NEW YORK – Two Sikh-American men have been charged by California’s Sutter County Sherriff’s office for attacking DSGMC chief and Akali leader Manjit Singh GK during his visit to the Yuba City gurdwara on August 25.
Residents of California, Sukhwinder Singh and Gurdeep Singh are learnt to be active members of the ‘Referendum 2020 Campaign’ seeking a separate state of Khalistan. The two have been charged with “battery” under section 242 of California’s Penal Code involving “willful and unlawful use of force or violence on another person”. It is punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both.
On August 26, Manjit and his delegation, visiting the US to spread the message of Sikhism to commemorate the 550th Guru Nanak Dev birth anniversary, were attacked again by pro-Khalistan men and stopped from entering a gurdwara in San Jose.
Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who led a delegation on Monday to meet US Ambassador Kenneth Juster here to seek action against the attackers, blamed Rahul Gandhi and the Congress for “inciting violence against the delegation led by Manjit. Steering clear of the political bickering, Juster tweeted, “We assured Minister Badal that incidents of violence in the US are taken seriously and fully investigated by law enforcement agencies.” A statement from Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a pro-Khalistani outfit, said it would defend the accused in the court of law.
