Members of the Khalistan movement gathered outside the Board of Peace meeting on Thursday and demanded the liberation of Indian Punjab on from Indian occupation.
They also called for their inclusion in the Board of Peace and said they were ready to offer 1 billion dollars to become members.
One of the members stated, “We offer 1 billion dollars to become a member of the Board of Peace so we can liberate Punjab from Indian occupation.”
Speaking to PTV, Jagjit Singh said the group had come to present its proposal.
Khalistan Movement
The Khalistan movement is a freedom struggle and a self-determination movement to create a separate, independent homeland for the Sikh community. Since 1947, demands for a sovereign state for the Sikh community emerged within Indian Punjab.
The Sikh community does not feel safe within the current status quo and feels oppressed by its historical, cultural, and religious identity. Thus, along with the armed struggle, several referendums have revealed that most community members want an independent homeland. India has moved from a secular state to a state that is only secular in the name of minorities within its borders feeling oppressed.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Khalistan movement re-emerged, with a head-on marginalisation of Sikhs. This friction ultimately led to the infamous Operation Blue Star, launched against the Sikh Khalistan freedom fighters.
The result of this operation was devastating as hundreds of innocent worshipers, along with Mr. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a prominent Khalistan leader, were killed by the Indian Army.
This angered not only the community but also the violation of crossing into the holiest Golden Temple, only to be slaughtered by the Indian Army, causing deep-seethed resentment. It is no wonder that the culmination of this was the assassination of the then-prime minister, Ms. Indira Gandhi. This was followed by yearlong violent riots all through 1984 by Sikhs.
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