Senior US officials are blissfully unconcerned about acts of terror and murder in India by networks which Pannun was known to be in frequent contact with, thereby exhibiting the syndrome of ‘My terrorist is a good terrorist’, writes Prof. Madhav Das Nalapat
Concerns over the possibility of deportation of Indian national Nikhil Gupta, a resident of Delhi—who was arrested on 30 June 2023 by security officials in the Czech Republic—to the United States have increased. This is after unconfirmed reports emerged claiming that he was likely working for a “rogue” official of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency. Such a deportation would have an immediate negative impact on existing public support for strong India-US ties.
It would indicate that the Czechs have buckled under US pressure to commit what, in effect, is an act of Iraq-Afghanistan style “rendition”. Such an attempt at forced transfer to the US is similar to that sought by the “leader of the free world” from the UK government in the matter of the battered and belaboured Australian truth teller, Julian Assange. Coincidentally, Gupta was arrested by the Czechs, apparently on the orders of officials in the United States, just days after Ravi Sinha was appointed as the new R&AW chief in place of Samant Kumar Goyal on 19 June 2023. Sinha is known for his efficiency and conscientious work ethic.
Earlier last week, unconfirmed media reports had alleged that the government had found that “rogue” operatives were involved in a plot to assassinate a New York-based “shadow war” operative, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is a member of the proscribed Sikhs for Justice, SFJ, a Pakistan-linked organisation active in the facilitation of violent operations and vicious propaganda against India, actions that are designed to strain ties between the world’s two biggest democracies.
Pannun holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. It needs mention that neither the US nor Canada seems to have any objection to Pannun’s open support to groups indulging in acts of terror and murder in India, but has instead acted on the false narrative peddled by the Sino-Pakistan nexus that he was a “human rights” warrior. As a consequence, the two governments in effect are backing the “rights” of terrorists to commit acts of murder and violence against innocent citizens in another democracy.
TERROR SANCTUARIES: U.S., UK, CANADA
The US, Canada, Australia and the UK have for long been sanctuaries for several such elements, but growing public awareness of their terror-related activities is resulting in a change of stance towards them, especially in Australia. Only Canada, under a government in which the influence of the CCP is known to be overwhelming, has thus far not just provided safe haven but has even acted as an advocate of such facilitators and practitioners of the use of violence and terror in order to break up and destabilise India.
New Delhi had constituted an inquiry panel, the members of which were not made public, after the Joe Biden administration approached it last year with allegations that India’s intelligence agency was trying to assassinate Pannun as part of a larger plot of eliminating Khalistani operatives active in the US and Canada. As per such individuals in Washington, they were aware of the alleged plot since May 2023. It needs to be emphasised that such a charge remains uncorroborated, although the possibility of some operatives going rogue and conducting unauthorised operations cannot be ruled out. Such is a phenomenon that is common to several countries. What is extraordinary is the manner in which the nature of Pannun’s activities and sources of funding have apparently remained unexamined by security agencies in Canada and the US.
The constitution of the said committee was announced by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in the Rajya Sabha in December 2023. Media reports further claimed that the findings of the inquiry committee had been conveyed to the Biden administration, while adding that the official in question was no longer a part of R&AW. Interestingly, what purported to be the findings of the said report were leaked to the media and revealed to the public on the same day when, during a Congressional hearing, a senior US official stated that the alleged assassination attempt against known ISI-linked extremist backer Pannun was a “serious issue” between the United States and India.
He had added that Washington had raised it at the highest levels with India while “asking India to work quickly and transparently to make sure justice is done”. The senior US official was blissfully unconcerned about acts of terror and murder in India by networks which Pannun was known to be in frequent contact with, thereby exhibiting the syndrome of “My terrorist is a good terrorist”.
As a consequence of such a policy, several extremist elements who actively commit acts of terror in India are operating without hindrance in countries that claim to be security allies of New Delhi. To this may be added that while the US, the UK and the EU wax indignant and eloquent about Russia’s infringement of the sovereign territory of Ukraine, they continue to maintain radio silence over the PRC’s illegal occupation and militarisation of practically the entirety of the South China Sea, even though in international law, Beijing has no right to do so. Nor have such “friends of India” in the US made any protest over the illegal occupation of Indian territory by the PRC since the 1950s.
Clearly, some countries have, in their view, more right to violate sovereign territory than others. And that the yardstick applied to a European power such as Ukraine should be entirely different from that applied to India and ASEAN. Such a transparent double standard has significantly impacted goodwill for the Atlantic Alliance within the Global South, a group whose cause has been championed by India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
PRAGUE PRESSURED BY WASHINGTON
Nikhil Gupta, who was arrested in Prague on the directions of the Biden government, was ordered to be extradited to the US on 23 November 2023 by a Prague lower court, an order which was then confirmed by the high court on 8 January 2024. However, the same was postponed when a three-bench judge of the Constitutional Court at Prague on 30 January, comprising Judge Vojtecha Simicka, Judge Lucie Dolanske and Judge Tomase Lichovnika, stayed his extradition ordered by the Czech high court. It remains to be seen whether US pressure will cause the Czechs to cave in.
Gupta had pointed to violations of his fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 7(2), Article 8 and Article 36(1) and (3) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, apart from Article 3, Article 5 and Article 6(1) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to challenge his extradition. Of course, as in the Assange case, such rights are, in practice, kept in abeyance where countries that practise a double standard on such issues is concerned.
In his defence to the Czech Constitution court, the 53-year-old Gupta had claimed that his extradition to the United States of America was inadmissible, as the nature of the act alleged against him had not been sufficiently assessed. The court, while postponing his extradition, said that the extradition of Gupta to America would be an irreversible step and the factual effects of it could not be reversed. The impact of such an extradition on public support for strong India-US ties is of course clear, as is the fact that the PRC in particular has long been unhappy at the warming of ties between the US and India, especially after Prime Minister Modi took office in 2014.
U.S. SEEKS RENDITION OF NIKHIL GUPTA
Media reports claiming that Gupta was acting on the advice and directions of a “rogue” officer appear designed to make it more difficult for Gupta to succeed in his quest to avoid extradition to a country that is known as the Execution Capital of the world. Extraditing Gupta to the US would flout every convention of international law, and would amount to a repeat by the Biden administration of the illegal “renditions” carried out in Iraq during the Bush-Cheney period in the US. In this case, that would involve the forced rendition of a citizen of a friendly country that has been in the forefront of fighting terror operations, and which under international right has every right to do so.
In a recent case involving eight Indians who were arrested by the Qatar police, the Government of India, from the moment the incident came to its notice, made it clear that it was going to provide all needed support to them so that they can be brought back. Emir Al Thani of Qatar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were the prime movers behind such a statesmanlike decision by the Emirate of Qatar, a decision that has immensely strengthened goodwill for Qatar in India.
The Sunday Guardian’s email to the Ministry of External Affairs seeking its response on the details of the inquiry committee on the basis of which the entire operation has been attributed to a “rogue” officer, has not elicited any response thus far. Similarly, close family members of Nikhil Gupta too did not respond to media reports about a “rogue” officer, which reports are likely to come as a massive setback for them. His Prague-based lawyer too did not respond to this newspaper’s queries. Official sources in the security apparatus too did not respond to the developments.
An official of the Czech Constitution Court told this newspaper that the Constitution court (or the Supreme Court), whose decision is final, makes its decisions without a public hearing, and that the decision is shared publicly only if it finds that the petitioner’s fundamental rights have been violated. That clearly seems to be the case.
Surprisingly, there has been no response about such a violation of rights by EU representatives who speak endlessly about human rights. Their silence may be the consequence of US pressure, given the alacrity with which the Biden administration has in effect backed Pannun and his external handlers in continuing their Gray Zone warfare against India. All this despite his record of actions designed to split India and throw the country into violence and chaos.
CHINA BENEFICIARY OF U.S. STANCE
It needs to be kept in mind that India has as much right as the US to ensure that its citizens are protected from acts of terror, and that countries which harbour sympathisers and facilitators of terror networks ought not to be acting in a way that reveals a double standard where fighting terror is concerned. The Gupta saga, should it go the way the Sino-Wahhabi alliance and its covert operatives in some NATO member states are working towards, may leave a long-lasting mark on India-US relations to the benefit of China.
The CCP is known to have extensive and active networks in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. Rather than support India when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made false accusations against a government elected by more votes than any other democracy, the US State Department in particular sought to justify US administration indifference to the security concerns of India. This was done through name calling and innuendo in a manner that must be music to the ears of those who seek to torpedo India-US ties, especially where the security of the Indo-Pacific and the war on terror are concerned.
As shown by its stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Narendra Modi government is committed to resisting external pressure aimed at dilute its commitment towards ensuring the security not just of India but the Indo-Pacific. Judging by events taking place, securing the Indo-Pacific and fighting terror networks appear to be a greater priority for Delhi than for Washington, much to the glee of the PRC and its partners who are collectively engaged in kinetic and asymmetric warfare waging against the democracies fronting the Indo-Pacific.
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