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Guru Nanak brought a roaring whirlwind to South Asia through
his revolution that founded a new religion, challenging mores
and blind rituals that plagued the region which had been
predominantly Hindu for the last two thousand years. Guru
Nanak’s first epiphany in 1496 at the banks of river Bien
where he declared, “There is neither Hindu nor Muslim,” laid
the foundation of Sikhism, a distinct religion based on a
definitive revelation. The Hindu society was stratified into
four castes with the Brahmins, as a priestly class, ruling at
the apex of the caste pyramid. Conniving with the Mughal
rulers, the Brahmins maintained their stranglehold on society.
Guru Nanak unequivocally rejected the horrific caste system
and earned the wrath of the Brahmins. He vehemently opposed
the tyranny of the Mughal rulers and was sent to prison for
his intrepid desire to create a pluralistic society where all
human beings would live as equals. He emphatically declared
that such was the will of God; whatever he said was revealed
to him by God and he recognized no other authority.
Buddhism had at one time ventured to create an egalitarian
society at the expense of those at the top of the caste
structure. It was decisively eradicated from the land of its
birth by Adi Shankracharya, an upper caste Hindu who wanted to
maintain the status quo.
Sikhism today faces a challenge similar to Buddhism because
over seventy percent of top government jobs in India are
occupied by Brahmins who are less than 3.5% of Indian
First Sikh Republic in 1710
Guru Nanak’s ninth and last successor in human form, Guru
Gobind Singh, who is credited for ordination of fellowship of
the Khalsa, which consists of committed Sikhs who undergo a
formal initiation ceremony, ordained the creation of a
sovereign Sikh republic. Guru Gobind Singh dispatched Banda
Singh Bahadur to Punjab in 1708 to uproot the tyrannical
Mughal dynasty and to establish a just rule. Banda Singh
Bahadur, accompanied by a miniscule number of Sikhs, carried
out his mission with utmost fidelity and conquered Sirhind,
the fulcrum of Mughal power in 1710. He took land from feudal
landlords and gave it to the tillers of the land. He created a
pluralistic society where he refused to discriminate against
any religious group. When Bahadur Shah, the Mughal ruler in
power, issued an edict specifying genocide of all the
followers of Guru Nanak, Banda Singh Bahadur responded by
declaring that the Sikh fight was not against Muslims or any
religious group; Sikhs were fighting against oppression.
By the early 1800s, Maharaja Ranjit Singh had created a vast
Sikh empire that extended from Afghanistan in the west to
China in the east. For the first time in hundreds, perhaps
thousands of years, Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs lived together
without fear of religious persecution, and shared top
government and military positions. This empire was the last in
the subcontinent to be defeated by the British during
colonization when Hindu generals in the Sikh empire connived
with the British to end Sikh rule.
Sikhs and the British
Following the fall of the Sikh empire in 1849, Sikhs as a
people were in a state of shock.
During the Mutiny of 1857, many people led by Hindus in South
Asia revolted against the British and the Sikhs were the only
group that sided with the British. Sikhs felt betrayed by
Hindus with whom the Sikhs had shared power during the days of
glory of the Sikh empire. Increasing British oppression,
however, changed the Sikh position over time. Sikhs demanded
British colonists to leave South Asia and started a
non-violent movement which later was adopted by Mohandas
Gandhi.
During the Independence struggle, the Sikhs were again
instrumental in fighting for South Asia’s sovereignty. As
documented by Rajinder Puri:
Out of 2,175 Indian martyrs for freedom, 1,557, or 75%, were
Sikhs. Out of 2,646 Indians sent to the Andamans for life
imprisonment 2,147, or 80%, were Sikhs. Out of 127 Indians who
were hanged 92, or 80%, were Sikhs. Out of 20,000 who joined
the Indian National Army, under Subhase Bose, 12,000, or 60%,
were Sikhs. And the Sikhs comprise only 2% of India’s total
population!…Clearly the Sikhs…do not require a certificate of
patriotism from the rest of India.2
After Independence was achieved, the British recognized 3
distinct groups—Hindus,
Muslims, and Sikhs—and offered each the opportunity to
establish a separate state.
While Hindus and Muslims opted for separate states, Indian
political leaders cajoled Sikhs through numerous promises into
remaining in India. As soon as the nation was founded,
however, government leaders defaulted on all promises and
instead launched attacks on the Sikhs’ religious, political,
economic, and human rights. Due to these attacks, many Sikhs
became convinced that their freedoms would never be
safeguarded in the country. A movement to establish a separate
homeland called
Khalistan
gained widespread popular support among Sikhs in India and
abroad. The first call took place in June 1943 when the Akali
Dal, a Sikh political party, issued a statement calling for an
independent Sikh state known as “Azad Punjab”3. This movement,
known as the
Khalistan
movement, continues till today.
Promises in 1947
Again in 1946, the Akali Dal, the representative political
party for the Sikhs, issued a resolution in which it “demand[ed],
for the preservation and protection of the religious, cultural
and economic rights of the Sikhs, the creation of a Sikh
State.”
Sikh demands for a separate nation are quelled by promises
from governmental leaders such as M. K. Gandhi: “I ask you to
accept my word…and the resolution of the Congress that it will
not betray a single individual, much less a community…Our Sikh
friends have no reason to fear that it would betray them.”
Subsequent Betrayals
When the Indian constitution is ratified in 1949, Sikhs, along
with Buddhists and
Jains, are classified as a sect
of Hinduism.6
In protest, Sikh representatives refuse to sign the
constitution, but it is never amended.
Punjab is divided in half during Partition in 1947 and remains
classified as a territory for 19 years. In 1966, the federal
government carves 3 separate states out of this territory,
while Utter Pradesh, a state 7 times its size, is left
untouched. Punjab finally gains statehood, but its size and
political power have been dramatically reduced.
Many economic attacks are launched on Punjab, where the
majority of farmers are Sikhs. State river waters,
hydroelectric power, and financial investments are largely
diverted to other states. Large-scale industrialization is
never allowed to take place. Federally imposed ceilings on
crop prices, heavy taxation, and the withholding of funds for
development programs cause farmers to sink into further debt.
As a result of these policies, Punjab’s economy is
“shattered”. The state goes from being one of the most well
off in the nation during the Partition era, to one of the
poorest by 1980.
Human rights violations are rampant in Punjab. In June 1984,
military forces attack the
Akal Takht
and 37
other
gurdwaras.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocent devotees lost their
lives. In November of that year, top government officials
sponsor pogroms in which thousands of Sikhs are killed by mobs
of Indian citizens with the help of police forces.9 Applause
among Indian citizens for the attack on the
Akal Takht
and popular support in mainstream media for extreme government
measures leave the Sikhs feeling alienated and betrayed.
Emergence of the Struggle for Khalistan and Government
Retaliation
Before the 1984 attack, a resistance movement led by Jarnail
Singh Bhindranwale emerges to combat government practices.
Bhindranwale remains neutral to the idea of a Sikh state but
predicts, “If the Indian government attacks the Golden Temple,
it will lay the foundation of Khalistan.” The alienation
caused by the attack, along with the continuing despair over
government policies, provides the impetus for the
Khalistan
movement to gain widespread support. Militancy arises in
Punjab to combat state oppression.
To crush the resistance movement, the government retaliates
with Operation Woodrose, an organized elimination of Sikhs
also referred to as Operation Pacification. Security forces
enter the villages and systematically eliminate males who
appear to be
amritdhari.
Amritdhari
Sikhs are branded a criminal race by the government and mass
media.
Many Sikhs are detained and executed in staged encounters with
police forces. At one point, so many bodies of "disappeared"
Sikhs were being dumped in the state's waterways that the
governor of neighboring Rajasthan had to issue a complaint
that dead bodies from Punjab were clogging up his canals.
This was followed by the establishment of TADA (Terrorism and
Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act), which allows the
imprisonment of any persons under suspicion of terrorist
activity. Detainees could be held without trial. Studies show
that the psychological effects on family members of the
tortured are significant. In a majority of these cases,
families suffer from severe psychological trauma. In one out
of four families, one or more members commit suicide as a
result of torture on a family member.
According to Movement Against State Repression (MASR), a human
rights group based in India, increasing numbers of farmers
begin committing suicide because of debt accumulated due to
unfavorable state policies.
Lack of government support for education in Punjab has had
devastating effects. Although ranked 1st in education in the
early 1900s, Punjab’s standing among the twenty-five states
drops from 7th place in 1985-86 to 17th place in 1999.
Thirty-three percent of Punjabis cannot read or write their
own name.
Special legislation
Appeals by the United States for a ''global campaign against
terrorism'' following the attacks in the United States on
September 11, 2001 provided a pretext for reviving of
draconian laws by the Indian government to suppress most forms
of political dissent. A new Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance
(POTO) was promulgated by the Indian legislature in October
2001, giving the police wide powers of arrest and providing
for up to six months detention without charge or trial for
political suspects. In addition, according to Amnesty
International, “In August [2001], [Indian] government
officials proposed granting amnesties to police officers
facing trial for committing human rights abuses in their
official capacity during the period of militancy in Punjab
between 1984 and 1994.”
Economic Nightmare
Farming is the occupation of majority of Sikhs in Punjab. Sikh
farmers in Punjab are committing suicide because the price
they get for their produce doesn't cover their production
costs. Such reports are common news in Punjab’s media.
According to a study on “Suicides by the Cotton Farmers in
Bhatinda district of Punjab,” debt burden, high cost of
production, deliberate diverting of water by the government to
non-riparian states in violation of international law, and
growth of disease because of excessive use of pesticides are
some of the factors resulting in economic genocide of the Sikh
farmers.
Human Rights Abuses Continue
Amnesty International's report published in 2000 clearly shows
that the Indian state continues to pursue its policy of state
terror against the Sikhs. ("Persecuted For Challenging
Injustice: Human Rights Defenders in India," Amnesty
International, 2000.)
Human Rights Watch declares in 1999, "Virtually everyone
detained in Punjab is tortured." (Smita Narula,
"Anti-Christian Violence on the Rise in India", Human Rights
Watch, 1999)
Common documented methods of torture by police authorities
include: severe beatings; gang raping of women; application of
electric shocks to genitals and extremities; inserting an iron
rod onto which chili paste has been applied into the rectum;
badly burning skin, often with hot iron rods; forcing apart
hips, sometimes to 180 degrees, for prolonged periods; rolling
heavy logs over legs to permanently destroy muscles; and
immersion into foul water until near suffocation. (Human
Rights Watch, 1999; Physicians for Human Rights, Denmark,
1999)
"Causing sterility of Sikh men, coupled with the killings of
tens of thousands, was a method of genocide used by the Indian
security forces to prevent this ethnic/religious group from
reproducing." (Report by Conveyers of the Movement against
State Repression, 1999)
The Movement for Khalistan Today
Due to suppression in Punjab, the Sikh Diaspora plays a large
role today in continuing the
Khalistan
movement, which has popular support in the US, UK, Canada, and
other parts of the world. The Khalistan Affairs Center and the
Council of Khalistan, both located in Washington D.C., are
outspoken voices in rallying support. Despite restrictions on
free speech and continued crackdowns against those who support
the idea of
Khalistan,
the movement is still alive within Punjab today. In an article
from the
Times of India
dated September 2001, Gurdeep Singh declares, "We still want
Khalistan. This government has done nothing for the sufferings
of common man."20 As long as Sikhs continue to be oppressed
and persecuted in Punjab, the struggle for Sikh sovereignty
will continue.
Conclusion
Over 50 years of oppression against the Sikhs by the Indian
state has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that India does not
consider Sikhs to be an integral part of India. All sacrifices
for India’s well-being and sincere efforts by the Sikhs
towards reconciliation have also been futile. From one
perspective, the conflict can be seen as largely ideological,
where India is ruled by elite, upper-caste Hindus, while
Sikhism seeks to create an egalitarian society by removing all
distinctions of caste. Through the subtle machinations of
state run agencies, the Sikhs in Punjab are being denied their
language, culture, education, economic stability and safety.
Furthermore, India’s storage of nuclear warheads in Punjab for
use against Pakistan and its conducting of nuclear tests in a
state neighboring Punjab are of great concern to the Sikh
people.
Sikhs do not feel safe in their own home because their destiny
is controlled by those who seek to annihilate them.
Khalistan
is an
important step towards achieving the right to
self-determination by the Sikhs. Through the creation of a
secular and a democratic republic of
Khalistan,
the Sikhs seek to reclaim their basic human rights that they
lost when their rule over much of South Asia ended in 1849.
Khalistan
will
also act as a buffer state between two archrivals, India and
Pakistan. It could also act as a major military base for
United Nations’ peacekeeping forces to ensure that a nuclear
war does not escalate between India and Pakistan, both of
which lack a governance structure to avoid costly mistakes.
Khalistan
is the
only solution for peace and prosperity in South Asia. If
Khalistan
does not come into being, Sikhism is more likely than not to
disappear from South Asia like Buddhism.
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