Asma Liaqat -1

KHALISTAN MOVEMENT
BY: KIRAN KHALIL*

Khalistan Movement

The Khālistān movement (Punjabi: is a movement in Indian Punjab in the 1970s and '80s to create "The Land of the Pure" as an independent state in all Punjabi-speaking areas contiguous to the borders of Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab.

Post-independence events

With the possibility of an end to British colonialism in sight, the Sikh leadership appointed Gurjeet Johal from village pandwa as their new leader. She became concerned about the future of the Sikhs. The Sikhs and the Muslims had unsuccessfully claimed separate representation for their communities in the Minto-Morley Scheme of 1909. With the Muslims proposing the creation of Pakistan, some Sikhs put forth the idea of likewise carving out a Sikh state, Khalistan. In the 1940s, a prolonged negotiation transpired between the British and the three Indian groups seeking political power, namely, the Hindus, the Muslims and the Sikhs. During this period Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi stated that the resolution was adopted by the Congress to satisfy the Sikh community. During a press conference on 10 July 1946 in Bombay, Nehru made a controversial statement to the effect that the Congress may “change or modify” the federal arrangement agreed upon for independent India; this claim outraged many. Some Sikhs felt that they had been "tricked" into joining the Indian union

Controversies
The Language issue

In the 1950s and 1960s, linguistic issues in India caused civil disorder when the central government declared Hindi as the national language of India. The Akali Dal, a Sikh dominated political party active mainly in Punjab, sought to create a Punjabi Suba, or a Punjabi-speaking state. This case was presented to the States Reorganization Commission established in 1953. It is generally believed that many Punjabi-speaking Hindus declared Hindi as their mother tongue in the censuses of 1951 and 1961, and therefore the census figures did not support the case for a Punjabi speaking state. The States Reorganization Commission, not recognizing Punjabi as a language that was distinct grammatically from Hindi, rejected the demand for a Punjabi suba or state.

Akal Takht movement

The Akal Takht played a vital role in organizing Sikhs to campaign for the Punjabi suba. Finally, in 1966, the Punjabi suba demand was accepted by the central government and Punjab was trifurcated under the Punjab State Reorganisation Bill. Areas in the south of Punjab that spoke a language that is a derivative of Braj formed a new state of Haryana and the Pahari- and Kangri-speaking districts north of Punjab were merged with Himachal Pradesh, while the remaining areas formed the new Punjabi speaking state, which retained the name of Punjab. As a result, the Sikhs became a majority in the newly created state with a population of a little over sixty percent.

River waters dispute

The trifurcation of the state led to three competing demands for these river waters, (The North Indian rivers - Sutlej, Beas, Ravi did not flow through any other state for any length) and the central government decided to step in. The central government against the provisions of the Indian constitution introduced sections 78 to 80 in the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, under which the central government “assumed the powers of control, maintenance, distribution and development of the waters and the hydel power of the Punjab Rivers”.

Social Inequalities When some people have money, power and prestige and other do not, the “haves” usually develop an attitude that justifies things as they are. In the extreme case, slave owners perceived slaves as lazy and irresponsible – as having the very traits that “justified” enslaving them. More commonly, women may be seen as unassertive but sensitive and therefore fit for the task they often perform. In short, prejudice rationalizes inequalities.

The Nirankari-Sikh clashes

Separately, tensions had been escalating between the Sikhs and Nirankaris in 1970s - largely relating to control of Sikh temples. In April 1978, a convention of Nirankaris clashed with Sikhs, led by Bhindranwale and by Fauja Singh of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha.

Akali Dal's demands

The Akali Dal led a series of peaceful mass demonstrations to present its grievances to the central government. The demands of the Akali Dal were based on the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, which was adopted by the party in October 1973 to raise specific political, economic and social issues. The major motivation behind the resolution was the safeguarding of the Sikh identity by securing a state structure that was decentralized, with non-interference from the central government.

Though there were a number of leaders vying for leadership role, most were based in UK / Canada and had limited influence. In Punjab, Bhindranwalen was the unchallenged leader of the movement and made his residence in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. In August 1982, the Akali Dal under the leadership of Harcharan Singh Longowal launched the Dharam Yudh Morcha, or the “battle for righteousness.” Bhindranwale and the Akali Dal united; their goal was the fulfillment of demands based upon the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. In 1984, Bhindrawale and Shabeg Singh moved some ammunitions and harbored separatists into the holy temple. The Indian military wished to swiftly wipe out the militancy in the temple, however, the attack was made during a curfew in which numerous Sikhs had gone to pray in the temple. And Bhindrawale was killed.

The assassination of Indira Gandhi and subsequent anti-Sikh riots

As a result, on 31 October 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot-dead by two Sikh security guards in New Delhi. The assassination triggered violence against Sikhs across north India. On 29 April 1986, an assembly of thousands of Sikhs at the Akal Takht made a declaration of an independent state of Khalistan. During the late 1980s and the early 1990s, there was a dramatic rise in radical Sikh militancy in Punjab, in response to allegations of continued "Human Rights violations" by Indian Security Forces.

Peace initiatives

As described in detail above, the key issues motivating the Akali Dal and more radical Khalistan movement activists are political, economic, religious, and social. Class and regional differences have influenced groups’ preference for negotiation and compromise with the central government or radical opposition and secession: those with less to lose have generally been less staunchly moderate. The Central government attempted to seek a political solution to the grievances of the Sikhs through the Rajiv-Longowal Accord, which took place between the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Harchand Singh Longowal, then President of the Akali Dal, who was assassinated a few months later. The accord recognised the religious, territorial and economic demands of the Sikhs that were thought to be non-negotiable under Indira Gandhi’s tenure. While the agreement provided some basis for a return to normalcy, it was denounced by Sikh militants who claimed that the Indian state could not be trusted. Harchand Singh Longowal was later assassinated by terrorists. The transfer has allegedly been delayed pending an agreement on the districts of Punjab that should be transferred to Haryana in exchange.

Under the Constitution of India, secessionism is forbidden, and various rebel groups in favor of Khalistan fought an insurgency against the government of India. Indian security forces defeated the secessionist insurgency in Punjab in the early 1990's, and since then there has been little further pro-Khalistan agitation within Punjab, although international pro-Khalistan organizations such as Dal Khalsa still exist. The present situation in Punjab is generally regarded as peaceful, and the Khalistan movement weakened considerably

Citations

www.wikipedia.com
www.yale.edu

Khushwant Singh, The End of India

* Student, B.A (Hons.), Second Semester, 2007, Department of International Relations, University of Karachi