Division among Sikh community over separate state

By Pratik Bhattarai

Oct. 15, 2023

Jaydeep Sing a student from University of Prince Edward Island in front of the Sikh temple in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Gurwinder Singh is going back to his home in Punjab, India after eight years.

He’s excited to meet his family and eat home cooked food after so many years.

He drives taxi and says he’s working seven days a week so that he can save as much money as he can, before he goes back home.

He’s now a permanent resident of Canada, but he is not planning on getting Canadian citizenship yet.

Canadian citizens are currently banned in India.

After Justin Trudeau accused the Indian Government of assassinating a prominent Sikh separatist leader and a Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C, Indian government expelled Canadian diplomats from India and barred Canadian citizens from getting Indian visa.

Gurwinder does not want to get the Canadian citizenship yet because if he does, he won’t be allowed into his homeland.

“I will only get Canadian passport after we get a separate Sikh state.” Gurwinder says.

He does not feel safe in India, he adds.

That’s because he supports a separate state for Sikhs called Khalistan.

The movement for separate Sikh state started in the British rule in India in the early 1930s due to oppression towards the Sikh community.

But in the 80s and the 90s many supporters had to flee India to avoid persecution.

Canada gave asylum to many of the political refugees.

“There were no wedding ceremonies held in my village for 12 years,” “Most of the young people in my village were killed,” Gurwinder adds.

He believes in the movement can still achieve its original goal, a separate state for Sikh people in the Punjab region in India.

But not all Sikh people share the same views as Gurwinder Singh.

Jaydeep Singh, a student and a P.E.I. resident says a separate state will not be good for anyone.

“Did anything good come out of partition of India,” he says.

“Neither India nor Pakistan is doing well after the partition. Separation of people and creating separate state will only bring more hatred among people.”

Jaydeep says there isn’t a separate land for Sikh people in the religion. It is purely a political movement. Being a true Sikh/Sikhi means having a capacity to share the motherland with anyone and everyone, he added.

A Sikh Worshiper at the temple Gurudwara Sahib paying respect to the prophet/founder Guru Nanak, Charlottetown, P.E.I.

The movement for separate Sikh state is almost non-existent in India.

But sikh people living in the diaspora who fled India to avoid persecution still believe they deserve a separate state and hope to achieve it.

Meanwhile Gurwinder plans on spending a few months with his family in India. He wants to get Canadian citizenship.

But he fears he can’t see his family.