Punjab Chief Minister and Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday (10 July) hailed the Union government's decision to ban Pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) as an unlawful association, describing it as a first step towards protecting the nation from anti-India and secessionist designs of the organisation backed by Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), reports Asian News International (ANI).

Terming SJF as an organisation which had unleashed a wave of terror in Punjab, Singh appreciated the Centre for having taken a long-overdue stand against it.

"With the step, the Centre has finally shown its much-needed intent to crackdown on the organisation which was overtly being backed by Pakistan's ISI in its conspiratorial campaign over 'Sikh Referendum 2020' launched in 2014," said the Punjab CM.

Calling for an all-out war against the organisation, he asserted, "SFJ's activities went beyond being unlawful and posed a major threat to the very existence of our nation. The recent years had seen blatant attempts by the SJF to radicalise, fund and motivate some poor and gullible youth of Punjab into committing acts of arson and violence,"

Earlier on Wednesday (10 July), the Centre banned the Sikh fundamentalist organisation SFJ under Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for its anti-national activities.