In recent weeks and months, Khalistan groups have been upping the ante both inside India and abroad. The inspiration is clearly from outside, including from Pakistan, but there is now a local angle to it with the rise of Amritpal Singh’s Waris Punjab De. The latter have been trying to create mayhem in our border state. Outside India, our diplomatic missions have been attacked, including most recently in London and San Francisco. Many Hindu temples have been vandalised in Australia and elsewhere. So, what is really transpiring on the ground? Is India set to face another wave of extremism in Punjab? Or is it a well-orchestrated ploy by anti-India forces abroad to ‘bleed India with thousand cuts? In context of these disturbing events, this opinion piece will try to argue that why the Khalistan movement is on decline in contrast to the frenzy seen in popular media in India and understand why there is a need to debunk the game of ‘smoke and mirrors’ played by Neo-Khalistani trying to make the movement mainstream.
A Plot Hatched Abroad
It can be argued that here is little to no support for the Khalistan movement in Punjab, despite the state facing its fair share of challenges such as a struggling agricultural economy, declining employment opportunities, drug addiction among young people, and an ever-present threat from neighbouring Pakistan. The violent armed uprising by Sikh militants in the 1980s and 1990s left a dark chapter in the state’s history, and the people of Punjab have no interest in repeating that experience. The recent incidents of Khalistani activists replacing the Indian flag at the Indian High Commission in London, vandalising the Indian consulate in San Francisco, and protesting in Canada’s British Columbia only serve to highlight that the Khalistan movement remains nothing more than a fantasy for those who have little to no connection with ground reality in Punjab.
Fringe groups in Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada and the United Kingdom, has been vocal supporters of the Khalistani movement. For example, the World Sikh Organization (WSO) in Canada has been accused of promoting separatist and extremist views. In 2018, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was criticised for attending a Sikh event where separatist flags were displayed. Similarly, in the UK, there have been reports of pro-Khalistan rallies and events, some of which have been attended by British politicians. Pakistan has also been accused of providing support to Khalistani groups. Indian officials have alleged that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has been providing funding and training to Khalistani militants. In 2020, Indian security forces arrested a suspected Khalistani militant who they claimed had been trained in Pakistan. In most of the times, lax handling of the issue by Western nations and the hands of Pakistan were the driving factor fuelling the Khalistan propaganda abroad.
It is noteworthy that the Indian government has taken several steps to counter these groups and their activities. One such step is the use of diplomatic pressure to prevent foreign governments from supporting separatist movements in India. In 2019, for example, the Indian government protested to the Canadian government after it emerged that Sikh extremist groups in Canada had been seeking to raise funds for the Khalistani movement. In 2019, the Indian government also banned the extremist Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) group. The government has also frozen bank accounts of suspected financiers of the Khalistani movement and taken other measures to disrupt the flow of funds to these groups. Through diplomatic pressure and legal measures to disrupt the flow of funds and crack down on individuals and organisations suspected of supporting the Khalistan movement, India is playing its part in handling these groups. Therefore, there are clear indications that the movement confines mostly among these fringe groups. To have a clear idea of the issue we must look into the situation on ground and how it indicates that the movement is in decline in contrast to the popular narrative.
Ground Reality
One of the reasons for the decline of the Khalistan movement is the decrease in public support. The movement was at its peak in the 1980s when many Sikhs felt marginalised and oppressed by the Indian government. However, since then, the situation has improved, and many Sikhs have moved on from the idea of a separate state. According to a survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in 2019, only 2% of Sikhs in Punjab support the Khalistan movement.
The decline of Sikh militancy in Punjab has also contributed to the decline of the Khalistan movement. Since the early 2000s, the violence has decreased significantly in Punjab. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, there were only two militant-related fatalities in Punjab in 2020, compared to 488 in 1991. Another factor that has contributed to the decline of the Khalistan movement is the decrease in funding. The movement has struggled to raise funds both domestically and internationally due to increased scrutiny and opposition from the Indian government and the international community. The Indian government has also taken several steps to curb Khalistani separatism. The Modi government has been particularly aggressive in cracking down on the movement, which it views as a threat to national security. The government has arrested several Khalistani leaders, including Jagtar Singh Johal and Harmeet Singh, on charges of terrorism and conspiracy. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the number of people arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for terrorism-related offences has increased from 800 in 2015 to 1,294 in 2019 and militants form a major chunk in these.
There are also several indications that the Khalistan movement is mainly confined to social media platforms and certain fringe elements abroad. Most of Khalistan propaganda has been mainly driven via social media platforms and does not enjoy the hype on ground level in Punjab. For example, the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) organisation has been using social media platforms to promote its “Referendum 2020” campaign, which aims to hold a referendum on the creation of Khalistan. The SFJ has been carrying out this through various hashtags on Twitter, such as #Referendum2020 and #Khalistan, to spread their message and build support. Similarly, several individuals on social media platforms have used hashtags such as #KhalistanZindabad and #FreeSikhPoliticalPrisoners to create instability in India. The Indian government has also taken many steps to prevent the disturbing trend of Khalistan propaganda on social media platforms. For example, back in 2020, the government asked Twitter to remove over 1,100 accounts that were spreading misinformation and promoting the Khalistan movement.
The voice among mainstream Sikh politicians also is not in favour of the movement. Many prominent Sikh leaders have stepped up in criticising the movement, including local Punjabi leaders. This trend indicates that the representatives of the Punjabi people do not consider the Khalistan movement as an important issue for the people. Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, for example, has been a vocal critic of the movement, stating that it is divisive and irrelevant in today’s India. He has called for unity among all Punjabis and has emphasised the need to focus on development and progress. Other local Punjabi leaders have also spoken out against the Khalistan movement. H.S. Phoolka, a former member of the Aam Aadmi Party and a prominent Sikh lawyer, has stated that the movement has “no relevance” in today’s India and that it is time to move on from past grievances. Similarly, Satnam Singh Kainth, a former Akali Dal leader and the chairman of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front, has criticised the movement as being “anti-national” and detrimental to the interests of the Sikh community. Thus, the idea of Khalistan has been mostly disowned by Punjabi people.
To summarise, with the current government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in power, which takes a tough stance on matters of national security, it is unlikely that the Khalistan movement will gain any significant traction in the country going ahead. It is true that the Khalistan movement is on its wane but it should not be an invitation to let the guard down against separatist forces. Being a country surrounded by two hostile nations India stands to lose if any separatist tendencies are allowed to fester on its borders. But at the same time the mainstream media shall take the moral road and avoid going on an overdrive to paint a picture that Punjab will go back to the horrors of 1980s-1990s.
(This article was originally published in The Pulse and has been republished here with permission.)
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