Republic TV has stung again. And obviously, it is in “the national interest.” They’ve caught purported Khalistani leaders “on spy camera” accepting that they sympathise with separatists and Maoists, find Pakistan to be “an ally”, and would refer to China as “good” and India as “bad.”

This time, the ambit of the sting is a bit vast: the 10-minute long video-report on October 3 included bits and pieces of comments made by Khalistani leaders on spy camera when Republic’s senior news editor Shawan Sen met them in the UK. According to Sen, these revelations were made during a week-long investigation by the channel.

People might not have focused on what the Khalistani leaders were saying on these tapes but the sting also revealed claims of funding the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). This gave the entire operation a new twist and took Twitter by storm.

In the sting, London-based Gurucharan Singh can be heard on the tapes, making claims that they supported, campaigned, and funded the AAP during the 2017 Punjab assembly election. Gurucharan is introduced as a member of the “banned organisation” Dal Khalsa, and can be seen on tape saying,  “Look at Punjab. AAP won the elections. They won 95 seats. We were there campaigning on the ground. (We were) funding AAP’s campaign to see what difference this campaign makes. People voted for AAP. They did not win because of the electronic voting (EVM).”

The AAP had turned the tables in the run-up to the 2017 assembly polls in Punjab. It had claimed that the rookie party would sweep the polls. However, the polls were clinched by the Congress party and the AAP had to settle for being the main opposition party in Punjab.

In the Republic TV sting, Gurucharan revealed: “AAP is nothing. It’s a vessel, it stands for nothing.” When Sen interrupted, asking why they would fund an organisation like the AAP, Gurucharan responded: “To counter … To upset the two set political forces in Punjab. And see how it happens.”

Later during the sting, Gurucharan can be heard expressing his support for China. “We will say China is good, India is bad,” he said, adding, “and if China takes over Sikkim, our job is done.”

In the same operation, Republic TV also stung Shamsher Singh of the National Sikh Youth Federation. According to Republic, he is the “link between Babbar Khalsa and Dal Khalsa”. Shamsher claimed that armed struggle is the only way to fight the Indian state and Khalistanis have already claimed the lives of 2,700 policemen and “killed Prime Minister and Chief Minister. All these are targeted killings”. He also said, “Pakistan is our ally.” His portion of the sting did not have any claim related to the AAP.

On the morning of October 4, the hashtag #AntiIndiaAAP was trending on Twitter.

On October 3, Republic TV also broadcast a video of one of their reporters asking Deputy Chief Minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia for his response to the sting. Sisodia refused to comment but called the channel and its reporter a “dalal”.

We reached out to several AAP leaders on how they saw this sting and the claims being made by Gurucharan but received no response. An important party leader told Newslaundry, “Even commenting on Republic’s sting would mean giving them a certain amount of legitimacy.” He added that because the allegations of corruption and irregularities don’t stick to the AAP, the opposition parties in the past have tried these tricks. “The Prime Minister himself tried to link us with the Maoists.”

This leader also said that while the AAP has no links to Khalistani leaders, it has received support from non-residential Indians (NRIs) as many other parties do. “Badals (Prakash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal) have got funds from NRIs living in Canada and Australia, and so has Captain Amrinder and the Congress party. What is wrong with the AAP opening similar wings in these countries where people from Punjab live and want to bring a positive change on the ground?”

When asked about whether the AAP flirted with the Khalistanis in an attempt to clinch power in Punjab, he said, “Show me one photo of our senior leaders with Khalistani leaders? Meanwhile, you will get many photos and news reports of Badals and Captain sharing space with identifiable Khalistani leaders.”

Interestingly, a senior journalist in Punjab who works with a prominent news organisation said, on condition of anonymity, “Every major political party in Punjab has pandered with Khalistani sentiments at one point in time. It is part of Punjab’s political history. If Republic is digging dirt, that dirt is all around the place—in each political party.” He also pointed out that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which was in power until 2017, had supported the building of a memorial of dreaded terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other inside the Golden Temple.   

The journalist further pointed out that even the current Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has his own share of history. In June 2005, Captain Amarinder had stirred controversy by visiting the Dixie Gurudwara in Toronto. He spoke from the podium inside the gurudwara and the backdrop read: “Khalistan Zindabad”.

Another AAP leader said the funds received by the party were from NRIs and “all records are available for the agencies to investigate. The party can’t go on to react to anyone who puts allegations without any proof.”

Meanwhile on Republic TV, Arnab Goswami’s prime-time debate on the sting also featured Gurucharan. Now, the sting said he was part of the Dal Khalsa. But just to fact-check here: Gurucharan is not a member of Dal Khalsa but a member of the Dal Khalsa UK. The two factions had a major rumbling over the 2020 Referendum for Khalistan which was carried out in London this July. Dal Khalsa UK said that it had ousted Dal Khalsa President Harpal Singh Cheema and spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh “from primary membership from Dal Khalsa for their anti-Panthic anti-Khalistan activities”. In response to this, Kanwarpal Singh had said: “there exists no Dal Khalsa UK”.

Also, the Amritsar-headquartered Dal Khalsa was formed in 1978 and later its members had hijacked an Indian plane to protest against the arrest of Bhindranwale. The organisation was banned in 1982 and the ban was lifted a decade later. Dal Khalsa was revived in August 2001 and one of the accused of the plane hijack—Gajinder Singh—was named as its chief. It continues to operate in Punjab.

Goswami might like to take the above facts into account, instead of mistakenly calling Majinder Singh Sirsa a member of the SAD, while in reality, Sirsa is actually an elected Bharatiya Janata Party legislator of the Delhi assembly.