User:JustCogo/SFJ

Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is a Sikh human rights, advocacy and separatist group founded in 2007 with offices in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

=Activism=

SFJ's activism is focused on two major issues: justice for the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the establishment of theocratic Sikh nation, Khalistan, through the secession from India.

1984 anti-Sikh riots
SFJ filed a civil suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on 14 March 2011 accusing the Indian government of complicity in the riots. The court issued a summons to the Congress Party and Kamal Nath, who was accused by the Nanavati commission of encouraging rioters. The complaint against Nath was dismissed in March 2012 by Judge Robert W. Sweet, who ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction in the case. The 22-page order granted Nath's motion to dismiss the claim, with Sweet noting that Sikhs for Justice failed to "serve the summons and its complaints to Nath in an appropriate and desired manner".

In September 2013, SFJ similarly filed suit in a US Federal Court against Indian National Congress president for shielding and protecting Kamal Nath, Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and other Congress party leaders from being prosecuted for their alleged role in engineering the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The court summoned Gandhi during her visit to the United States for medical purposes. The case was ultimately dismissed.

Khalistan movement
In 2013, SFJ filed suit in a US federal court against the chief minister of the Indian State of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Victim Protection Act for allegedely overseeing human rights abuses by law enforcement while bringing the Punjab insurgency under control by Khalistani terrorists. . The court ultimately dismissed the case.

In January 2019 on the occasion of India's Republic Day, SFJ staged a protest outside the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. in support of the Khalistan movement, demanding the secession of Punjab from India. Approximately 15-20 participants from SFJ attended who claimed to have burned an Indian flag. However, news reports indicated that the flag burning did not actually occur and that they were outnumbered by Indian counter-protesters. The purported flag burning was condemned by several American Indian, Asian, Hindu and Sikh organizations.

=Controversies=

Ties to Pakistani Intelligence
SFJ is reported to allegedly have support and ties to Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). In August 2018, the Times of India and Indian intelligence accessed documents of Shahid Mehmood Malhi, a lieutenant colonel in the Pakistani army, that revealed a detailed roadmap for the Referendum 2020, a separatist campaign spearheaded by SFJ, under the code name "Operation Express."

Threats & violence
In May 2018, SFJ published a video addressing Indian government official, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the Punjab Minister for Jails, threatening him, "Will you come to Canada or should we handle you in India?" In the video, a member of the group also threatened "We are roaming openly the world over. If you have guts, spare yourself from bodyguards. You visit any gurudwara without security and our men will teach you a lesson." https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/pass-referendum-2020-resolution-or-face-music-sfj-warns-sikh-leader-manjit-singh-gk/story-Wy4KZ9e8WkAPkdi9HK1IxO.html