SACRAMENTO, California: Over 60,000 American-Sikhs took part in Khalistan Referendum second phase voting yesterday in a historic event organized by secessionist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) at the California State Capitol in Sacramento – under the protection of US snipers and police – after over 127,000 American Sikhs had voted for Khalistan Referendum in the first phase for the first time on American soil on 28th January, just weeks after the US government announced it had prevented the Indian state from assassinating on the US soil the prominent pro-Khalistan leader and India’s most wanted man, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Several thousand Sikhs were unable to cast their votes in the first phase. The fresh voting was organized by the SFJ to accommodate those Sikhs who were unable to vote at the end of the first voting phase, overseen by the independent Punjab Referendum Commission (PRC). The voting was held amid tight security, as US police and sniper kept a close watch.
At the break of dawn on the voting day, nearly 20000 Sikh men and women queued to cast their votes. Throughout the day, thousands of Sikhs stayed at the centre, chanting devotional Sikhism lyrics, calling for the establishment of Khalistan and condemning the assassination plots of Sikhs by Narendra Modi’s Hindutva regime. The voting was held months after Khalistan Referendum’s Canada lead Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed by the Indian agents inside Canada’s biggest Gurdwara and the US secret services foiled a plot by the Indian govt to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is leading the worldwide Khalistan Referendum campaign.
The voting took place on Sunday but the grand activity started two days earlier with Akhand Path Sahib to honour and declare Sikh religious head Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke, who was extra-judicially killed by the Indian Government, as “Quami Shaheed” (martyr of Sikh nation). While a team of the Sikh priests recite the holy scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, from beginning to end, Sikh families and individuals from around Sacramento and surrounding areas attended the prayer in thousands and paid their respects to Jathedar Kaunke. The March 31st Khalistan Referendum Voting Center at the California State Capitol is also named after and dedicated to Shaheed Jathedar Kaunke.
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