Tag : Hindi-Hindu-Majority

The Khalistan movement is the fight for a separate, sovereign Sikh state in present-day Punjab (in both India and Pakistan). The movement was crushed in India after Operation Blue Star (1984) and Operation Black Thunder (1986 and 1988), but it continues to generate sympathy and support among sections of the Sikh population, especially in Canada, the UK, and In the Sikh Diaspora in countries like Australia. Amritpal Singh, a follower of Sikh extremist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who has been propagating the idea of the Khalistan separatist movement in Punjab in the recent past, has managed to escape. The origins of the Khalistan movement are traced to India's independence and subsequent partition along religious lines. The Punjab province, which was divided between India and Pakistan, saw sectarian violence and gave rise to millions of refugees. The capital of the historic Sikh Empire, Lahore, as well as holy Sikh sites such as Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, moved to Pakistan. While the majority of Sikhs found themselves in India, they were a small minority (2% of the population) in the country. The political struggle for greater autonomy began with the Punjabi Suba movement for the creation of a Punjabi-speaking state. The States Reorganization Commission Report (1955) rejected this demand, but the state of Punjab was reorganized in 1966 (divided into Hindi-Hindu-majority Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, and Punjabi-Sikh-majority Punjab). The Punjabi Suba movement inspired the Akali Dal, which passed the Anandpur Sahib Resolution (1973), demanding autonomy (not secession from India) for the state of Punjab. The demand had gone global by 1971 – when an advertisement in the New York Times announced the birth of Khalistan. By ...