Sikh youths from Canada & Europe being trained at ISI facilities in Pak: Home Ministry to parliamentary panel

Top officials of the Home Ministry headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar have reportedly told a parliamentary panel that Sikh youths are being trained by Pakistan's intelligence agency - ISI- and are targeting several members of the community settled in Canada.

The officials have informed the Committee on Estimates that Sikh youth are being radicalised through messages being disseminated on the Internet and social media. The report named - Central armed police forces and internal security challenges-evaluation and response mechanism - which was tabled before Parliament on Monday cites Pakistan's ISI trying to spread its terror plans not only in Punjab but also in other parts of the country.

"Sikh youth are being trained at ISI facilities in Pakistan. Interdictions and interrogations have revealed the use of jailed cadres, unemployed youth, criminals and smugglers by Pakistan-based Sikh terror groups for facilitating terror attacks," the report said. Sikh youths based or settled in Europe, the US and Canada are also being misguided, the report observes.

"The problem is further accentuated by the fact that the terror groups have started using secure social media platforms and proxy servers etc. To avoid detection by intelligence and law enforcement agencies," the report notes.

"Activities of radicalised people returning from conflict areas and the threat of lone wolf attack are also a challenge," it said.

The ministry has told the panel that India continues to be the focus among Pakistan-based terror organizations including  Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM), Indian Mujahideen(IM) and SIMI.

"Since its formation in September 2004, CPI(Maoist) has emerged as the most potent among the LWE outfits active in the country," the report said.