Hindu extremist faces 10 years in US prison for threatening to kill Sikhs

LONDON: A staunch follower of Hindutva ideology and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) activist from New Jersey faces around ten years in prison after being charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for threatening to kill and behead a number of American Sikhs – just a day ahead of Khalistan Referendum voting in Brampton, Canada on Sept 18, 2022 – for their political opinion on Khalistan.

Agitated by the publicity around the Khalistan Referendum campaign in Canada in September 2022, Bhushan Athale, 48, from the County of Burlington and the District of New Jersey, sent out several voice notes and texts to a non-profit US Sikh organisation and its three Sikh employees and threatened to behead them with a razor and lynch them publicly for allegedly supporting the Khalistan movement.

He issued threats to kill three Sikhs including a Sikh female worker and two Sikh men. Using the anti-Sikh religion slurs often employed by the Hindutva supporters of BJP and RSS, Bhushan Athale abused Sikhs and disrespected their religious beliefs, calling them inferior and worthy of punishment. Athale also threatened to kill a Pakistan-origin Muslim, according to the unsealed US indictment.

He has been charged with one count of interfering with federally protected activities threatening to use a dangerous weapon and one count of transmitting an interstate threat to injure another person. The FBI's investigation revealed that this was not the first time that Athale had targeted individuals based on his hatred of their religion as in November 2021, Athale had sent hate messages to his Muslim co-worker in Nebraska expressing his animosity towards them.

According to the criminal complaint, on or about Sept 17, 2022, Athale made a phone call to a Sikh organisation that advocates for the civil rights of Sikh individuals within the United States. Over the next hour, Athale left seven voicemails expressing extreme hatred toward Sikh individuals working at the NGO and threatening to injure or kill these individuals with a razor.

Athale’s voicemails, which were filled with violent imagery and obscenity, contained references to places, people and tenets that are particularly significant within the Sikh religion. Among other things, Athale stated his intention to “catch” the Sikhs at the organisation, forcibly “shave” the “top and bottom hair” of these individuals, use a “razor” to forcibly “cut” these individuals’ hair and “make” them bald, forcibly “make” them smoke and eat tobacco and “show [them] the heaven”.

The Hindutva activist asked a female Sikh why she and the Sikhs wanted Khalistan and started cursing and threatening her till she put the phone down.

On September 17, 2002 he said in a message: “If you want Khalistan, I will catch one of you, will shave off top and bottom hair of each of you; if you want Khalistan, I will give you Khalistan, I will catch each and every Sikh and cut their hair; you want Khalistan, you son of a …’ will catch every Sikh for supporting Khalistan; you want Khalistan, we will give you free haircut; we need all Sikhs out of Punjab and India for supporting Khalistan; we will catch and cut off all Sikhs’ hair from all over; I will make sure every Sikh is bald and we will catch every Sikh and make a donation."

Athale’s threats continued till March 2024. In another threatening voice note, he praised Indian PM Modi and urged him to seize properties of Sikhs so “they can make Khalistan in Canada”. He called on Modi to kill both Muslims and Sikhs.

The Hindutva supporter also sent messages to a former Pakistani origin co-worker that he “hate[d] Pakistan” and “hate[d] Muslims,” and he told the co-worker: “I hate you, I just don’t know how to kill your whole family including you? Tell me? I will figure it out […] Probably I will hire a Jew; they will be most happy.”

In March 2023, Athale again called the same Sikh organisation and left two more voicemails. In these voicemails, Athale again used violent imagery to express his hatred toward Sikhs as well as Muslims, suggesting, among other things, that the Indian government and Mumbai police should “catch them, beat them and rape their family members".

The Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) founder and leader and Khalistan Referendum campaign’s main coordinator Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said Bhushan Athale is a follower of Modi’s violent Hindutva ideology, arrested and indicted in New Jersey for threatening American Sikhs on account of the religious and political opinion of Khalistan. Pannun said: “Threats initiated just a day before Khalistan Referendum voting in Canada. This once again proves that Modi’s India uses violent transnational repression to suppress dissenting political opinion while Sikhs believe in democratic process of voting to liberate Punjab from Indian occupation”.

Athale now faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for interfering with federally protected activities and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for transmitting an interstate threat. Both charges also carry a penalty of up to a $250,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.