Seerat Kaur Mann, the daughter of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann who resides in the US, is said to have received calls from pro-Khalistan elements who verbally harassed her, according to a Patiala-based lawyer.
Seerat, her brother Dilshan, and their mother Inderpreet Kaur Grewal, who divorced Mann in 2015, reside in Seattle, Washington. Attorney Harmeet Brar, a Patiala-based lawyer revealed the information in a Facebook post and questioned the pro-Khalistani elements, “will threatening and abusing children get you Khalistan?”
The post claimed that pro-Khalistan organisations planned to gherao and harass the chief minister’s kids in the US and that Mann’s daughter had received harassing calls from these groups. “Are you going to get Khalistan this way by threatening and abusing children… Such people are a blot on Sikhism,” wrote Brar.
Inderpreet Kaur Grewal further confirmed the incident by sharing the Facebook post and writing, “Thanks, I really appreciate.” Brar further was quoted by the Indian Express where he said, “Seerat received threat calls from pro-Khalistan elements. They abused her using extremely derogatory words. Some resolution has also been passed in a gurdwara in the US asking pro-Khalistan supporters to gherao both children over the situation in Punjab. Who has given such elements the right to harass Mann’s children? What do they have to do with what’s happening here?”
Commenting on the issue, Seerat Kaur Mann said that she was clueless why she and her brother were being targeted. “I’d like to reiterate that we are NOT at all involved with the decision- making of any politician in india, particularly the CM of punjab, so I really don’t understand why we are being targeted,” she said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal took cognizance of the incident and appealed to the Indian Embassy in the United Nations to ensure safety of Seerat.
“Read reports of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s daughter receiving death threats in the USA. It is an act of extreme cowardice. I appeal to the Indian Embassy of US to ensure her safety,” Swati Maliwal said in a tweet.
Read reports of Punjab CM Shri @BhagwantMann’s daughter receiving death threats in the USA. It is an act of extreme cowardice. I appeal to the @IndianEmbassyUS to ensure her safety.
— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) March 31, 2023
The Indian embassy in San Francisco was recently attacked and vandalised by a gang of pro-Khalistan demonstrators. They dismantled the temporary security barriers put up by the local police and erected two “Khalistani flags” on the grounds of the embassy. These flags were promptly removed by two consular staff members.
Vedant Patel, the chief deputy spokesman for the US Department of State, stated on Thursday that the US has been “taking pretty seriously” the safety and security of the diplomatic missions functioning in the nation. According to Patel, the US and India are still in constant contact over a wide range of issues.
“We are in close touch with our Indian partners on a number of issues, but including on this we made sure to remain in close touch with them as well as the appropriate local entities, depending on where these various missions and consulates were located,” Patel was quoted.