The Khalistan

Movement

Presented by
Deepak kumar Singh(17ucc020)
Harsh Mundra(17ume023)
Piyush Pareek(17ume044)
Purva udai Singh(17ucs117)
Udit Bansal(17dcs015)
What is Khalistan?
● Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for
Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khalistan
('Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region.
● Khalsa - Its is an idea given by the last Sikh guru, where you
commit to Sikhism like a soldier.
● The idea peaked at around the 1980s.
Where did this idea come from?
● The idea of Khalistan as a Religious Nationalistic Movement took
origin in ~1850s, when the British took on the Divide-and-Conquer
approach to take over India, and created rifts between the Hindus,
Sikhs, Muslims, etc.
● In the 1930s, the British Empire started to dissolve, and first calls
for a Sikh Homeland were made.
● During the Lahore Resolution, the Muslim League laid claim to
Punjab, which led to the Sikhs believing it an attempt to usurp Sikh
territory and history, following which they put forward the idea of
Khalistan for Sikhs.
Timeline of Events
● Pre-1950s

-Sikhs have been concentrated in the Punjab region of south asia.

-Punjab had been ruled by the confederacy of Sikh Misls.(1767-1799)
-Maharaja Ranjit Singh(1799-1849)
-British ‘divide and conquer’
-End of British empire in 1930s.
-First call for Sikh homeland.
-Partition of India ,1947
Timeline of Events
● 1950s to 70s

- 1966: Punjab was divided into the state of Punjab and Haryana, with certain
areas to Himachal Pradesh, chandigarh was made a centrally administered
UT.
- The Akali Dal was defeated in the 1972 Punjab election, so to gain public
Attention they asked for recognition of Sikhism and also want to transfer
Chandigarh and other certain areas to Punjab.
- 1982: Dharm Yudh morcha.
- Events outside India
Timeline of Events
● 1970s to 1984

- 1982(Delhi Asian games)

- 1984: Increasing militant activity
- Murders in front of Gurudwaras
- Operation blue star
- Assassination of Indira Gandhi
Timeline of Events
1984 to 2000
- Air India Flight 182
- Main suspects were members of a Sikh separatist group called the Babbar
Khalsa.
-Late 1980s: Golden Temple was again occupied by militants, Akal takht made
A declaration of an independent state of Khalistan, clashes of Sikh militants
and Police occur, The congress cancelled elections(Sikh separatist won).
- Several fights with military, with other nations were fought, in the end
Punjab was facing several issues like more fights, weakened economy.

● In 1985, The Government attempted to seek a political solution to the

grievances of the Sikhs through the Rajiv-Longowal accord
● Extremists, who were left unappeased, would react by assassinating Longowal
Militancy / Extremism
In retaliation to the 1984 Operation Blue Star, separatists claimed that
India was no longer safe for Sikh interests, and spread militancy among
Sikhs.

Some extremist events are:

● Bombing of Air India Flight 182, 1985

● Bombing of New Tokyo International Airport, 1985
● Smaller regular skirmishes with Indian Forces.
Militancy / Extremism
Some militant groups are:

● Babbar Khalsa International

● Bhindranwala Tiger Force of Khalistan
● Khalistan Liberation Army, etc.

These militant groups are funded by the Sikh diaspora and by external
powers like Pakistan.
Role of Sikh Diaspora
● The large sikh diaspora present in US, Canada and USA.
● In 1970s donation drive was started by some leaders of khalistan.
● Declaration of separate country, currency were all made on foreign
soil by leaders like Jagjit Singh Chohan.

**Note - Akali Dal never wanted a “separate country” but more

autonomy**
Role of Pakistan

● The Indian Government pointed to the involvement of a “foreign hand,”

referring to Pakistan’s abetting of the movement. Punjab noted to the Indian
Government that militants were able to obtain sophisticated arms through
sources outside the country and by developing links with sources within the
country. As such, the Government believed that large illegal flows of arms
were flowing through the borders of India, with Pakistan being responsible for
trafficking arms. India claimed that Pakistan provided sanctuary, arms, money,
and moral support to the Sikhs, though most of the accusations were based on
circumstantial evidence.
Role of Pakistan
● General Zia-ul Haq, the Head of State of Pakistan, attempted to reverse the
traditional antipathy between Sikhs and Muslims arising from the partition
violence by restoring Sikh shrines in Pakistan and opening them for Sikh
pilgrimage. The expatriate Sikhs from the west that visited these shrines were
at the forefront of the calls for Khalistan.
● The Khalistan movement was brought to a decline only after India fenced off
a part of the Punjab border with Pakistan
Current Scenario

● Many Sikh and Hindu groups, as well as organisations not

affiliated to any religion, have attempted to establish peace
between the Khalistan proponents and the Government of India
● Sikh groups operating from other countries could potentially
revive the Khalistan Movement
Current Scenario

● Today Much of the calling for Khalistan has died down from
within the country as
- Heavy Police crackdown on the separatists
- Lack of a clear political concept of 'Khalistan' even to the extremist
supporters
- Loss of sympathy and support from the Sikh population of Punjab
- The confidence building measures adopted by the Sikh community
helped in rooting out the Khalistan movement
Conclusion
● The movement peaked during the 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s
culminating in june 1984 attack by Indian security forces to the Golden
Temple in Amritsar to root out armed militants led by religious leader
and separatist Jarnail singh Bhindranwale.
● The movement gained momentum in the 1980s. The movement turned
violent under the leadership of Jarnail singh Bhindranwale.
● Then we looked upon the maneuver called “Operation Blue Star”,
triggered massive enmity among sikhs worldwide, leading to
assasination of Prime minister Indira Gandhi by her sikh bodyguard in
1984.
Conclusion
● In the wake of her death, thousands of sikhs were murdered across India,
several hijacks of aeroplanes attacks and many small groups formed to
unite Khalistan Movement.
● In 1982 Bhindranwale and his armed group moved to the Golden Temple
complex and made it his headquarters. Finally, Bhindranwale killed in
Indian army’s operation blue star.
● On 35th anniversary of Operation Bluestar markets around the Golden
Temple remained closed for several hours and pro-khalistan slogans
were raised.
Conclusion
● We also looked in to the involvement of Hafiz Saeed in the
Khalistan movement and early stages of Operation Bluestar.
At that stage Pakistan’s SGPC general secretary Gopal Singh
has admitted his involvement in the “Khalistan movement”
and hailed Hafiz Saeed.
Thank You

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