Sikh man, who threatened to kill Queen Elizabeth for Jallianwala Bagh, admits to treason

A British Sikh man, who wanted to kill Queen Elizabeth II on Christmas Day in 2021 and was caught on the grounds of Windsor Castle armed with a crossbow, has pleaded guilty under the Treason Act.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, who was armed and wearing a mask and a hood, said “I am here to kill the queen” when he was arrested.

He had recorded a video before he entered the grounds of the castle, which he sent to his contact list about 10 minutes before his arrest. “I am sorry for what I have done and what I will do. I am going to attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, queen of the royal family,” he said in the video.

“This is revenge for those who died in the 1919 massacre,” Chail added.

What he was referring to was an incident when British colonial troops shot dead nearly 400 Sikhs in Amritsar, India.

Indians have long demanded a formal apology from Britain for what is also known as the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre when British forces opened fire on unarmed civilians who had gathered to protest against a colonial law.

Queen Elizabeth was at the castle, along with her son and now King Charles and other close family members, when Chail attempted to attack her.

When Chail was arrested, protection officers recovered a crossbow from him, which was a ‘Supersonic X-bow’, the discharged bolt from which has the potential to cause serious or fatal injuries, as reported by Reuters.

Chail, 21, admitted to an offence under the United Kingdom’s Treason Act at the Old Bailey court in London on Friday. He is the first person in the UK to be convicted of treason since 1981. He will be sentenced by the court on March 31, AP reported.