It has Crossed my find many times to sit down and put down the reasons for Khalistan, but then I Stop and say to myself is it Really Necessary after nine years are we yet not convinced for the need for Khalistan?
In reading Sardar Gurnam Singh’s letter” “will Sikhs be better off in Khalistan?” He asks a universal question and I think the question is will we be able to face the changes that is inevitable. Because whether the Sikhs like it or not the Subcontinent of India has already had many cracks in its Structure and with the ongoing Struggles that India faces from within, be they on religious, language, ethnic diversity, economic and the growing intolerance towards the minority by the majority would spell inevitable disaster for any country where the language and religious differences did not exist but in the situation of a country like India the writing is On the wall that it’s not whether India will collapse as did U.S.S.R. ‘but how long is the real question.
So the question is will the Sikhs be better off in Khalistan? I think even if the collapse of India was no inevitable the question of individual rights is a very basic question, so before we discuss the upcoming events lets discuss the need and why Khalistan. I think that fundamental question should be answered.
The real issue that has come to mind is that we seem to associate the need for Khalistan with some of the methods employed by individuals and or groups of self-seekers and opportunistic individuals Or groups who put their own needs ahead of that of the QUAM and when this happens then we lose sight of the central reason for independence in the first place. That is the right to Liberty justice and pursuit and happiness for all.
If it is acceptable that your religious freedom and your places of worship can be violated then Khalistan is not the way to go. If it is acceptable that innocent people: in the capital of the so-called largest democracy in the world can be pulled out of their homes burnt alive, their women folks gang raped and their properties destroyed then Khalistan is not the way to go. If it is acceptable that young men can be pulled out of their homes at night and shot at random then Khalistan is not the way to go. If it is acceptable for nine years to live under military seize with no end in sight then Khalistan is not the way to go. [fit is acceptable that the very constitution for which our forefathers laid down their lives in thousand does not guarantee us the same rights as it does to the majority then Khalistan is not the way to go.
I am sure that no red blooded Sikh with even an ounce of self-respect would agree that the above mentioned set of conditions are acceptable to him to live under. Therefore whether Khalistan is what the Sikhs need is not even a question because your options are not limited but do not exit. There is only one way to go that is to have a place that you can call your own, Khalistan.
This brings me to the point that Sardar Gurnam Singh raises that would Sikhs be better off with Khalistan? I must admit it’s a loaded question, but one I am sure that runs through the minds of many middle class Sikhs here, in Punjab and those residing outside Punjab. After thinking on this subject for quite some time and pondering the question posed by Sardar Gurnam Singh the conclusion that | reach is as follows. t think to reject or to even ask whether the Sikhs would be better off with Khalistan because of the behavior of some of the self-seekers that I spoke of earlier would be like throwing the baby out with the dirty bath water, I would be hard pressed to defend nor will [the ill behavior of some of the self-seekers over the last few years. Oh, I am absolutely sure that the government had a very large hand i some of the ill behavior that went on which Sardar Gumam Singh speaks of, but even if one or two percent of it was real that to us as Sikhs is not tolerable, I think if one thing that we have been guilty of and I included is that we have kept quiet on occasion when we have heard of such instances of ill behavior and we should not have, Khalistan is not about deterrent but about determination. Khalistan is not about silencing those who disagree with us but making our voice strong so that theirs is challenged. Khalistan is not about regression but about progression. It is time we stopped daydreaming and got on with the job. We keep talking about how we missed the boat i47 hell 47 is long gone; let’s for once do something about the situation.
Question now is will Sikhs be better off in Khalistan. Well you can either correct your own process or accept the fact that we just are not capable of governing ourselves so it’s acceptable to continue suffering at the hands of the majority, who started by destroying our Gurdwaras then raping our women then burning our property. It leaves an absolutely foul taste in my mouth to even think that we are not capable of correcting the Sikh political process and therefore really would we be better off in Hindustan. I for one refuse to believe that we are not capable of correcting our process, but that requires stopping yielding to the status quo and setting your mind on the job and preparing for the inevitable. Let me tell you whether we like it or not India is on the road (o calamity and break up and I feel the journey is almost to the destination. Question is will the Sikhs be ready? Let’s stop worrying about whether Sikhs will be better off in Khalistan. Let’s start fixing the process so that Khalistan becomes what it ought to be a country where the Sikhs will truly feel the glow of freedom.
We are not out to create an ideal Country but just out to create a country. To ask will Sikhs be better off with Khalistan because of what some self-seekers have done is like asking here in the United States because of certain corrupt politicians would we be better off without democracy. I think there will not be anybody that would trade that, then why ask the question on Khalistan we all know the problem lets dig our heels in and fix it Are we not believers of Chardikala? Are we not the sons of our father the great light of all lights the immortal pathfinder Guru Gobind Singh Ji? Or are they just idle claims?
The idea of self-determination is never wrong, how can it be? Ibis the only thing that connects you and your God, for that is the one thing that you are given at birth, a free will. Exercise it; don’t allow others to govern you. If the process is broken don’t sit on the sidelines fix it, don’t blame the product because the process is broken fix the process and that can only be achieved by involvement. Make Khalistan where you would be better off, not Hindustan where you will be whatever you are told to be and that equation is changing every second. Khalistan is not some intellectual exercise it is living, breathing, it is you, I and all the other Sikhs in Punjab and around the world and it will be as good as we would like it to be. Let’s make it the best our God Riven capabilities can make it be and when we take that last breath it is free and we die with a smile on our face knowing that we came into this world free and we shall leave it free and with having the honor of knowing that we got involved and made the difference.
May the almighty bless all of you and may he give us the guidance and strength to march on to our goal of nation under God Khalistan. Balbir S. Ragi.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 17, 1993
