Two held for ‘Khalistan graffiti’ in Delhi

PTI, Jan 29, 2023, 5:48 PM IST

Delhi Police’s Special Cell has arrested two men in connection with alleged “anti-national” and “Khalistan-related graffiti’ that appeared on walls in areas of west Delhi on January 19, ahead of Republic Day, officials said on Sunday.

The walls were painted with slogans like “Khalistan Zindabad” and “Referendum 2020”, they said.

“Two perpetrators have been arrested by the Special Cell in a case related to pro-Khalistan graffiti,” a senior police officer said.

“On the early hours of January 19, multiple graffiti raising objectionable slogans appeared in the areas of Vikaspuri, Janakpuri, Paschim Vihar, Peeragarhi and other parts of west Delhi,” Delhi Police PRO Suman Nalwa had earlier said.

Accordingly, a case under sections 154B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code was registered by the Special Cell, Nalwa had said.

Since Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is a banned organisation, it is trying to make itself known and wants to be in the news, the PRO had said over the graffiti.

Fringe organisation SFJ, run by a few radical Sikhs of foreign nationality in the US, Canada, the UK, etc, was declared unlawful by the Union government under the provisions of Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The Centre, by its July 10, 2019 notification, had declared the SFJ an unlawful association and had banned it for five years, saying the group’s primary objective was to establish an “independent and sovereign country” in Punjab and it openly espouses the cause of Khalistan and in that process, challenges the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.