India’s crackdown against Sikhs again exposes a colonial, fascist regime

The Sarbat Khalsa (national gathering) of the Sikhs on 26 January 1986, at which the goal of an independent sovereign state of Khalistan was resolved upon

Written By: Ranjit Singh Srai

General Secretary, Council of Khalistan

Coordinator, Self-Determination Council, World Sikh Parliament

Not long after the BBC exposed Narendra Modi’s despicable role during the mass killings of Muslims in Gujarat, his regime has unashamedly flaunted its fascist Hindutva credentials by launching a campaign of terror – this time in Punjab over recent days, targeting Sikhs who advocate peaceable self-determination in their own homeland. 

Once again, by shamelessly exploiting communal fault lines for electoral gain, this dangerous populist has crushed human rights and framed an entirely false narrative against a minority.  The international community will be aware that Indian military oppression in Kashmir also remains ongoing. The repeated, routine adoption of this playbook in India is a sign of a state that is intrinsically untenable and which ultimately faces inevitable collapse. Modi’s projected victory in India’s 2024 general elections will be fuelled by communal hatred, but that very hatred sows the seeds of a spectacular implosion that will surely see Punjab, Kashmir and other regions liberated in the years to come.

“Amritpal Singh, Sikh leader being targeted, along with hundreds of supporters, in the current crackdown”.

Sikh political leaders, activists, journalists, and lawyers – as well as their family members – have been arrested in their hundreds for non-existent ‘crimes’; many of them have been charged under draconian laws and could face years in prison. Social media accounts have been disabled and the internet was suspended for days, whilst India’s rabidly majoritarian media continues to run a 24-hour rolling propaganda onslaught against the very concept of Sikh self-determination, as well as other Sikh human rights campaigns which are gathering pace in Punjab, such as for the release of Sikh political prisoners (held in many cases for over 25 years) and the punishment of those agents of the state who have repeatedly desecrated Sikh scriptures with impunity.

The truth is that protagonists of a Hindutva state have lost the argument when it comes to equivalent rights of others. The brutal use of security forces and the selective use of the criminal law to suppress legitimate political activity and freedom of expression breaches the most basic requirements of international law. It is a challenge to all those who believe in the rule of law and basic democratic norms. When the G20’s heads of state gather in Delhi in September, India’s wanton abuses will be exposed on the global stage. Modi has miscalculated if he thinks his atrocious humanitarian record will be forgiven or forgotten.  The International Criminal Court’s recent indictment of Russian President Putin serves as a reminder that perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes are pariahs and, where the political will exists, can be held to account. Modi was at one stage banned from entry to the USA and the UK on similar grounds; he is not immune from international action.

Modi’s macho image-makers are keen to boast of his belligerence against minorities, but are curiously quiet when it comes to facing China on the borders. He should not however underestimate the Sikhs as a nation. they have emerged victorious in liberating their homeland before and will do so again. The right of self-determination is not only an internationally recognised human right, it is a cornerstone of Sikh ideology that never shirks the responsibility to tackle oppression in all its forms. In 1986, following the genocidal Indian attacks on it of 1984, the Sikh nation declared its goal of sovereign independence in the form of an independent state of Khalistan. The new wave of oppression by the Indian state, supported by its stooges in the Punjab government, will only redouble the Sikh nation’s resolve to achieve freedom and justice.

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