UK moves to lift ban on pro-Khalistan Sikh group

Britain is set to lift a 15-year-old ban on a pro-Khalistan militant group after a debate in the House of Commons concluded that "sufficient evidence" does not currently exist to link it to terrorism.

The International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), established in the 1980s in militancy-wracked Punjab, was involved in "assassinations, bombings and kidnappings, mainly directed against Indian officials and interests", the British Parliament heard this week.

However, the debate entitled 'Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism' on Tuesday night concluded that "there is not sufficient evidence to support a reasonable belief" that the ISYF is currently concerned with terrorism.

It therefore approved the draft Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2016, which was laid before the House of Commons on February 22 and will be formally passed tomorrow.

“The decision to de-proscribe the ISYF was taken after extensive consideration and in the light of a full assessment of all the available information,” UK minister for security John Hayes told the Commons.

He was questioned by Labour's shadow home secretary Andy Burnham whether the ban had been maintained since 2001 “because of pressure from the Indian government”, something Hayes denied “without equivocation, hesitation or obfuscation”.