Online Desk: Over 60,000 US-Sikh nationals took part in the second phase of Khalistan Referendum and voted in a historic event organized by secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) at the California State Capitol in Sacramento – under the protection of US snipers & police.

Earlier on January 28, this year, over 127,000 the US-Sikhs had voted for Khalistan Referendum in the first phase for the first time on the American soil, just weeks after the US government announced it had prevented the Indian state from assassinating on the US soil the prominent pro-Khalistan leader and India’s most wanted man, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Several thousand Sikhs were unable to cast their votes in the first phase. The Sunday 31st March voting was organized by the SFJ to accommodate those Sikhs who were unable to vote at the end of the first voting phase, overseen by the independent Punjab Referendum Commission (PRC). The voting was held amid tight security, as US police and sniper kept a close watch.

At the break of dawn on the voting day, nearly 20000 Sikh men and women queued to cast their votes. Throughout the day, thousands of Sikhs stayed at the centre, chanting devotional Sikhism lyrics, calling for the establishment of Khalistan and condemning the assassination plots of Sikhs by Narendra Modi’s Hindutva regime. The voting was held months after Khalistan Referendum’s Canada lead Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed by the Indian agents inside Canada’s biggest Gurdwara and the US secret services foiled a plot by the Indian govt to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is leading the worldwide Khalistan Referendum campaign.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Attorney at Law and General Counsel to SFJ paid tribute to “Shaheed Kaunke who worked tirelessly for the cause of right to self-determination of Sikhs”.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun told the crowd: “The issue of Sikhs starts in 1947 when they should have been liberated but instead they went under Indian occupation. From 1950 Hindutva started suppressing Sikhs to end and dilute their identity and that effort continues. In 1984, the Hindutva Congress regime assaulted the holiest Sikh place, the Golden Temple, in Operation Blue Star and committed genocide of thousands of Sikhs. The genocide that started under Congress continues under BJP and Modi.

“We are calling for the political death of Modi, through democratic means. The Indian state is involved in the genocide of Sikhs. Sikhs will do everything in their power to end Indian hegemony and establish their own homeland.”

The Punjab Referendum Commission announced a new date for the Khalistan Referendum, which is scheduled to take place on July 28th, 2024 in Calgary, Canada.