Muhammad Shaoib Malik
Sikh community is living in India since 15th century, whereas Sikhism is fourth largest religion in India and fifth largest in world, existed since late 15th century. Majority of Sikhs are located in Indian Punjab state along with living in other parts of India. Furthermore, several Sikhs are living in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Sikhism adherents are 25-30 million worldwide. These adherents were also known as Khalsa Sikhs. Founder and first guru of Sikhism was Guru Nanak whereas last living Guru, Guru Gobind Singh passed the Guruship of the Sikhs to the Eternal Guru of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib and the last Guru of Sikhism.
With independence and Partition the larger, western, portion of Punjab was allocated to Pakistan, now a Muslim state. In the violent upheavals that followed, hundreds of thousands of Punjabis were killed, and millions fled from one part of the province to the other. The Sikh community was split down the middle, over 40 per cent went to India after partition. Majority of Sikh refugees settled in the Indian part of Punjab, although many moved to Delhi and other neighboring regions.
After basic rights violations and allegations of anti-nationalism in India, Sikh movement was arised led by the charismatic preacher Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He attracted much support from within the Sikh community, and resulted in calls for an independent state of Khalistan to protect the rights and identity of Sikhs. This movement took violent turn and eventually led to the controversial ‘Operation Bluestar’ of June 1984, which saw the Indian army storm the Golden Temple and holiest of Sikh shrines, during the operation, the entire population of Punjab was put under siege. 10,000 pilgrims and 1300 workers were trapped inside the Golden Temple. A virtual massacre of Sikhs was carried out and the Akal Takht was reduced to rubble. The Indian army suffered 700 deaths with hundreds injured. As a result of the operation on October 31, 1984, the Sikh body guards shot dead the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. There was massive destruction of Sikh property and at least 2,150 Sikhs, mainly males, were killed in Delhi and over 600 in other parts of India. The army took over after three days, but the killings created deep and lasting bitterness and resentment among Sikhs, not only in India but also abroad.
The alleged assassination of Indira Gandhi triggered backlash against Sikhs across India. According to Amnesty International, “Thousands of innocent Sikhs were burned alive, women raped, men’s hair and beard cut, Gurdwaras set on fire and entire families murdered”. According to the 2005 Nanavati commission. “The systematic nature of attacks whereby men were beaten before being burnt alive”. Even the renowned politician and writer Khushwant Singh returned the Padma Bhushan award. According to him, many Sikhs who have nothing to do with the assassination of Mrs Gandhi were burnt alive. He said, “I was taken away to the Swedish embassy and you felt a refugee in your own homeland”.
Following the installation of Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister of India in 1984, an agreement was signed (the Punjab Accord) with the leader of the Akali Dal under which Chandigarh was made the exclusive capital of the state of Punjab and the issue of the river water was to be decided by a commission. It was also agreed that Sikhs’ control of their religious affairs was to be expedited and fresh investments were promised for Punjab. These measures did not go far enough for many Sikhs, and shortly after the signing of the accord the leader of the Akali Dal was assassinated.
Though Khalistan movement lost momentum in the latter half of 1990s and early 2000s, the country-wide anti-Sikh riots in 1984 left a lot of bitterness between Hindus and Sikhs that left deep sense of injustice in their wake. Various commissions were set up since 1984 to investigate riots by the government but there was no move to punish the perpetrators of the violence or even to prosecute cases against them. The late 1980s and 1990s saw several commissions being set up by the government without any substantive movement forward or any concrete steps towards restoring justice being taken.
Political stalemate continued into the 2000s, preventing any action being taken against the perpetrators of the riots. Despite repeated recommendations by several official committees set up in the last three decades, there has been no move by the government to prosecute the political leaders involved directly in instigating the mobs to violence or for their role in the rioting. Similarly, there has been complete silence on the part of the government when it came down to taking action against the policemen indicted for their role and complicity during the riots. The repeated instances of inaction by the government has left a feeling of injustice among many Sikhs to this day.
In 2015, protests broke out in Punjab following the discovery of desecrated copies of the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism’s holy book, with Sikh demonstrators blockading roads after two protestors were killed and others injured by police.
From 1978 to 1992, Sikhs living overseas campaigned extensively for a separate homeland Khalistan. Talks with Bhindranwale failed as every time Indira’s government backed out to support the Hindus. Bhindranwale made Akal Takht as his command in the headquarters with his armed men to protect Guru Granth Sahib. The demand for a Sikh nation was popularized under Bhindranwale. Khalistan movement is now taken over by the youth of India and across the globe. On August 12, 2018, thousands of Sikhs gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square demanding a referendum for an independent homeland from India. They carried banners that read ‘Free Punjab’ and ‘End Indian Occupation’ and Punjab Referendum 2020. The pro-Khalistan groups in UK, Canada and US planned referendum in 2020 for Punjab’s independence. However, the proposed referendum did not happen due to the Coronavirus pandemic and was conducted in December 2020 and January 2022 in UK. With 20,000 votes in favor of Khalistan state cast by the British Sikh community at four venues on the eve of New Year, the overall figure of votes cast in the Khalistan Referendum crossed the 200,000 mark.
Sikhs for Justice and Khalistan Tiger Force demanded the secession of Sikh dominated East Punjab under the name of Khalistan and also reject Article 25(b)(2) of the Indian constitution which says Sikhism is a part of the Hindu religion. Recently, pro-secessionist banners were raised across Punjab and Sikhs for Justice as supporters wrote pro-Khalistan slogans at Delhi metro and the Khalistan flag was raised at the Yumuna Bridge in November, 2020. The recent farmers’ protest of East Punjab has turned into a pro-Khalistan movement. Farmers have camped on the borders of New Delhi demanding the government to roll back agriculture reforms. Sikhs across the globe are protesting in support of their Sikh brothers. Thousands of Sikhs from across the UK laid siege to the Indian High Commission in support of Punjab farmers. Punjab is India’s bread basket with a well-developed canal system and progressive nature of farmers. Today Sikhs are 2 percent of India’s population and the majority live in East Punjab and India’s 17 to 20 percent of defence forces are Sikhs. In the proposed referendum of 2022, Sikhs want to ask the UN to plan an official referendum.
Despite Pakistan’s assurances that it did not support the Sikhs in their movement, the Indian government tried to drag Pakistan in the Khalistan issue by linking it with opening of kartarpur corridor. It later became known that major Sikh organizations such as All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), Babbar Khalisa, World Sikh Organization (WSO), and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) were all getting support from Sikh Diaspora in United Kingdom, Canada, United States and other countries.
The writer is political and media analyst who writes regularly on international political issues. Feedback can be given at m.shoaib_khan@live.com
