What is Khalistan separatist movement, how did the ideology travel from India to Canada?

The already declining ties between India and Canada have been impacted further by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that "Indian government agents" were involved in the killing of a Khalistani terrorist. Trudeau told the House of Commons on Monday (Sep 18) that India is involved in the June 18 death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Indian government declined all such allegations as baseless and motivated even as the two nations expelled one diplomat each in tit-for-tat moves.

This ongoing tussle between the two countries is mainly over the Khalistan separatist movement, which once had a stronghold in India's northern state of Punjab, and has now been reignited miles away in Canada.

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Khalistan separatist movement: An ideology that travelled from India to Canada

Khalistan separatist movement started in Punjab in the early 1980s, with the idea of seeking an independent, theocratic Sikh state calledKhalistan, of ‘Land of the Pure’ in Punjab and other parts of Northern India.

The proposed boundaries of Khalistan vary among different groups.Some claim the entire Indian state of Punjab, while others claim Pakistani Punjab and other parts of North India such as Chandigarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

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The roots of Khalistan lie in the British colonial policies of the late 1800s and early 1900s that sought to divide Sikhs and Hindus.

Sikhs were recruited into the British Army in large numbers to use against Hindu rulers who rebelled against the British Raj.

Subsequently, after Indian independence in 1947, tensions between the state of Punjab and the central Indian government surfaced, leading to grievances amongst many Sikhs against the Indian government.

The emigration of Sikhs into Canada started in the first decade of the 20th century. Soldiers in the British Army passing through British Columbia were attracted by the fertile land they saw. By the 1970s, Sikhs were a visible section of Canadian society.

This time, there was scant sentiment regarding a Sikh homeland.

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The Khalistan movement peaked in the 1980s-90s and the violent campaign included bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and selective killing and massacres of civilians, mostly in Punjab.

The violence took on an international dimension in 1985 when Khalistani separatists based in Canada exploded a bomb on 'Kanishka', an Air India flight en route from Toronto to New Delhi, killing all 329 people on board, including 82 children under the age of 13. That incident remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history.

In response to the movement, and in an attempt to end militancy in the state, Indian security forces and local Punjab police responded with force.

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While Canadian intelligence grasped the potential domestic threat Khalistani elements could pose, there was little political appetite for acknowledging the Kanishka bombing as a Canadian tragedy.

By the end of the 1990s, the Khalistani movement in India was almost in its last leg, but it grew in Canada.

The movement gained true revival when Justin Trudeau came to power with several pro-Khalistani groups supporting his Liberal Party in the 2015 federal elections.

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Canada’s stance on free speech and openness steered the movement further and leveraged groups like Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) for its so-called Khalistan Referendum.

Canadian PM's recent remark in the House of Commons will be seen as a validation ofSFJ's accusations thatIndia is behind Nijjar's killing.

This will embolden such elements and put India-Canada relations at stake.

(With inputs from agencies)

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