Voting for the Khalistan Referendum in UK has been completed, with more than 10,000 Sikhs having their say on the decades-old dispute. The Khalistan movement, seeking to separate Indian Punjab and transform it into an independent Sikh country, dates back to the 80s. Over the years it has been met with severe force from the Indian government and fizzled out as a result of Operation Blue Star. However, the movement once again began to gather momentum after the Modi-led government took measures to weaken the farmers economically.
In the latest move to suppress the rising, fake news is now being circulated by Indian media to malign the Khalistan cause. Rumors were published that Scotland Yard had raided the London office of ‘Sikhs for Justice’ and seized heavy bogus machines and papers while arresting a Pakistani man. However, London police immediately clarified that the department had not carried out any raid and no arrest had been made. Leaders of ‘Sikhs for Justice’ say that India is trying to suppress the Sikh liberation movement through force and that despite such tactics the Khalistan will continue to be till they attain freedom.
India, which has failed to suppress Kashmir’s struggle for independence over the last seven decades, needs to realize that it is impossible to conquer and sustain control over any nation by force forever. In India’s population of over one billion, Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs have been living together for many years. However, the policies of the fascist Modi government, after oppressing Muslims, have also endangered the spirit of Sikh freedom. If the sentiments of the Sikh and Muslim populations continue to be hurt in this way, in pursuance of the extremist RSS ideology, the independence movement in India will continue to grow and the dream of a united India will never be fulfilled.
