The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit word Shishya or the Pali Sikkha, which means disciple. Sikh history originates from Nankana Sahib, the founder of the Sikh faith who was born in Pakistan. He died in Kartarpur, Narowal, Pakistan in 1539. The Sikhs are monotheists who don’t believe in idols or gods incarnate. According to Hindu belief, there are 33 crore gods, dvatas and devis. The holy book of Sikhs is ‘Sri Guru Granth Sahib’ which starts with the mystic poetry of Muslim Sufi Baba Farid and the poetry of Gurus. Majority of the Sikhs belongs to North West India and are dominated by the Jat community.
It was Vallabhai Patel who ensured the settling of Sikhs in other states so that they don’t get a majority in Punjab. According to Khushwant Singh, it was Guru Gobind who finally transformed the pacificist Sikhs into a militant fraternity that he named Khalsa, meaning pure. After the Mughals, the Sikhs organised themselves as guerilla fighters which prompted the Hindus to try and undermine them through religious subversion movements like Nirankaris, Radha Soamis, Arya Samaj movement of Dayanand, all of which showed contempt for Sikh Gurus and their Granth.
It was the Singh Sabha movement which made Sikhs conscious of their rights. According to Sher Singh Sher in his book, Evolution of Sikh Faith and its Followers, “The population of the Sikhs, before 1947, was one percent of the total population of India but their sufferings and sacrifices were more than all other Indians”. The Anand Marriage billof 1909 became an act and this classified Sikhs to be different form Hindus. Later, Sikhs also demanded to manage their own Gurdwaras and formed the Shironmani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) for the struggle of Sikhs rights. The SGPC created an army, called Akali Dal, to take over Gurdwaras.
In 1898’s famous book of Kahn Singh Nabha titled ‘Ham Hindu Nahin Hain (We Are Not Hindus)’it is written that, “Sikhs Hindu Hain (Sikhs are Hindus)”. This asserts that Sikhs’ identity is not distinct from Hindus. Sikhs started the struggle for a Punjabi province with Punjabi in Gurmukhi as the language. In November 1966, Punjab was divided into Punjab and Haryana making Chandigarh a union territory and the capital of both states. In October, 1973, the Anandpur Sahib Resolution demandeda greater degree of provincial autonomy and this resolution provided the base for Khalistan. They demanded for an amendment to be made to the Indian constitution and for Chandigarh to be made the exclusive capital of East Punjab, Punjabi speaking areas of neighboring states be made part of East Punjab and also for the declaration of Amritsar as the holy city.
On March 20, 1981, a group of Sikhs initiated a procession at Anandpur Sahib and demanded Khalistan. Later governments in East Punjab failed to implement the Anandpur Resolution which led to the rise of radical Sikh groups and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale emerged as leader. His aim was to revive the Sikh traditions of martyrdom. In 1981, the chief Khalsa Dewan, during 54thSikh Educational Conference at Chandigar, passed a resolution that demanded a free Khalistan to include areas of Punjab, part of Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu. The Sikhs who migrated to the West, US, Canada and UK also demanded a separate Khalistan and Dr. Jagjit Singh Chauhan is the biggest spokesman of Khalistan movement.
From 1978 to 1992, the 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 popularised under Bhindranwale. The congress government under Indira Gandhi planned operation Blue Star to eliminate Sikh leaders and their followers in the Golden Temple which started on June 1, 1984. One of their holiest shrine was also stormed by thousands of Indian army soldiers against 500 militants. 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.
The assassination triggered backlash against Sikhs across India. According to Amnesty International, “Thousands of innocent Sikhs have been 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”.
The gradual rise of extremism within the Sikh nation and out of the fear of marginalisation, the 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 Canada and the US planned a referendum in 2020 for Punjab’s independence. However, the proposed referendum did not happen due to the Coronavirus pandemic and has been deferred to 2022.
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.
Masud Ahmad Khan
The writer is a retired brigadier and freelance columnist.