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Subject: Why Khalistan?
Shah Rukh    8/6/2007 5:59:34 PM
Khalistan is the Sikh homeland. By definition it means land of pure people. Currently it is under Indian government's control. Some people support it, some don't. Many people have different opinions about how to free Khalistan. Some people are just totally confused. So the purpose of this article is to explain why Khalistan is needed, how to free it and what free Khalistan will be like etc. First, it is important to talk about why Khalistan is needed. Khalistan is not a destiny, it is a necessity. Guru Gobind Singh Ji said: "Raj Bina Nahin Dharam Chale Hain, Dharam Bina Sab Dalle Malle Hain" which literally means that sovereignty is a MUST in order for a religion to survive; otherwise religion perishes. Now you can understand that even Guru Gobind Singh Ji himself has said it. There are many reasons why we (Sikhs) need Khalistan. I will give you some reasons starting from the beginning. We shouldn't live with Hindus for many reasons. Hindus have always betrayed Sikhs. From the time of Gurus, Hindus have always been against Sikhs. You can't find a single name of a Hindu who was loyal to Sikhs. During two holocausts in the 18th century and many wars against Mughals, Sikhs did not receive any help from Hindus, not even from Rajputs and Marathas. It was Hindus who betrayed Sikhs and helped British army to take over Punjab, Khalistan which included all of Pakistan and some of the Indian states like Kashmir, Haryana and Himachal Pardesh. For doing this Hindu Dogras got Kashmir and the rest of the country became part of the British empire. Sikhs had fought for helpless Hindus and freed their women from Muslim invaders for two hundred years and this is how Hindus returned the favor. Even Punjabi Muslims fought against British from the side of the Sikhs but not the Hindus. Punjab was never part of India. Name "India" didn't even come until the east India company. British had occupied the whole of India but then Punjab was not part of British empire. It was a separate country. British ruled over India for more than 200 years and for 92 years over Punjab, Khalistan. After British took over Punjab it became part of British empire and when India gained independence it was handed over to the Indian government to be ruled. It was because of Hindus that Sikhs lost their country. Before India became independent the Hindus leaders of the new nation Nehru and Gandhi promised that Sikhs would be given full rights in India and that no law would be passed without consulting Sikhs. "...in future, the Congress shall accept no constitution which does not meet with the satisfaction of the Sikhs" (The Lahore session of the Congress Party. December 31, 1929) "...the brave Sikhs of Punjab are entitled to special considerations. I see nothing wrong in an area set up in the North of India wherein, the Sikhs can also experience the glow of freedom." (Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lahore Bulletin, January 9, 1930) "I ask you to accept my word and the Resolution of the Congress that it will not betray a single individual much less a community. Let God be the witness of the bond that binds me and the Congress with you (the Sikhs). When pressed further Gandhi said that Sikhs would be justified in drawing their swords out of the scabbards as Guru Gobind Singh had asked them to, if Congress would renege on its commitment." (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Young India, March 19, 1931) "You (Sikhs) take my word that if ever the Congress or I betray you, you will be justified to draw the sword as taught by Guru Gobind Singh" (M. K. Gandhi). After the British left India, Sikhs were fired from their jobs and Hindus were hired. Then Indian constitution was written but Sikhs refused to sign it in the house of parliament because under Amendment (Dhara) 25 it declared Sikhism as part of Hinduism. When Sikhs talked to Nehru about their rights, he said "The time has changed now. If you wanted to live freely then why didn't you demand for a separate country from British?" Look at some more quotes that explain the real attitude of Hindus towards Sikhs. " To preserve the unity of India, if we have to eradicate 2-kror [ 20 millions ] Sikhs, we will do so. (Balram Jhakhar, a colleague of P.V. Narsimharao, the former Indian Prime Minister) " The Sikhs are a lawless people and a menace to the law abiding Hindus ... The [Government] should take strict measures against them." (Pandit Nehru, Indian Prime Minister, on Sikhs) "Kya main taqat dushman (the enemy -the Sikhs) ke haath main de dun (How can I entrust power into the hands of the enemies)." (Jawahar Lal Nehru, 1961) " I hate the very physique of a Sikh because of the turban and beard. " (Vallabh Bhai Patel, late Indian top politician) "I don't give a damn if the Golden Temple and whole of Amritsar are destroyed, I want Bhindranwale dead." (Indira Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister, communicating with Gen. Vaidya during "Operation Blue Star") "We have broken the back of
 
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aksingh       8/11/2007 7:52:11 AM

At the time of partition Sikhs chose to go with India because of the prevailing situation in India  at the time made it very difficult for Hindus and Sikhs to stay on west Punjab under the then increasingly hostile attitude of numerically strong Muslims. Please refer to a good historical book for eg A history of Sikhs vol 2 by Khuswant Singh. The egotistical clashes between the Muslim leaders and the "secular" congress leaders led to mass exploitation and minor rioting even before the partition. The arya samaj movement started by dayanad saw Sikhs, Christians and Muslims uniting against it. The  arya samaj movement gained momentum and the Punjabi Hindus who during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh had more or less adopted both Sikhism and Hinduism started going into the radical Hindutva mode. Further even the Muslims started becoming orthodox under the influence of their leaders who claimed that Muslims cannot get along with Hindus. At the same time the Christians under the British patronage also started their mass conversions. This led to a sense of panic into the Sikhs who thought that their very existence was in trouble and this led to the demand for a separate homeland for Sikhs aka Khalistan. The Sikhs demand for large tracts of land i.e. Undivided Punjab and exodus of rest of the communities was improbable and that was acknowledged by the Sikhs themselves yet they saw it as a bargaining ploy to stop the partition. The Sikhs fears were allayed by Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru who said that they will look after the needs of the Sikhs, Nehru sought again to use the bargaining chip of Khalistan to stop the Partition. The killings and rioting that took place in NWFP led to congregation of Sikhs and Hindus in central Punjab and the advocacy of theocracy by the Muslims made it clear that the Sikhs and Hindus were not welcome in West Punjab.

 

After the partition when the Sikhs again demanded a separate nation it was denied and Sikhs were drafted as Hindus in the constitution, which the Sikhs till today are antagonistic about. The Sikhs found themselves in a Punjab with a majority Hindu population(Haryana / Himachal) and a large batch of refugees from West Punjab.  At the time there was a problem of language divide as Punjabi Hindus were enthusiastic users of Urdu, which was the language of commerce, journalism etc. of the undivided Punjab, now in their patriotic fervor professed Hindi as their mother tongue. Hindus also regarded Punjabi as a dialect of Hindi and once again under Arya Samaj started marginalizing Punjabi language. 

 At that time the states were being divided linguistically and the census conducted in 1961 revealed that Punjabi speakers were reduced to a minority in Punjab. Sikhs made a consequent decision to demand a Punjabi speaking state for themselves which would have Sikhs in majority as they professed their mother tongue Punjabi. At the time there were lots of mistrust between the Sikhs and Hindus who just a decade back were a single fraternity in undivided Punjab . At this time India went to war with Pakistan in 1965 and the major contribution of the Sikhs led to a thundering Indian victory and as a reward of which trifurcation of Punjab into Hindu dominated Himachal Pradesh and Haryana and Sikh dominated Punjab took place.

 

During and the ensuing decades of partition Sikhs emigrated in large numbers to other countries in search of greener pastures and at the same time there was a green revolution in Punjab. The foreign remittances sent by the Sikhs settled abroad and as a result of green revolution Punjab started prospering.

 

The effects of the prosperity brought along with the legendary addiction of Sikhs to alcohol and other intoxicants. There was and still is large influx of laborers from poorer states of India to work in Punjab as educated Sikhs found/find it demeaning to work in the field.

 

There was some resentment amongst the Punjabis as regards to trifurcation of Punjab as large no of punjabi speaking settlements were transferred to the neighboring states. The Indira Gandhi government chose to ignore the Sikh demands which resulted in ext

 
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Europa       3/7/2008 10:04:24 AM
thats some interesting insight?  why dont the Sikhs demand and struggle for their own independent country?
 
also, im curious, many sikhs i have met are quite antagonistic towards Pakistan from a political standpoint, but then state that their forefathers were ''originally' from Pakistan much to the dismay of Pakistani who think every Sikh wished they were originally Pakistani?? 
 
Why hasnt the world taken notice of the what is happening in indian occupied panjab??
 
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