Question 1

What is the Khalistan movement?

Accepted Answer

The Khalistan movement was launched around the independence of India and Pakistan in the 1940s, with the goal of setting up a separate state for Sikhs in Punjab. The word Khalistan means “Land of the Khalsa” or “Pure.” There are around 26 million Sikhs globally, 24 million of whom live in India. Sikhs make up around 1.7 percent of India’s population, but they are a majority of the population of Punjab, where the religion was started in the 15th century. The separatist movement has some support among Sikhs in India and has gained traction among the Sikh diaspora, including in Canada where Nijjar was based. The movement has been outlawed in India, where the government considers it a national security threat.

Question 2

Why does the Khalistan movement cause tension with India’s government?

Accepted Answer

The movement reached its height in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, when Sikh militants in Punjab carried out a violent, decade-long separatist insurgency that was met with an Indian counterinsurgency. The movement gained momentum in 1984 after the Indian army raided the Golden Temple, the most important Sikh pilgrimage site, to flush out separatists. What followed was a deadly week-long exchange of fire around the site that included heavy weapons, artillery and tanks. The Indian government said 400 died in the operation; Sikh groups say thousands, including pilgrims, died. Militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was slain, turning him into a martyr for many Sikhs. Around five months later, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — who ordered the army raid on the temple — was shot dead by two of her own bodyguards, both Sikhs. An outburst of anti-Sikh mob violence followed the assassination. An estimated 3,000 or more Sikhs were killed in four days of indiscriminate attacks. The following year, a bomb went off on Air India Flight 182 traveling from Canada to India, with a stop in London. All 329 passengers were killed, making it the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history. A Sikh extremist was convicted of the bombing. The following decade saw many clashes between Sikh militants and the police, leading to tens of thousands of documented disappearances and killings. In the years since, the violence has died down, in part due to Indian special operations that quelled the insurgency. Still, tensions persist between the Indian government and supporters of the cause, both at home and abroad.

Question 3

Is the Khalistan movement still active in India?

Accepted Answer

While there is no longer an active insurgency, the movement to carve out an independent Sikh homeland in Punjab still enjoys some support, though limited, in India. The Indian government and security officials have warned of a resurgence of militancy in Punjab in recent years, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has cracked down on and captured Sikh separatists it sees as a terrorist threat. In March, Indian authorities shut down mobile internet access and text messaging in Punjab, home to 27 million people, for days while they searched for fugitive Amritpal Singh, a preacher and leading pro-Khalistan militant leader. Singh was eventually arrested, as were 200 alleged affiliates. Indian security officials designated Nijjar a terrorist in 2020 and accused him of supporting attacks in India.

Question 4

Is the Khalistan movement active abroad?

Accepted Answer

The independence movement has found support among the diaspora, including in nations with sizable Sikh populations such as Britain and the United States. Canada is home to 770,000 Sikhs, the largest population outside India; part of that population actively champions the Khalistan movement. The Indian government has asked these countries to crack down on Sikh activists. Over the last three years, the U.S.-based group Sikhs for Justice — which was banned in India in 2019 — has held a traveling voting exercise, mobilizing the Sikh diaspora in major cities to take part in what it calls a “referendum” on Khalistan. Organizers said thousands cast ballots in Canada in September 2022. Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at the time that the “farcical exercise was held by extremists and radical elements.” The matter was discussed with Canada “through diplomatic channels,” Britain’s Independent reported. In March, people demonstrated outside India’s High Commission in London, taking down an Indian flag and unfurling a Khalistan flag on the building’s roof. The latter move caused India’s External Affairs Ministry to issue a release conveying its “strong protest at the actions taken by separatist and extremist elements” in London and urging the British government to identify and prosecute those involved. Sikh groups also gathered in Canada this year to protest the death of Nijjar. After Trudeau’s statement Monday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Canada’s accusations “seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Gerry Shih, Karishma Mehrotra and Lyric Li contributed to this report.

What is the Khalistan separatist movement behind the India-Canada rift?