The Indian community in Canada has taken a united stand against Khalistanis who attacked devotees at a Hindu temple in Brampton. In a rare show of strength, Hindus and Sikhs gathered in solidarity and protested, by blocking roads and sloganeering.
Former Canadian minister Ujjal Dosanjh recently criticised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of Sikh extremism in Canada. Dosanjh argued that Trudeau’s approach empowered Khalistani extremists and instilled fear among moderate Sikhs, who make up the majority.
He went on to term Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “sociologically and politically idiot” who has never truly understood that the vast majority of Sikhs are quite secular in their outlook and want nothing to do with Khalistan.
The 78-year-old former NDP premier of British Columbia blamed Trudeau of being responsible for what the column describes as the Canadian Sikh population, the largest Sikh diaspora in the world, being “co-opted by the Khalistanis to the point where this obscure separatist movement has become a Canadian problem”.
These developments show that the majority of the Sikhs don’t support the Khalistani movement as it has hurt the image of Sikhs more than anyone else.
The Khalistan movement is based on the idea that Sikhs form a separate nation. In the 1980s, Punjab-based Khalistan ideologues, with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) support, were laying a firm groundwork with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as their face.
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s opportunistic electoral politics further paved the way for their rise. Finally, Operation Blue Star (1984), India’s massive military crackdown on the Sikhs’ holiest shrine, Golden Temple (Amritsar), to flush out holed-up Khalistani militants turned things bitter, hurting the religious sentiments of ordinary Sikhs. Besides, many innocent civilians, being used as shields by the militants, also died in the military operation. The resentment culminated in the assassination of Indira Gandhi by Khalistan militants.
In the backlash, bloody riots gripped Delhi, with many congress leaders playing a lynchpin role. According to the official estimates, 2,733 persons, mostly Sikhs, were killed in the riots. With this carnage began the most violent and brutal phase of Khalistan terrorism.
By the early 1990s, its most violent phase was crushed by India’s police forces under the capable leadership of Kanwar Pal Singh (KPS) Gill. Gradually, the Sikhs were back in the national mainstream. The militancy itself was crushed under the leadership of the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh, and the State Police Chief KPS Gill, both Sikhs.
The Khalistan movement in its new avatar is even more dangerous because it is projecting an image of a secular and liberal movement of a Sikh minority fighting for its right to self-determination. Further, the SFJ, by lending support to Kashmir separatism, is projecting an image of a civil rights movement with firm beliefs in Western liberal values.
However, at its core, it continues to be a violent and extremist movement with no tolerance for liberal values like free speech, multiculturalism, democracy, and human rights.
It is time that the supporters of Sikh extremism realise that they are doing more damage to their community than any good. It is also important to delink Sikhs from extremist ideology as Punjab has contributed in a huge way towards nation building.
Punjab contributes to the Indian economy in several ways, including agriculture, industry, and tourism. Punjab is known as the “Granary of India” and is a major contributor to India’s food grain supply. Punjab is the third largest producer of wheat and rice in India, and the second largest producer of carrots and mandarins. The State’s fertile land and well-developed irrigation infrastructure make it ideal for agriculture.
Punjab is a key hub for textile-based industries, including yarn, readymade garments, and hosiery.
It’s also a major producer of sports goods, sewing machines, and chemicals. Punjab’s industrial infrastructure includes apparel parks and other incentives for investment.
Punjab has made many contributions to national security. Often referred to as the sword army of the nation, it has the second highest number of soldiers, other than officers, serving in the Army amongst all States and Union Territories in the country.
The strength of army personnel from Punjab is 89,088, which accounts for 7.7 per cent of the Army’s rank and file, even though its share of the national population is 2.3 per cent. The contribution of Sikhs could be gauged from the fact that a large number of gallantry awards of the defence forces, whether for wartime valour or peace-time courage, have been conferred upon Sikh soldiers. India has had two Sikh army chiefs and three IAF chiefs (including current chief), a Prime Minister and a President.
Whenever there has been a national emergency, like natural disasters, war, outbreak of diseases like Covid, the Sikh community has stood by its countrymen and provided succour. Despite suffering the most during partition or militancy, their loyalty with the nation has remained rock solid.