Sikhs are a self-respecting people who have ruled over Kabul Afghanistan Khandhar, Jammu and Kashmir Ladakh Tibet (Punjab) and frontier provinces in the 19th century and were recognized as an independent nation and power by Great Britain, the U.S.S.R., France, China and other world powers. Sikhs have been gifted with virtues like hard work, a spirit of enterprise, toughness and soldierly qualities. They are Prepared to serve, suffer and sacrificed for the cause to fulfill the mission entrusted to them by the great Sikh teachers. Sikhs are taught to treat all human beings as equal, spread the message of love and universal brotherhood but also fight against deceit, oppression, injustice and tyranny.

Having defined briefly the Sikh ideology, its separate and distinct character, we would now proceed with the examination of the present Sikh problem in its true prospective. Sikhs, rulers of Punjab and other frontier provinces, after having fought five bloody battles, lost their kingdom to the British in 1849. Sikhs were and are a separate nation as different from Hindu as white from black,

Sikhs are universally recognized as a distinct minority in India with a separate entity but the Hindu society has always attempted to assimilate them in its fold as it had done earlier in the case of Buddhists, Jains and others. Realizing the importance of Sikhs who were the rulers of Punjab before its annexation by the British Crown, the British Government during the Raj days granted them legislative weight. The British Government had allotted them 25% of seats in the Central Government of India before 1947 and 70% in the Indian Armed Forces, similarly in other departments,

Sikhs were considered one of the three parties in India other two being Hindus and Muslims who inherited the British power as natural and historical heirs to the political settlement in 1947. It was in recognition of this political right of the Sikhs that the majority Hindu congress party, at its Lahore session in 1929, incorporated the Sikh National Colour, Saffron (Kesri) into the present Indian National Flag and adopted a formal resolution which stated:

The Congress assures the Sikhs that no resolution thereof in any future constitution will be acceptable to the Congress that does not give them (Sikhs) full satisfaction. “

Mr. Mohan Dass Karam Chand Gandhi (so called Mahatma) who was generally regarded as the conscience of Indian Hindus, speaking at Sikh Temple Sisganj in Delhi in 1931, as reported in Young India March 16, 1931 declared that:

Sikh friends have no reason to fear that the Congress party will betray them. For, the moment it does so, Congress would not only thereby seal its own doom but that of the country too. Moreover the Sikhs area great people who know how to safeguard their rights by the exercise of arms if it should ever come to that.”

Speaking at the Congress Committee meeting at Calcutta in July, 1946 when the British Cabinet was debating the issue of giving the Sikhs their due in the forthcoming political settlement, Jawahar Lal Nehru declared that: “The brave Sikhs of Punjab are entitled to special consideration, I see nothing wrong in an area and a setup in the North wherein the Sikhs can also experience the glow of freedom.”

In another resolution adopted by the Congress Committee on January 5, 1947 it was declared that “By-the British Cabinet Scheme of 16 May 1946, the rights of the Sikhs should not be jeopardised.” Further Mr. Nehru declared on 9th December 1946 at the opening session of the Constituent Assembly.

That the various territories of the Union of India would be  autonomous units with residuary powers.

A resolution moved in the Constituent Assembly by Jawahar Lal Nehru in its first meeting stated:

Adequate safeguards would be provided for minorities, this is a pledge and undertaking before the world, a contract in the nature of an oath, which we must keep.” Besides the promises and undertakings given by Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Nehru, the British Parliament’s “Transfer of Power Act 1947” also provides: that the Indian Constitution will be a federal, loose-center Government exercising powers on only three subjects, namely, communications, defence and foreign affairs.”

After receiving such firm and solemn promises in clear and unambiguous terms from the Hindu leadership, Sikhs decided to throw their lot in with India and did not press the British government for an independent  Sikh State at the time of partition of Inaia. Mohd Ali Jinnah did not trust the Hindu leadership and on behalf of the Muslim community he demanded the separate Muslim state from the British so Pakistan was formed in 1947.

Sikhs wholeheartedly and vigorously supported the freedom ‘Struggle and greatly suffered for the cause The Hindu leaders Gandhi, Nehru, Patel solemnly promised to Sikhs a homeland in North India if they sided with the Congress in the Freedom struggle. Sikhs consented to this and made great sacrifices for the country’s’ freedom, Although Sikhs were less than 2% of Indias population they were the biggest political sufferers, Out of 121 Indians Hanged for political reasons 93 -i, e. 80% were Sikhs, Similarly out of 2,646 Indians who suffered life imprisonment 2,  80% belonged to the Sikh community.

 After the country achieved independence, promises made earlier by the Hindu leaders were promptly forgotten and they told the Sikhs that, ” the times have changed”. Repression and humiliation of Sikhs started.

From 1947 to 1950 when the Indian Constitution was formed the Sikhs were represented by two of its members. Though over 80% were Hindu majority Sikhs were declared as Hindu along with Budhists and Jains via Article 25 of the Indian Constitution 1950. Both the Sikh members refused to sign the Constitution and walked Out as a protest against the betrayal of the Sikhs in going back on all promises made to them before the independence, Gradually all the personal laws of Sikhs were abolished and Hindu laws were enforced on them via the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 and Hindu Succession Act 1956,

In a multi-national, multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-lingual society like India, the minorities can only feel safe if they have a large measure of autonomy and are free to develop their culture, language, social and religious aspirations as per their genesis. In India there are Aryans, Dravidians, Mongolian and aboriginal races, In India the majority community forming the government at the center wasn’t to convert India into a unilingual Hindu State which has greatly disturbed the minorities, particularly Sikhs, Anybody who raises a voice against this is promptly dubbed as reasons and proclaimed a terrorist, extremist and successionist etc, No wonder the majority community of India is frequently involved in rioting and fighting against minorities such as Chrisans in Kerela, Muslims in Assam and Bombay, Sikhs in Punjab and Haryana.

Sikhs in Punjab have shaken their faith in the Hindu government and exposed its true colors to world opinion. It is quite amusing that Indira Gandhi should deceive world opinion by declaring at international forums that Sikhs form a minority in India, thus ignoring all the historical facts about the Sikh existence as per the Indian Constitution. There are no Sikhs in India as the Indian laws recognize them as Hindu. The truth is that nobody can mistake a turbaned Sikh with his flowing beard and honest manly bearing for a clean shaven, caste ridden, to bacco chewing, dhoti-clad Hindu gentleman. Thus all out efforts are being made to absorb Sikhs into Hindu fold through systematically contrived press coverage, cinema, TV and other media, totally ignoring the Sikh point of view. Sikhs cannot tolerate this cultural aggression any more as they are of a different genesis and have an altogether different philosophy, custom and way of life. Sikhs have waited long enough for justice and fair play from the government but the Indian Government has ignored all Sikh demands and treated the Sikh problem as a purely law and order problem, For the last 37 years the Congress Government has been illegally eroding the financial and Statutory autonomy of the state through the extra constitutional means of the planning commissions, a body solely under of the Central Government and not provided for in the Indian Constitution, approval and expenditure on plans has to be cleared by the planning Commission. Thus Punjab is being deprived of all heavy industries and other developments, Of maximum revenue collected in thirty-seven years only 11 and half % is invested in Punjab. Natural resources of Punjab such as water and hydro power are looted, without giving a single piece to the State. Percentages in the armed forces were reduced to 2% from 70%, Sikh culture and history is distorted and we are served with Hindu culture day and night by government sponsored and controlled Radio, T.V, , cinemas etc, The rulers of Delhi have tied these tricks many times to subjugate the Sikhs.

In all walks of  Life it is in the larger interest of India that all acts of aggression against Sikhs must be vacated and the Sikhs should be accepted on terms of absolute equality with Hindus. Sikh demands briefly were as follows:

The basic demand of Sikhs therefore, is to amend Article 25 of the: Constitution to declare Sikhs as a separate nation, to constitution ally safeguard their separate identity and enact their personal laws. The Principle of a separate electorate based on adult franchise must be granted to the Sikhs so that they are truly represented in the State Assembly and Indian Parliament by their own people. In short, the Sikhs demand recognition as a separate nation having equal status with the Hindus in India.

New Punjab would be a constitutionally accepted and recognized as a SIKH HOMELAND. Only Defence, Foreign Affairs, Communications and Currency would be controlled by the Central Government and all other Departments would be under the State control . This would be a place where Sikhs could freely develop their culture, language, social and religious aspirations,

The new State of Punjab would be a single, unilingual State where Sikh religion, culture and rights are safe from the onslaught of the Central Government and the Hindu majority.

To achieve the above aim, Sikhs demand a homogenous State of Punjab, which includes the present Punjab and other Punjabi speaking areas which were deliberately left out by the Government of India when demarcating the boundaries of Punjab. Vatican like status to the Golden Temple City of Amritsar and enactment of all Indian Gurudwara Act, In the light of the above promises and assurances, the Sikh demand for an autonomous Punjab State within the Indian union can be no stretch of the imagination or be interpreted as separatist, Successionist to foreign Hands.

To break the back of the Sikh as they tried on 6th June 1984, the Hindu majority Government of

India sealed off the border of Punjab like aliens. National and International journalists were asked to leave Punjab so the government of Indira Gandhi could: attend to the wide scale killing of the Sikhs, Every village and city” was raided. The Golden Temple, the Sikh Vatican was destroyed, and thousands of innocent men women and children were murdered it is for the conscience of the right thinking people and the international community to condemn this barbaric atrocity which was committed by the Indira Gandhi government.

Average Sikhs are now completely convinced, without a shadow of a doubt that the Sikh State is the only answer for their Very Survival,

Look at the changing world situation, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Afghanistan and Salvia,

the just demand of the  Sikh people will be fulfilled in (KHALISTAN).

Article extracted from this publication >> July 3, 1992