No Credit
The diplomatic rift triggered by the Canadian prime minister alleging a “potential link” between Indian intelligence agents and the murder of a Sikh leader in Vancouver continues with no sign of abating. Its roots, however, date back to Partition in 1947 when some Sikhs had believed they merited a separate homeland—Khalistan—on the pattern of the Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. During Partition, however, boundaries were drawn in a manner that prevented Sikhs from emerging as a majority, halting their aspirations. The idea re-emerged in the 1960s, as Sikhs demanded that Punjab’s boundaries be redrawn to ensure their majority, with the formation of the state of Punjab. The results failed to satisfy the movement’s leaders as Sikh populations in some areas were left out of Punjab, triggering protests that led to the launch of a separatist movement.
The simmering conflict came to a head in 1984 when Indian armed forces conducted an operation at the Golden Temple to remove Sikh separatists, killing an estimated thousands, including leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. This led to the assassination, in retaliation, of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh bodyguards. The separatist movement then declined, but has re-emerged in recent years, with the Indian government fearing it could trigger a return to the violence and militancy of the 1980s.
Canada’s role in the movement arises from the exodus of separatists from India to the North American state in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Roughly 2% of Canada’s population is now Sikh, with many sympathetic to the idea of a separate Khalistan state. India is now waking up to the “threat” they pose, demanding Ottawa act against activists it considers “terrorists.” Over the past year, per Indian media reports, its forces have undertaken several extrajudicial killings. None of this is news to Pakistan, which has been sounding the alarm for several years, but Western states looking to India to serve as foil to China are in for a rude awakening as they recognize the rights record of their “ally.”