Dhaka, Bangladesh Global: Sikhs once had their own kingdom in the Punjab and the push for the creation of Khalistan dates back decades, to around the time India gained independence from its British colonial rulers in 1947.
When Partition hastily divided the former colony along religious lines – sending Muslims to the newly formed nation of Pakistan, and Hindus and Sikhs to newly independent India – Punjab, which was sliced in half, saw some of the worst violence.
Sikhs suffered heavily in the ensuing bloodshed, and the community felt mistreated in the new Hindu-majority nation, prompting some prominent leaders to advocate for the creation of Khalistan. Over the years, violent clashes have erupted between followers of the movement and the Indian government, claiming many lives.
In the 1980s, Punjab witnessed a decade-long insurgency by some Khalistani militants, who committed a series of human rights abuses, including the massacre of civilians, indiscriminate bombings and attacks on Hindus, according to Human Rights Watch.
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In counterinsurgency operations, Indian security forces arbitrarily detained, tortured, executed, and “disappeared” tens of thousands of Sikhs, the rights group said. The Indian government also enacted counterinsurgency legislation that facilitated human rights violations and shielded security forces from accountability for these violations, it added.
In 1984, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered Indian troops to storm Amritsar’s Golden Temple – Sikhism’s holiest shrine – to kill Sikh separatists, in an operation that caused huge anger within the Sikh community.
Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in the aftermath, prompting a renewed bout of violence that killed more than 3,000 people, mostly Sikhs.
A year later the violence spilled over to Canada, when Sikh separatists bombed an Air India plane that had taken off from Toronto airport, killing all 329 people aboard, including numerous Canadians of Indian descent.
The Khalistan movement now
There is no insurgency in Punjab today and analysts say supporters of the Khalistan movement remain very much on the margins in India.
However, the movement continues to evoke a level of sympathy from some Sikhs within the global diaspora, particularly in Canada, Britain and Australia.
A small but influential number of those Sikhs support the idea of Khalistan, with referendums periodically held to reach a consensus to establish a separate homeland.
Nijjar’s death shocked and outraged many within the Sikh community in Canada, which has more than 770,000 members and is one of the largest outside India.
Canadian police have not arrested anyone in connection with Nijjar’s murder. But in August, police said they were investigating three suspects and issued a description of a possible getaway vehicle, asking for the public’s help.
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