Khalistan

Infobox Country
conventional_long_name = Sikh Republic of Khalistan
common_name = Khalistan
supreme_ruler = Guru Granth Sahib Ji

---

symbol_type =
motto =
anthem = Deh ishi vah
official_languages = Punjabi and EnglishFact|date=December 2007
capital = Amritsar
largest_city = Ludhiana
government_type = Theocracy
leader_title1 = Supreme Ruler
leader_name1 = Guru Granth Sahib Ji
leader_title2 = Commander-in-Chief
leader_name2 = Interim Committee of five Jathedars of five Takhts and Chief of Damdami Taksal
sovereignty_type =
established_event1 =
established_date1 = Jan 23, 1993
currency = defunct

Khālistān ( _pa. ਖਾਲਿਸਤਾਨ), official title Sikh Republic of Khalistan or the Holy Sikh Kingdom of Khalistan, was the name given by Jagjit Singh Chauhan, to a proposed nation-state based on theocratic principles. [ [http://www.khalistan.net/Map_of_Khalistan.html Website of Paramjit Singh Ajrawat] ] . The separatist movement for Khalistan rose to its peak in 1980s in India and then slowly ebbed out, however the movement now finds limited support among expatriate Sikhs. Khalistan had some support from some sections of the Sikhs in North America, prior to the attack on Air India Flight 182 [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:NCQL2LxTSTYJ:www.sikhtimes.com/news_031705a.html+Khalistan+Alive+In+Sikh-Canadian+Hearts+and+Minds&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us Khalistan Alive In Sikh-Canadian Hearts and Minds,The Globe and Mail, Mississauga, Ontario, Mar. 17, 2005, By ROBERT MATAS ] . The Khalistan movement is now widely seen as a smaller scale separatist movement by Sikh youth living away from Punjab. Khalistani terrorist groups are monitored by European and American Governments. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/file_on_4/7263211.stm Sikh separatists 'funded from UK', BBC]

Political lobbyists in the USA once included politicians Dan Burton [http://www.khalistan.com/PressReleases/PR051204_DrAulakhTestifies.htm Dr. Aulakh, Others Expose Indian Human Rights Violations at Congressional Hearing] , Jesse Helms [Studying the Sikhs: Issues for North America By John Stratton Hawley, Gurinder Singh Mann, Published 1993SUNY Press] , and Edolphus Towns [http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/record/1998/1998_E02197.pdf DR. AULAKH OF COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS OF NEW YORK IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Thursday, October 15, 1998] . Other lobbyists include Lord Avebury (Eric Lubbock) [ [https://www.ihro.in/?q=book/print/132 (8) IHRO Watch- August 1991 ] ] , and Lord Nazir Ahmed [http://www.panthic.org/news/121/ARTICLE/1619/2005-07-31.html Self Determination: The Only Basis for Human Rights in South Asia Sunday 31st of July 2005 ] from the UK, and the late General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the late 8th Chief of Staff of Pakistan Army and former President of Pakistan and late Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, a Pakistani politician.

The Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh (d. 1839), one of the most famous religiously egalitarian monarchs in South Asian history, had an independent kingdom with Lahore as the capital. In 1849 his country was annexed and became part of British Empire. Under the Treaty of Amritsar the country was to be restored to the Sikhs once Duleep Singh attained the age of 21. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1618_277/ai_68157986 The Sikhs' Last Emperor. - Review - book review | Contemporary Review | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ] [ [http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDE822/ Ranjit Singh: A Secular Sikh Sovereign ] ] Therefore, his relevance and use by Khalistan separatists is viewed by most as politically mischievous. The ISI ran Operation K2 in the 90's to create both Kashmir and the remainder of Punjab with the hope of accession of both states to The Islamic State of Pakistan [ [http://kashmirherald.com/main.php?t=OP&st=D&no=325 Kashmir Herald - Khalistan Redux ] ]

History

In the 1970s and 80s, a movement began in the Indian state of Punjab to secede from the Indian Union and create a separate sovereign Sikh state of Khalistan. Supported by the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence [cite book
last = Jaffrelot
first = Christophe
title = A History Of Pakistan And Its Origins
series = Anthem South Asian Studies
publisher = Anthem Press
year = 2004
isbn = 978-1843311492
pages = 127] [cite book
last = Shah
first = Mehtab Ali
title = The Foreign Policy of Pakistan: Ethnic Impacts on Diplomacy, 1971-1994
publisher = I.B.Tauris
year = 1997
isbn = 978-1860641695
pages = 23] agency,the movement reached its peak during mid 1980s under Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. It then slowly ebbed out, primarily due to the loss of popular support. The movement also hindered economic investment, became increasingly militant, and threw Punjab into a state of anarchy with increased levels of terrorism. The movement was also countered by counter-terrorism operations conducted by the Indian Army and the Punjab Police led by KPS Gill. According to the Human Rights Watch, casualties numbering in thousands resulted as fallout of the Khalistan movement.

After the bombing of Air India Flight 182 that claimed the lives of 329 Canadian civilians over the Irish Sea on 23rd June 1985, the worst aviation terrorist attack before September 11, 2001 attacks, support for Khalistan lessened to a large extent. The accused in the case were Sikh separatists, Inderjit Singh Reyat was sentenced to ten years after pleading guilty in 1989. [ [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-70-1018-5695/disasters_tragedies/air_india_investigation/clip6 Sentencing Inderjit Singh Reyat] ] . The other two Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were found not guilty for lack of admissible evidence and released. Canadian journalists Zuhair Kashmeri and Brian McAndrew in their book " Soft Target" propounded a conspiracy theory that the Government of India could have staged the attack to portray the separatists in bad light. This book was later viewed by the official Commission of Inquiry in Canada as a work of fiction based on the events surrouding Flight 182 especially after the plead of guilt by Inderjit Singh Reyat [Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182 TERRORISM, INTELLIGENCE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT – CANADA’S RESPONSE TO SIKH TERRORISM http://www.majorcomm.ca/documents/dossier2_ENG.pdf DOSSIER 2)]

Another book written by acclaimed investigative journalist Salim Jiwa titled 'Margin of Terror': A Reporter's Twenty-Year Odyssey Covering The Tragedies of the Air India Bombing, shed new light and gave an eye-witness account of the terrorist bombing of Flight 182 and appears to be in line with the findings of Canadian Law Enforcement. [cite book
last = Salim Jiwa
first = Donald J Hauka
title = Margin of Terror - A Reporter's Twenty-Year Odyssey Covering The Tragedies of the Air India Bombing
publisher = Key Porter Books
year = 2006
isbn = 1552637727
pages = 288]

Other prominent journalists who have had death threats against them for their investigative journalism into Khalistan terrorism include Vancouver Sun journalist, Kim Bolan and Tara Singh Hayer who was murdered on November 18th 1998. In 1999, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression renamed its Press Freedom Award the "Tara Singh Hayer Press Freedom Award" in Hayer's honour. Each year, the award is given to a Canadian journalist who, through his or her work, has made an important contribution to reinforcing and promoting the principle of freedom of the press in Canada or elsewhere.

Support for Khalistan has diminished among Sikh communities in the UK and North America, since surveillance has been tight in UK & Canada. [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act/proscribed-groups?version=1] . The Sikh community in Canada were opposed to an inquiry into the Air India bombing, the worst terrorist act carried out in Canadian history. The Liberal Party of Canada, which relies on support from the Sikh community, bypassed an inquiry but in 2006, the ruling Conservative Party of Canada, launched an inquiry into the Air India bombing, which is stillunfolding [http://www.majorcomm.ca/en/index.asp] .

Geography

According to the Khalistan web-site:

The geographical boundaries of Khalistan will include current East Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pardesh, part of Rajasthan and small part of Uttar Pardesh. River Ravi on the west and river Jamuna on the east will be some of the boundary lines between Khalistan & Pakistan, Khalistan & India respectively. In the north, part of Himalayan range and in south, part of Thar Desert will make the geographical boundaries of Khalistan. [http://www.khalistan.net]

This would still end up making the proposed region a Hindu majority by default. [A Demographic Case Study of Forced Migration:The 1947 Partition of India Authors: Hill K, Seltzer W, Leaning J , Malik SJ, Russell SS4, Makinson C, http://paa2004.princeton.edu/download.asp?submissionId=41274] Paramjit Singh Ajrawat states that Khalistan will be a theocratic state with a non-secular based fundamentalist constitution.

References

ources

* [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act/proscribed-groups Proscribed Terrorist Groups]
* [http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/punjab/terrorist_outfits/KZF.htm List of terrorist groups banned across Europe]
* [http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/41056.pdf List of terrorist groups banned by US Government]
* [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA200022003?open&of=ENG-IND Amnesty International on Punjab lack of Justice and Impunity]
* [http://www.flight182.com/ Death of Flight 182 website]
* [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/10/18/india17103.htm Human Rights Watch; Time for India to Deliver Justice in Punjab]