Khalistan! A rallying cry

THE push for a Sikh nation lost momentum with Indian independence in 1947, but it picked up again two decades later after the Indian government redrew the borders of Punjab, significantly reducing its size, and redirected rivers away from Sikh farms.

Khalistan – which means “land of the pure” in Punjabi – became a rallying cry as clashes erupted between Sikhs and soldiers.

The strife peaked in 1984 after Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a deadly siege on separatists occupying the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest site in the Sikh religion, and a bullet pierced a copy of the Sikh holy book, considered to be an eternally living guru.

In retaliation, two Sikhs working as guards for the prime minister assassinated her. Hindu mobs went on a killing spree around Delhi, often with government approval. Estimates put the number of Sikh deaths as high as tens of thousands, leading some to describe the violence as a genocide.

A year later, Sikh militants blew up an Air India flight over the Atlantic, killing 329 people.

As India cracked down on Sikhs in the name of fighting terrorism, the militancy faded and more Sikhs left the country.

It is unclear today how much support the Khalistan cause has in India, home to 80% of the world’s 25 million Sikhs.

A 2021 survey conducted by Washington-based think tank Pew Research Center of Sikhs in India found that 95% were “very proud” to be Indian, while 70% said that respecting India as a nation was part of Sikh identity.

But Harjeet Grewal, a professor at the University of Calgary, Canada, and expert on Sikh history, said he doesn’t trust such polls or the Indian government’s position that the push for Khalistan is a fringe movement. He suggested support is coded in the kinds of chants about Sikh freedom that Punjab farmers employed during recent protests against Indian government plans to enact new laws setting crop prices.

“Simply saying the word Khalistan can label you a terrorist in India and bring upon you all the restrictions on civil rights that comes with that,” Grewal said.

The most vocal supporters of the cause are among the Sikh diaspora.

Only Britain and Canada have bigger Sikh populations than the United States, home to about 500,000, half of whom live in California. Men in the faith are easily recognisable since many wear colourful turbans that hold up their uncut hair and have long beards.

In Stockton, Sikh-owned restaurants and other businesses abound. A Sikh trucker and financial advisor recently ran for City Council but lost.

With thousands of members from across Northern California, the Gurdwara Sahib Sikh Temple is a focal point of debate over the tactics of the secessionist movement. – Los Angeles Times/ Tribune News Service