SARBAT KHALSA is a highly visible aspect of the Sikh democratic norms. It is an open meeting which affords an opportunity of expression to every man, woman and child. In modern terms where we have been subjected to and have become used to the idea of State Secrets, Sarbat KhaIsa may seem simplistic. But it is, as it has been, the foundation of the human right to freedom of speech. When a Sarbat Khalsa also acquires the sanctity of approval of the authorities at the Akal Takht, the temporal high authority of the Sikhs, it has what could only be called constitutional validity and becomes binding on all Sikhs. Last week, in an historic gathering, the Sarbat Khalsa at Akal Takht in Amritsar expressed its view unanimously that the Sikhs in South Asia cannot find the necessary protection safety and security to their life and property and other rights like freedom of speech and conscience nor equality of opportunity or before the law in the present arrangement whereby they became a party to the creation of that Union of States which is known by the name of India that is Bharat. The only alternative available to them is the establishment of the sovereign status that will offer them the necessary protections and guarantees. They want to become members of the international comity by establishing Khalistan.
Dr. Chohan welcomes the decision of the Sarbar Khalsa and is glad to note that finally the Sikh nation has come round to the very origins where by necessity it is united. He has promised to make every effort to implement the decision of the Sarbat Khalsa in Amritsar and has called upon the MLAs in Punjab to defy the threat of dissolution of Assembly or of President’s Rule in Punjab. He has expressed his hope that the politicians amongst the Sikhs today, having learnt their lesson from history will not repeat it uselessly; that they will elect a new leader in the Assembly which is also in the nature of Sarbat Khalsa so that they can shed the shackles of Congress (1) support and will go on to show to the administration in New Delhi what is the meaning of true democracy. Dr. Chohan has asserted that the policy in India has become corrupt because the Constitution has been subverted. The Sikhs joined hands with the Hindus and the Muslims and others in South Asia to create a Union of States and not a monolithic “family State”. They have waited and worked patiently towards the fruition of that ideal. They have been spurned; cheated and oppressed. They have seen provinces of the Union reduced to chattels. They now say they cannot tolerate this state of affairs and they want to change the fate of South Asia. If that change is possible only through the agency of Khalistan, so be it.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 13, 1987
