INDIA/PAKISTAN: In a highly controversial event, that many have called anti-national, some Khalistan elements attempted to exploit the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan for anti-India activities.
The pro-Khalistani group banned in India, Sikh for Justice (SFJ), is a US-based secessionist group that supports the separation of Punjab from India to create a new nation-state called Khalistan.
The group released footage of ‘Ardas’ (prayers) being performed for the success of Khalistan referendum voting in Canada, starting from September 18.
SFJ terrorist Paramjit Pamma had authorized and lauded the move.
The banned pro-Khalistani group released a video of prayers being done at the Sikh holy site in Pakistan. It is to be emphasized that India had already raised their concerns about possible Khalistani propaganda at Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara way back in 2019.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa spoke to Republic TV over the incident and said, “Pakistan has nothing to do with the Sikh religion. They just want to create an anti-India atmosphere. They want to disturb the atmosphere in Punjab.”
“People like Paramjit Pamma do propaganda against India,” Sirsa told Republic. He said that Pakistan instigate the gurudwara devotees to go against India. “This incident clearly shows that Pakistan is using the Sikh religion to disturb the atmosphere in Punjab,” Sirsa added.
BJP leader RP Singh also condemned the act and criticized the pro-Khalistani group for spreading anti-India propaganda that threatens the security of India.
He further said that the terrorist group can only dream of a separate nation-state called Khalistan because eventually nothing will be achieved by the group.
“Pakistan keeps on instigating Sikhs and Kashmiri across the border… It is highly condemnable,” RP Singh told Republic. “The Gurudwara committee at the Nankana Sahib should immediately apologise for allowing ardas for Khalistan. Anything to disintegrate this country will not be acceptable,” he added.
“The Sikh For Justice (SFJ) can only dream of Khalistan they will never be going to achieve anything. Sikhs by large don’t accept the theory of Khalistan. None of the Sikhs in India will like to talk about Khalistan,” RP Singh to Republic.
It is pertinent to note that the Indian government has blacklisted SFJ, a separatist organization, and has labelled it “illegal”. Moreover, following the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 (UAPA), the Indian government banned SFJ in July 2019 for encouraging secession and inciting violent militancy in Punjab as well as the 2020 Sikh referendum.
In particular, their operations attempted to severe cross-cultural and cross-religious ties and destabilise the peace and communal harmony in the Punjab state.
The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement, that aims to create a separate homeland for Sikhs called ‘Khalistan’ (or ‘Land of the Khalsas’) that would include parts of erstwhile pre-colonial Punjab, now in both India and Pakistan.
The separatist movement emerged in the wake of the fall of the British empire, sometime in the 1980s, and garnered some support within India and the Sikh diaspora during the infamous Operation Blue Star.
The incident was a secretive military operation launched by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, to eliminate three prominent Sikh figures (rumoured to be associated with the Khalistani movement) from one of the holiest sites in India, the Golden Temple.
Also Read: Tension in Patiala Due to Demonstration against Pro-Khalistan Elements
