BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA: The voting for Khalistan Referendum was hit by a severe cyber security attack within 30 minutes of the start of the vote on Sunday. According to the reports, the voting commenced at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre with Sikh holy prayers at sharp 9 a.m. The organisers said voting continued smoothly for the first half an hour but then the whole voting electronic system crashed as a cyber-attack was launched.
The organisers; ‘Sikhs For Justice’ (SFJ) said the attack was well-planned and well-coordinated. They found the Indian government agencies behind the attack. They said that it was not the first time that the Sikhs’ Khalistan Referendum process came under attack. One of the organisers said attempts were made earlier as well but the Information Technology team and the security experts of the SFJ were able to restore the system’s backup. On Sunday as the system was interrupted, hundreds of people waited in queues outside the hall for the system to resume operating again.
The online portal, specially built for safe voting on the question of “Secession of India from Punjab” came down and a message on the system read: “Your connection is not private. Attackers might be trying to steal your information from the website (for example passwords, messages or cards).”
Inside the grand hall, several policemen stood in line to provide security to the voters. Outside the hall, more than 50 policemen patrolled the streets amid fears of disturbance from the Australia-based Hindutva groups who had announced a demonstration outside the voting centre. The cyber-attack is part of the sustained campaign by the Indian government to halt Khalistan Referendum in the western countries which have seen thousands of Sikhs coming out to express their support for the creation of ‘Khalistan’.
A Beijing-based major software company, Qihoo360 Technology released a cyber-security report asserting that in India, Sikhs with the political and religious inclinations and Khalistan Referendum-2020 websites and mobile apps are under attack from the Indian cyber mercenary group known as “APT C-35”.
The Indian mercenaries (APT C-35) have launched several phishing websites and mobile apps relating to Referendum-2020 as bait to target pro-Khalistan Sikhs in India.
Target of cyber terrorism
“After Canadian Blackberry’s report, Chinese Security Firm has also confirmed that every Sikh with a political or religious inclination is a target of cyber terrorism in Modi’s India,” said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, General Counsel to the ‘Sikhs For Justice’ who had dispatched a communique to Chinese authorities seeking support for the Khalistan Referendum.
Tensions were high here ahead of Khalistan Referendum voting on March 19 as dozens of pro-Khalistan Sikhs rounded up and forced closure of India’s honorary consulate in Brisbane while the Australian government issued an updated travel advisory advising its citizens against travelling to India due to a “high risk of violence” in certain states, including Punjab. — APP
