Two Slough residents claim their and their families’ lives are being put at risk by the Indian government – and one says he needs round-the-clock protection from the police.

Kamaljit Kaur and Gurcharan Singh allege they are being threatened because they support an independent Sikh state in the Punjab region – against the wishes of the Indian government.

They have spoken out as councillors were set to debate the issue at Slough Borough Council on Thursday July 25.

Mr Singh claimed he faced a ‘direct threat from the Indian government’ as a member of the Dal Khalsar organisation, which campaigns for a Sikh state of Khalistan.

READ MORE: Slough Sikhs 'anxious, angry and fearful' over governments silence

English-language Indian news reports suggest India’s government wants Mr Singh to be arrested for his involvement in a protest outside the Indian High Commission in London last year.

Mr Singh said: “Two people in Slough are facing direct assassination threats from the Indian government.” He added: “I’m under direct 24/7 police protection.”

Mrs Kaur – a former Labour councillor – said her husband is also at risk. She said her husband is an activist campaigning for a referendum on Khalistani independence and, claimed that his details have been published on the website of India’s National Investigation Agency.

She said: “It’s true there are people in Slough that are at risk.”

Councillors in Slough are set to debate and vote on whether to write to the government expressing concerns about the safety of Khalistan activists in the town.

The call has been raised by independent councillors Sabia Akram and Waqas Sabah, who are both from Muslim backgrounds. But a former Slough mayor has sent a petition to the council calling for the motion to be removed from the agenda claiming it is divisive.

Mewa Singh Mann collected 56 signatures for a petition he says is on behalf of the Sikh community.

The petition argues that Sikh people do not face discrimination in Slough – noting that the town’s MP Tan Dhesi is the UK’s first Sikh MP to wear a turban in parliament.

It says the proposal is ‘a deliberate attempt to create division and ill feeling towards the Sikh community’. It adds: “The Sikh community, along with other residents of Stough, will, not tolerate any attempts to disrupt the peace and unity that we collectively cherish.”

But councillor Akram says she raised the call on behalf of Sikh residents in Slough that she had spoken to. And the motion appears to have attracted widespread attention, with the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in the West Midlands – one of the largest in Britian – writing in support.

The Sikh Federation UK – a pro-Kahlistan organisation – has also called on councillors to ‘rise above any local political game playing’ and vote for the motion.

Councillor Akram said: “I’m not pro-Kahlistan or against Khalistan. But there are people in this town at risk today because of their political views.

“Even if they are a minority group they still deserve a voice. If the safety of a few people is at risk then we are all at risk.”

The issue is set to be debated at Slough Borough Council on Thursday July 25.