New Delhi: The banned Khalistan terror group, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) has backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by endorsing his remark on the Sikh community at an event in the United States (US), which has stirred a fresh controversy. Rahul Gandhi, who is currently touring the US, stoked a fresh controversy with his comment about the condition of the Sikh community in India.

According to the sources, the event in Washington DC had the presence of several pro-Khalistan supporters, where Rahul Gandhi was addressing a gathering. Following the event, the Sikhs For Justice co-founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, issued a statement claiming that many pro-Khalistan Sikhs were in attendance, where Rahul Gandhi justified SFJ’s global Khalistan Referendum campaign when he stated: “Fight in India is whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear turban and kada, go to gurdwara.”

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Lashes Out At Rahul Gandhi

Pannun extended his complete support to Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi ’s stance saying, “Rahul’s statement on ‘existential threat to Sikhs in India’ is not only bold and pioneering but is also firmly grounded in the factual history of what Sikhs have been facing under successive regimes in India since 1947 and also corroborates SFJ’s stance on the justification for Punjab Independence Referendum to establish Sikh homeland Khalistan.”

Earlier, addressing a gathering of several hundred Indian Americans in Herndon, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, on Monday, Rahul Gandhi accused the RSS of considering some religions, languages and communities as inferior to others and said the fight in India is about this and not about politics.

"First of all, you have to understand what the fight is about. The fight is not about politics. That is superficial," Gandhi said as he asked one of the Sikh attendees in the front rows to give his name. "What is your name, brother with the turban," he asked.

"The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That's what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions," said Gandhi, who is on a four-day visit to the US, which began Saturday.

Meanwhile, Union Minister For Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, lashed out at Rahul Gandhi , saying that forensic analysis is required on Rahul Gandhi about his state of mind when he made the statement about people from the Sikh community wearing turban and ‘Kada’.

Talking to Republic Media Network’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami , Puri, while responding when asked do you think Rahul Gandhi is taking Khalistani sympathiser Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's line, said, “…A lot of people are saying that words used by him resemble Pannun… but it's a dangerous statement, he does not know what he is for and trying to create division through lies."