia.
Singh Pamma is one of two Sikh nationalists in the UK who have told The Guardian they received such security advice. He claims the repression has become "relentless" and now crosses borders to affect families. Due to the threats, he has been forced to live separately from his own family.
International Context and Past Incidents
Singh Pamma said police began taking his complaints more seriously after the 2023 killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated intelligence agencies had linked the killing to Indian government agents. That same year, US prosecutors accused an agent of the Indian government of directing a plot to assassinate American citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil.
Singh Pamma reports he is now regularly visited by both local and counter-terrorism police, with the most recent visit occurring in October 2024. "I'm really very angry with the government that they did not take action when we were asking them to take action," he said.
The activist's claims present a diplomatic challenge for the UK, which is pursuing a closer relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, seen as a key partner to balance China's influence. A major UK-India trade deal was agreed in May 2024 after three years of negotiation.
Historical Background and Denials
The Indian government has long viewed the Sikh nationalist movement, which is largely diaspora-led, as a terrorist threat to national security. The movement seeks a homeland called Khalistan in the Punjab region.
Singh Pamma has faced serious allegations in Indian media, being reported as a former fundraiser for Babbar Khalsa International, a group investigators believe was responsible for the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing. He has called these claims "fake propaganda," condemned the act of terrorism, and welcomed any inquiry.
He details a history of persecution, stating his elder brother was killed by Indian police in 1991 for activism. Singh Pamma claims he was tortured multiple times before leaving India and being granted political asylum in the UK in 2000. He was arrested in 2010 on suspicion of involvement in a murder, but UK counter-terrorism police found no evidence. In 2015, he was detained in Portugal, but a judge rejected India's attempt to extradite him on terrorism charges.
Ongoing Intimidation and Community Concerns
Since moving to the UK, Singh Pamma claims to have been a regular victim of threats. In one incident, visitors came to his home with guns in broad daylight, telling neighbours he would be killed if he did not stop his activism. In another, a group broke his wife's car windows while his children watched from an upstairs window. Police questioned one individual but said they lacked evidence to charge anyone.
Most alarmingly, a member of the Sikh community told Singh Pamma he was offered £300,000 by another individual to kill him.
Another activist, Gurcharan Singh in Slough, has also been advised by UK police of credible threats to his safety. He maintains a private security team and receives police visits every two months. Before a planned protest in March 2024 against the Indian foreign minister's visit to London, officers told him it was not safe to attend and his safety could not be guaranteed.
Singh believes the UK government is aware of the threats but is being "very diplomatic," potentially waiting to use the issue as political leverage rather than prioritising safety. "If people like us are being threatened and quietened to this degree... this idea somehow that they can seek British interest in that region through diplomatic channels is fundamentally flawed," he said.
A Home Office spokesperson stated they do not comment on individual cases but emphasised that the safety of British Sikhs, and everyone in the UK, remains the highest priority. The Indian High Commission in London did not respond to a request for comment.
