By Geneva Abdul
Police have advised a high-profile Sikh activist in the UK to install security cameras at his home and reinforce door locks because of threats from Hindu nationalist elements.
Paramjeet Singh Pamma, 52, said he had been visited by police and received verbal advice to increase his security due to intelligence suggesting threats to his safety.
Singh Pamma said the threats were linked to the Indian government and he accused ministers in the UK of failing to take “relentless” transnational repression by India seriously. The Indian embassy declined to comment.
Singh Pamma is a figure in the Khalistan movement, a campaign for an independent Sikh state that is outlawed in India. Indian government officials describe the movement as terrorist and a threat to national security.
According to MI5, foreign governments are increasingly targeting dissidents on UK soil, and the number of investigations into state threats has grown by 48% since 2022. In its 2024-25 report on transnational repression, the joint committee on human rights listed India as a country of concern alongside China and Russia.
Singh Pamma’s claims come as the UK pursues a closer relationship with Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, seeing it as a key partner to balance China’s growing power. Last May, after three years of negotiations, the UK agreed a trade deal with India, long touted as one of the biggest prizes of Brexit.
Singh Pamma is one two Sikh nationalists based in the UK to have told the Guardian they have been advised to increase their security.
“The repression we are going through has been relentless, it is crossing borders and reaching into our families now. This is terror, basically, by the Indian government,” said Singh Pamma, who has been forced to live separately from his family after threats.
This story was originally published in theguardian.com. Read the full story here.
