Amid a sharp escalation of tensions, the US-based advocacy group Sikhs (SFJ), accused a senior member of India’s ruler of BJP to issue a $250,000 bounty for assassination of U.S. citizens.

The allegation is a leading position in the US Vice President JD Vance plans to visit India on April 21, 2025.

The SFJ is known for its advocacy for Khalistan, a separate Sikh country that says bounty aims at their leaders, citing blatant acts of transnational repression.

In a letter to Vice President Vance, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, SFJ’s general counsel and renowned human rights attorney, condemned the so-called offer as a criminal solicitation of assassination on U.S. land, which directly challenged U.S. sovereignty and national security.

The letter is a clear prosecution against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, begging Vice President Vance to designate the bounty as a state-funded violent transnational repression.

It calls for immediate action during its upcoming visit to India, urging the vice president to publicly warn of the Indian government’s potential impact, including economic sanctions under U.S. federal law, and to refer to the responsible entity as foreign terrorist actors.

The SFJ’s plea stressed their belief in upholding democratic freedoms and protecting the security of the organizers of the referendum of Khalistan, regardless of economic or diplomatic considerations.