Over the last few years, I have seen a continuous rise in the chatter around ‘Khalistan’, with occasional spikes from time to time. Of late, this rhetoric has gone far enough to cause an unexpected drift between India and Canada.
Depending on who you ask, Khalistan is either an existential threat to India or the miracle solution to all problems with the Sikh community. Flash news- it is neither.
However, if you choose to look closely, the Khalistan rhetoric, while mostly banal, points to some deep-seated problems. Problems within the Sikh community, problems with the Indian elites’ attitude towards the Sikhs, and problems with Western liberals creating a vote-bank out of the Sikhs.
The Sikhs, India, and the Western liberals are all at fault here and need to look inward to fix this. I decided to write an open letter directed at each one of these parties.
To the Sikhs
It is clear that the Sikh community has an internal problem. We are focused on the wrong issues and have lost focus on our core values. It is time to confront reality. Here is my message for the Sikh community:
Khalistan is stupid
Sikhism is deeply rooted in Indic culture and it makes no sense to carve out a separate Sikh state out of India. People who are advocating for Khalistan are delusional at best and evil at worst. Here’s why-
The Punjabis have already lost a large part of their culture in the partition of India. There are millions of Sikhs living outside Punjab and hundreds of historical Gurudwaras spread all across India. Carving a Khalistan out of India would amount to another partition. Furthermore, creating a landlocked state sitting between three nuclear powers is a terrible idea. Just ask Kashmir.
The Sikhs have full rights and are respected across India. Punjabi culture is vastly accepted and celebrated across India. Even Bollywood, which made disgusting caricatures of Sikh characters in the past, has come around. The Sikhs are thus deeply integrated with the Indian economy, its culture, and its institutions.
Our ancestors have defended India for centuries, and while our relations with the Delhi elites have never been the best, we have deep solidarity with the ordinary men and women across this country. It would be tragic to abandon that.
Now, I am not saying that the Indian government does not have to answer for its actions in the past. But going from a call for justice to a call for the balkanization of India is utterly stupid. It is time for us to boycott these referendums and speak against the extremists who hijack our Gurudwaras into vote-banks.
Warriors are not Victims
Of late, a lot of Sikhs have fallen into the Western liberal trap of victimhood and helplessness. Our entire discourse is now centered around our oppression by the Indian government and our painful past. With this lousy attitude, we bring shame to our ancestors and create a culture of failure for our youth.
We should demand justice where justice is due, but not let the atrocities of the past dictate our present and future. We should rise above resentment and hate, acknowledge and face our current problems, and come out stronger as we always have.
Make Sikhism Inclusive (not divisive)
Sikhism has become all about division into identities. We have alienated millions of Indians who don’t wear turbans but deeply identify with Sikh culture and values. We have put too much emphasis on pious appearances and have narrowed down Sikhism to a fashion statement. The true philosophy of Sikhism is quite the opposite.
The Sikh culture shares core values with Indic cultures like Bhakti and Sufism. There is a reason the 5th Guru included verses from Bhagat Kabir, Shiekh Farid, and other Indian saints in the Guru Granth Sahib. If the Guru wanted to create an exclusive club of turban-tying, bearded men he wouldn’t have done so.
The Sikh identity is open to everyone who desires spiritual fulfillment through the values of Guru Granth Sahib.
Reform the Gurudwaras
The Gurudwara is the center of Sikh spirituality. But the more Gurudwaras I visit, the more I realize that our Gurudwaras have become centers for politics and langar. I believe we need to reform our Gurudwaras and shift their focus to spiritual growth.
The Gurudwara is not a venue for political speeches. It is not a place for frustrated uncles to vent their anger. It is not a place for people to run political referendums. The Gurudwara is a community space and cannot be taken hostage by a few disgruntled men.
It seems like our entire Gurudwara apparatus is centered around serving and preparing Langar. While important, Langar is not the central tradition of Sikh culture. In an era when food was scarce and people were dying of starvation, feeding people was indeed an immediate priority and Langar was important.
Today, however, the world has a deep spiritual hunger and we need to shift our focus to that.
Here are 5 things our Gurudwaras should have:
Meditation
Kirtan
Scripture reading and discussion
Martial arts and Yoga
Counseling
To the Indian Government and Media Elites
The Indian Government and media Elites are known to blow the Khalistan threat out of proportion and center the entire national narrative around it from time to time. On the flip side, they fail to understand that the lack of acknowledgment of the atrocities of 1983-93 is the only reason why NRI Sikhs are falling into the Khalistan narrative. If India keeps alienating and demonizing NRI Sikhs, things will only get worse. Here is my message for the elites of the Delhi Durbar:
Stop amplifying the Khalistan threat in Punjab
It is pretty clear that the Khalistan movement has no support in Punjab. There has been little or no communal violence in Punjab since 1993, especially compared to states like UP, Haryana, Manipur, and Kashmir, where communal violence is everyday business.
In 2022, Punjab voted for an extraordinary victory for a national party, and the ‘pro-Sikh’ party was gutted out. Every month, coffins of martyred soldiers come to the villages of Punjab and are received with an incredible spirit of patriotism.
Given all that, if you still choose to frighten Indians with the ghost of Khalistan, I can’t help but accuse you of communal fear-mongering.
I understand that the threat of Sikh terrorism plays well with some audiences and gets you votes and attention, but I urge you to go to Punjab and get a reality check before you go on crying wolf. Punjab is no UP and hate will not get you to power there.
Acknowledge and Apologize
It is important to understand that the events of 1983-93 left Sikhs with a deep sense of distrust towards the Government of India. 40 years have passed but this distrust remains strong. The Government’s secrecy around this issue only strengthens it.
This distrust is the reason why some vocal Khalistani elements garner support in places like Canada and why people show up to their bogus ‘referendums’.
It’s time to declassify all documents from this decade hidden in Delhi offices. We need a clear and specific answer from the government on the following:
Was Bhindranwale actually about to create Khalistan or was it just a government narrative built to justify the storming of the temple? If he wasn’t, what was the urgency to storm the temple?
How many civilians were killed in Operation Bluestar?
Who orchestrated the pogrom following Indira Gandhi’s murder, and how many people were killed in it?
How many custodial killings happened in Punjab in the decade of 1983-93 and who were the government officials responsible for them?
On the 40th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, it is important for the Government of India to acknowledge the excesses of its official and unofficial agents in the decade of 1983-1993 and sincerely apologize for them. While it is too late to deliver any justice on this matter, it isn’t too late to express regret.
If the Government of India keeps upholding a supercilious stance of secrecy and denial around this matter, radical voices will keep getting space in the Sikh Gurudwaras and referendums will keep happening on foreign soil.
If the Government of India uses sub-judicial killings to target and silence the Sikhs again, things will only get worse.
To the Western Liberals
The Western liberals have little or no understanding of Sikh culture and are clearly out to use the community for their own political gain. Here is my message to them:
Stop making a vote-bank out of the Sikhs
We do not want your victimhood. The Sikhs are no longer oppressed in India and feel no urge to dissent against it. Stop mobilizing Sikhs in the West under an imaginary narrative of Indian oppression.
The Sikhs are a family-oriented culture and stand for deeply religious values. Values that are diametrically opposite to your Marxist culture. We believe in strong men and feminine women and advocate for the right to bear arms. We believe in actually standing for the weak instead of treating them as rescued pets.
Our values are clearly orthogonal to yours and we request you to stay out of our affairs.