Reality of Khalistan

The Khalistan movement is a nationalist political liberation movement, which seeks to create a separate country called Khalistān (Punjabi: ਖਾਲਿਸਤਾਨ, "The Land of the Pure") in the Punjab region of South Asia. But is this concept a reality or just figment of imagination?

Imaginary Khalistan Map

Background

The Punjab region has been the traditional homeland for the Sikhs. Before its conquest by the British it was liberated by the Sikhs after centuries of rebellion against the oppressive Mughal rule. The region had been ruled by the Sikhs for almost 100 years. However, the region also has a substantial number of Hindus and Muslims. When the Muslim League demanded a separate country for Muslims via the Lahore Resolution of 1940, a section of Sikh leaders grew concerned that their community would be left without any homeland following the partition of India between the Hindus and the Muslims. They put forward the idea of Khalistan, envisaging it as a theocratic state covering the greater Punjab region.

Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh leaders in division discussion

The above pictures shows leaders of India and Pakistan - Nehru, Patel, Kriplani, Baldev singh, Kizhar Hayat Tiwana, Liaqat Ali, and Jinnah in dialogue with Lord Mountbatten. 

The Mountbatten's partition plan followed the Cabinet Mission Plan of June, 1946, Attlee Declaration of February, 1947. The Indian political leaders have declared their acceptance of the proposals, though with some misgivings.

Nehru on behalf of the Congress declared: “It is with no joy in my heart that I commend these proposals.”

Jinnah on behalf of the Moslem League declared: “We cannot say or feel that we are satisfied or that we agree with some of the matters dealt with by the plan.”

Baldev Singh on behalf of the Sikhs declared: “It would be untrue if I were to say that we are altogether happy. The British Plan does not please everybody, not the Sikh community anyway.”

After the partition was announced, the majority of the Sikhs migrated from the Pakistani province of Punjab to the Indian province of Punjab, which then included the parts of the present-day Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. 

Partition of Punjab

Following India's independence in 1947, The Punjabi Suba Movement led by the Akali Dal aimed at creation of a Punjabi-majority state (Suba) in the Punjab region of India in the 1950s. Concerned that creating a Punjabi-majority state would effectively mean creating a Sikh-majority state, the Indian government initially rejected the demand. After a series of protests, violent clampdowns on the Sikhs, and the Indo-Pak War of 1965, Indian PM Lal Bahadur Shastri finally agreed to partition the state, creating a new Sikh-majority Punjab state and splitting the rest of the region to the states of Himachal Pradesh, the new state Haryana. Subsequently, the Sikh leaders started demanding more autonomy for the state, alleging that the Central government was discriminating against Punjab. 

Untimely death of Shastri in Tashkent under suspicious circumstances, brought the power to Indira Gandhi who scuttled the move to create a Sikh majority Punjab state.

Although the Akali Dal explicitly opposed the demand for an independent Sikh country, the issues raised by it were used as a premise for the creation of a separate country by the proponents of Khalistan.

Dr. Jagjit Singh Chauhan

In 1971, a Punjab politician from Hoshiarpur, Jagjit Singh Chauhan traveled to the United States. He placed an advertisement in The New York Times proclaiming the formation of Khalistan and was able to collect millions of dollars as donations from the Sikh diaspora. On 12 April 1980, he held a meeting with the Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi before declaring the formation of "National Council of Khalistan", at Anandpur Sahib. He declared himself as the President of the Council and Balbir Singh Sandhu as its Secretary General. 

Jagjit Singh Chauhan

In May 1980, Jagjit Singh Chauhan traveled to London and created an organization "Khalistan National Council" and ran its operation from a building termed "Khalistan House". He remained in contact with various groups in Canada, the USA and Germany. He visited Pakistan as a guest of leaders like Chaudhuri Zahoor Elahi. Chauhan declared himself president of the "Republic of Khalistan", named a Cabinet, and issued Khalistan "passports", "postage stamps" and "Khalistan dollars". It is reported that with the assistance of a wealthy Californian supporter, a peach magnate, he opened an Ecuadorean bank account to support his operation.

The inaction of the Indian authorities was decried by Akali Dal headed by the Sikh leader Harchand Singh Longowal as a "political stunt by the Congress(I) party of Indira Gandhi".

The Khalistan movement reached its zenith in the 1980s and 1990s, flourishing in the Indian state of Punjab, which has a Sikh-majority population and has been the traditional homeland of the Sikh religion. Various pro-Khalistan outfits have been involved in a separatist movement against the government of India ever since. The more the Indian government tries to suppress the independent thoughts of Sikhs, the more the feeling of Khalistan grows exponentially.

REALITY CHECK

So what happened to Dr. Chauhan? Khalistan ideologue Jagjit Singh Chohan (80) died on April 2007 following a massive heart attack at his residence at Tanda in Hoshiarpur district. One of the original founders of the Khalistan movement, Mr. Chohan secretly returned to India at midnight on June 27, 2001 after having stayed in Britain for 21 years. The Indian government decided to "overlook" his past activities. 

At the height of militancy in Punjab, the RSS was one of the sternest critics of the Khalistan movement. On his return to India, Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan, was all praise for the Sangh's concept of a Hindu rashtra after a secret meeting with RSS chief K.S. Sudershan. The meeting was held in Delhi in 2001 following the firebrand secessionist leader's return to India after a long exile in London.

Dare I ask a few questions:

1. Did Jagjit Singh Chauhan have any real connection with Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale or the Sikh struggle in Punjab during 80s or he was set up by Indira Gandhi and Indian secret service as a diversion?
2. Why was he not imprisoned by Indian Government upon his return to Punjab in 2001 like many other Sikh youths and leaders of that period who still languish in Indian prisons?
3. Was he working for the Pakistanis, Sikh independence movement, or the Indian government?

I think you can guess the answer from the facts about his last days in India.

DR. Sohan Singh

DR. Sohan Singh passed his MBBS from King Edward College in Lahore and retired in 1974 as the Diretior of Health Services for Punjab state. He was a follower of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and joined the militant groups after the Operation Blue Star. He crossed over to Pakistan and led the movement as the chairman of the Panthic Committee, an umbrella organization for the Khalistani militant groups.

Dr. Sohan Singh

REALITY CHECK
In the year 1991, Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan along with Khalistan Liberation Force and Dr. Sohan Singh (Head of Panthic Committee) etc. participated in the secret peace negotiations with India in the city of Ludhiana. These meetings were initiated by Union Minister of State for Home Subodh Kant Sahay on the orders of the then Prime Minister of India Chandra Shekhar. 

It is said that this peace effort was sabotaged by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence. Former Indian Intelligence Bureau Joint Director, Maloy Krishna Dhar stated in a press report published by The Hindu, that “Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her ISI advisers were determined not to let peace succeed". Pakistan’s covert war in Jammu and Kashmir had exploded in 1990, and its establishment understood that the Punjab conflict tied down our troops, and threatened our logistical lines into Jammu and Kashmir.

My questions for Khalistan supporters:

1. How was Dr. Sohan Singh appointed as the head of Panthic committee and soon after that most of the Sikh militants were killed in "encounters" by Indian police?
2. How did Dr. Sohan Singh arrive back in Punjab and lived in a government appartment in Chandigarh where he died of old age?
3. How did Dr. Sohan Singh escape imprisonment and torture by Indian Police while the Sikh youths were killed in police "encounters" and put in prison for unlimited period?

Simranjit Singh Maan

Simranjit Singh Mann (Punjabi: India ਮਾਨ) (born 20 May 1945 in Simla) is the Sikh politician from Punjab.He is president of the Sikh political party, Shiromani Akali Dal-Amritsar. Mann has been arrested or detained some 30 times but he has never been convicted.

Simranjit Singh Maan

In 1984, Maan resigned his post as Commandant of the Central Industrial Security Force (I.P.S.) in Bombay[ in protest of the Operation Blue Star, and was detained. Mann was tortured, charged, among other things, with conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Simranjit Singh Maan was elected in absentia to India's Parliament by an overwhelming mandate in the State of Punjab, and unconditionally released "in the interests of the State", with all charges dropped, after five years in prison, in November 1989. He was denied an Indian passport on the grounds that he was "threat to the security and integrity of India". Mann was denied entry into the Indian Parliament when he insisted on carrying a full size Kirpan, which is allowed under the Indian constitution, with him.

REALITY CHECK

Simranjit Singh Maan is grandson of Sardar Bahadur Aroor Singh who became infamous as the general manager of Golden Temple Complex who anointed General Reginald Dyer with Siropa, the Sikh religious honor after the Jalianwala Bagh incident. He is also brother-in-law of Maharaja Amarinder Singh of Patiala, the leader of Congress party in India.

My questions for Khalistan supporters:

1. Why did Simranjit Singh Maan not participate in the 1992 elections? His boycott allowed the Congress party to regain control of Punjab that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Sikh youths in police encounters led by KPS Gill under order form Beant Singh, the Congress Chief Minister of Punjab.
2. Why did Simranjit Singh Maan refuse to enter the Indian parliament as elected representative of Punjabis and Sikhs and made a dramatic scene with his whimsical demand to carry full size sword to the parliament?
3. Why doesn't Simranjit Singh Maan address the real issues of Punjab, Sikhs, and SGPC. Why does he bring up the bogey of "Khalistan" every time to divert the attention?

We need to be very cautious of the nefarious designs of the anti-Sikh forces. These forces may not want the annihilation of Sikhs by heart but their policies may result in such an outcome. We also need to be aware of the political leaders who shout the loudest and raise the bogey of "Khalistan" every time the community faces a tough situation. 

Sarbat Khalsa 2015

The recent issues of desecration of sacred Sri Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab, unprincipled pardon of Saadh Sauda, police firing on protesting Sikhs, and conduct of SGPC office bearers; have posed a serious challenge to the spiritual sanctity of Sikh philosophy. The call for "Sarbat Khalsa" was the need of the hour. But we needed it to be a spiritual affair dealing with the current situation. The raising of "Khalistan" bogey and appointments of political and militant leaders as new "Jathedars" has diverted the attention from the true cause.

Need of the hour is not the bogey of "Khalistan" but an independent and highly spiritual authority in charge of Sikh affairs globally. Someone spiritual and knowledgable and non-political person as the Jathedar of Akaal Takht. We missed an opportunity, but did the Sikh militants led by Sardar Maan were in a mood to listen to anyone?

Lets hope we all are marching towards the same outcome ....