The Canadian Sikh diaspora have run amok. The loudest voices calling for Khalistan are not coming from the Punjab, they are coming from Canada.We ought to remember one thing: the Khalistan movement in Canada, not the Indian government, sparked the first conflict this time.
The death of Hardeep Singh Nijaar exposed an underbelly of tensions sown long ago over the issue of Khalistan.
Canadian police alleged that the Indian government ordered Nijaar’s assassination on Canadian soil, and the left-wing media is quick to point out the Modi government’s ‘right-wing authoritarian stance.’
And, at the same time, the West is in bed with a strange Marxist belief. Large state actors wilfully oppress smaller ethno-religious groups of people at will and with glee. True sometimes, but not in every circumstance.
While India’s alleged involvement in the assassination of Nijaar is not justifiable, I suspect that concerns about the history of pro-Khalistani terrorism lie dormant in the psyche of the Indian government.
Nevertheless, the fractious fallout from the assassination of Nijaar was deep. Canadian police have claimed that Indian diplomats have worked with organised crime and committed a slew of crimes: murder, drive-by shootings, among others. Canada then expelled six diplomats, including the Indian High Commissioner, after it accused Indian diplomats of playing an active role in the murder of Nijjar.
While the new-age activists may forget the history of Canadian pro-Khalistan terrorism, the unprovoked attack of Indian diplomats in Brampton should act as a chilling reminder of what the ‘oppressed’ can do.
Have the oppressed become the oppressors?
Have no lessons been learned from history? Or does the Canadian Khalistan movement believe in an eye for an eye?
While the allegations of India’s actions may be true, we need to discuss the endemic culture of activism within Canada that first undermined India’s territorial sovereignty.
If the Indian state is suppressing the Sikh community in India, why don’t the Canadian seeks move to the Punjab to help stop this?
Punjabis in India can speak for themselves; they don’t need the mouthpiece of Canadian Sikhs abroad to do that.
Another question we haven’t asked is, has the whole thing been overemphasised?
Neilesh Bose of the University of Victoria believes that the Khalistan issue is a non-issue within India itself. He asserted, “Outside of a certain range of flashpoints in the Punjab in India, Khalistan is not a major issue; the context of Sikhs broadly is also relevant; it’s about 1.5% of the Indian population.”
Now I am not suggesting this is an entirely bad idea, but the Sikhs in the Punjab who have nationalist aims ought to carry this out, not Canadian Sikhs.
The ecstasy of self-righteous Canadian Sikh protesters who violently attacked Indian politicians outside a Hindu temple seems to forget the stain of Sikh separatist actions from 1984. When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched Operation Blue Star, an entire battalion of Indian soldiers stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikh separation pro-Khalistani leader, Bindranwale, was gunned down. Many believed Ghandi should have never entered the holiest of Sikh sites. But Ghandi paid for this with her own life. Gandhi was then murdered by two of her Silh bodyguards. The events led to spiked tensions between Hindus and Sikhs.
Self-righteous activism
The problem with the Khalistan movement lies in self-righteous activism. Why are we hearing the loudest voices from the Canadian diaspora of Sikhs? Indira Prasht of Langara College captured the spirit of what we are seeing in Canada today. “Khalistan is always changing in terms of how it’s being envisioned, and so the Sikh diaspora in Canada, England, and Australia are questioning their identity, and their identity is formed around the activism confronting inequality.”
Left-wing media is quick to judge what it calls the ‘authoritarian’ and ‘fascist’ Modi regime and its alleged sending of a ring of assassins to Canada; India is accused of undermining the sovereignty of a foreign power. Yet, Canadians in Canada have been protesting (and some violently) for Khalistan (the creation of a Sikh state) thousands of kilometres away—so who’s violating whose sovereignty here?
In an article entitled ‘Australia can’t escape the India-Canada crossfire,’ Priya Chacko wrote, “No Canadian government could ignore evidence that the Indian government has repeatedly violated Canadian sovereignty, targeting its citizens with lethal violence.”
That may be true, but when you witness Sikh Canadian citizens in a western democracy, while rightfully exercising their right to free speech, when it comes to the sovereignty of a foreign actor, there are times when your free speech can come from ignorance and hubris.
