Is Khalistan Possible for India?

“If the FIR lodged against me isn’t scraped within 1 hour the government of Punjab should be held responsible for the consequences”. This is what said by Amrit Pal Singh Sandhu said”.

For some people, he is the rising leader in Punjab but for India. He is a big threat. 

Some months back, he was an unknown person living a simple life in Dubai. But suddenly he has become a popular figure in Punjab. Since September last year, Amritpal has been dressing like a pious Sikh usually Travelling with a group of 10-15 men with weapons. Amritpal claims his aim is to bring religious and social transformation to Punjab.

But he and his group attacked several gurudwaras in Punjab by saying that their management was not conducting the affairs of the gurudwara as per the Sikh Code of conduct. But the most horrific demand Is that he renewed the demand for Khalistan(a separate independent country for Sikhs)

History of the Khalistan movement:-

The Khailstan Movement is a separatist movement that aims to establish a separatist Movement for the Sikhs called Khalistan or the land of khalsa. It consists of the region of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and some districts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

The demand for a separate homeland started in the 1920s but even before that the Sikhs had a history of self Governance. In 1699 the tenth Guru Sri Guru Gobind Singh Created a new order called “Khalsa” or the “Pure”.This was also when most parts of India were ruled by Aurangzeb. The Sikhs were revolting against this Rule because of all the policies against Sikhs and murdered the ninth Guru Tegh Bahadur. 

A khalsa rule was declared and Sikhs started mining coins, Designing an Offical Seal.

Recent History 

The Story goes back to all the way back to the year 1929. In the Lahore session of Congress, Motilal Nehru presented Poorna Swaraj which demanded complete independence from the British for India. But this declaration was rejected by three groups—1. Mohammad Ali Jinnah Muslim League,2.BR Ambedkar,3.Master Tara Singh of the Shiromani Akali Dal. He demanded a separate homeland for the Sikhs. However, the term Khalistan had still not come into use.

It was first used in 1940 when the Muslim League passed the Lahore resolution asking to establish a separate homeland for Muslims. In response to this, a sikh leader Dr Veer Singh Bhatti began demanding the formation of a separate homeland for Sikhs which will buffer between India and Pakistan. He printed some of the pamphlets and for the first time, the term Khalistan was coined. But congress leaders rejected the demand and argued the nation won’t be divided on the basis of religion. 

Punjab fructification 

When the Constitution was framed. The Shiromani Akali Dal claimed that their autonomy was not as per what has been promised there were mainly two reasons 

1. The constitution of India included the Sikhs under the ‘Hindhus’ category and Sikhs believed that this ignored their distinctive religious identity.
2. The second problem was Constitution Of India didn’t recognize the stated on the basis of religious identities. Thus, when Punjab was formed in Independent India, the Sikhs constituted only 30% of the population which is why when the Constitution Assembly signed the constitution Shiromani Akali Dal refused to sign. SAD’S resistance intensified when in the 1950s when the central government rejected the SAD’s demand to create a Punjabi Speaking state.

19 years after independence. In 1966 the central government did Agree to carry out this demand it divided Punjab into Sikh Majority Punjab, Hindi-speaking Haryana, Union territory of Chandigarh, and allotted some hill districts to Himachal Pradesh but this fructification didn’t solve the problem. Problems were like Sharing the same capital, Chandigarh with Harayan. They also felt that the Punjabi-speaking areas of Ambala, Pinjore and karnal were unjustly given to Haryana.

ANADPUR SAHIB RESOLUTION

In 1973 Akali Dal adopted the Anandpur sahib resolution which served as a blueprint for the party’s future agenda. The agenda put forward two primary demands;

1. Add the Punjabi-speaking areas to Punjab which was the transfer of Punjabi-speaking areas of Haryana to Punjab.
2. Make our own Constitution the subjects including defence, foreign relations, communication, railways, and currency should operate according to Punjabi Constitution. 

With the Anandpur Sahib resolution the Akalis tried to create a perception that the Sikh religious and political identities differed from the rest of India 

 IS KHALISTAN ACTUALLY POSSIBLE IN INDIA 

1. Punjab’s defence, water, and electricity expenditure comes from the Center. Punjab land we face ecological crises in the next 20 years. If hypothetically agriculture survives who will buy the cereal from them, not Pakistan as they are through Financial Crises in their own Country? There is no way to import because it will be a landlocked country with no natural resources or   water service is not available 
2.  If we Talk about Education all the universities are located outside Punjab. Other industries like Research and development, tourism, Technological, and Medical industries, are not well developed. Other infrastructures are created by the Center. 
3. The 45% of Hindus living in Punjab will leave their land,  Money, and business. The farmers working from UP and Bihar will leave so there will be ample land left with no one to cultivate.
4. How will Khalistan survive between two nuclear-powered countries like India and Pakistan? For example, Nepal is sandwiched between India and China and has all world powers interfering in its internal matters.
5. Will Khalistan give progressive, equal rights to women as Indian Constitution and Judiciary have given?
6. A large portion of the legacy of Sikh heritage, Gurudwarasspread from north to south, East to west in India