(Ahmad Ali)
India a multi ethnic, cultural and religious country, despite its heterogeneous societal composition, has been in an internal friction since its making. From the pogroms against Sikhs in 1984 to the Gujrat riots against Muslims, almost all the religious minorities have been victim to totalitarian hatred. Sikhs with a population of 20 million in India, due to their demands of distinct recognition and political autonomy, have been target to continuous subjugation. The story of Sikh sovereignty begins with its founder, A Sikh’s mission in this world, according to the teachings of Baba Guru Nanak, is to achieve personal liberation while making sure that everyone has the right to live in freedom, and that when political leaders interfere with the rights and freedoms of the people, it is the duty of a Sikh to resist that oppression. This is why the Indian leadership always viewed Sikhs with particular suspicion and disdain, recognizing they catalyzed anti-colonial efforts and played a leading role in them. On the other hand, India weakened Punjab’s political power by carving out territory from it for other states, such as Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. In addition, in violation of riparian law, which is an international law, India transferred Punjab’s river water to other states and areas, causing a huge economic loss to the state, which has long been known as India’s breadbasket, and threatening the livelihood of Punjab’s agrarian community.
With the Modi led BJP government formation in 2014, which draws its inspiration from Nazi Germany, the Indian government further deemed Sikhs as a danger to their ‘nation-building’ endeavors. But with the rising Indian influence globally, the Indian government driven by its false sense of superiority exported its vendetta against Sikhs in neighboring countries as well. Charanjit Singh, a prominent Sikh community member, was assassinated in Peshawar. Similarly, a vocal supporter of Khalistan movement, Paramjit Singh Panjwar or Malik Sardar Singh, was shot dead when he was out on a morning walk near his Lahore residence in Pakistan.
Now with India, world’s 5th largest economy, expanding its political influence with the aid of its western allies, has taken its violent extremist moves to another height.
In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice has claimed to have thwarted an alleged plot by an Indian official to kill an American citizen and Sikh activist in New York City. According to Reuters A plot to kill Sikh separatists on U.S soil began in May with text messages between Indian security officials and suspected drug traffickers, according to a U.S indictment.
“Save my name,” the official wrote to a man named Nikhil Gupta over an encrypted messaging application on May 6, according to U.S. prosecutors.
According to the indictment, the official told Gupta, an Indian national accused of drug and weapons trafficking, about a “target” in New York, and asked him to arrange the target’s assassination in exchange for the dismissal of criminal charges in India. According to a statement from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the suspect was arrested in Prague in June and was then handed over to Czech authorities. In the midst of the US investigation into India’s alleged plot to kill Khalistan activist Gurpatwant Pannun in America, FBI Director Christopher Wray visited India earlier this month.
Following a similar incident earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made public charge that the Indian government was involved in the June 18 assassination of Sikh Canadian leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Mr. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot and killed by gunmen outside a Sikh place of worship in Surrey, British Columbia.
Trudeau’s rebuke garnered the attention of world leaders, and the story dominated headlines internationally. The majority of discussion has been on India’s descent into authoritarianism. Some analyzes have rightly placed Nijjar’s extrajudicial killing as part of a broader, state-sponsored persecution of minorities in Modi’s India, prompting Genocide Watch to warn that India is on the brink of genocide.
Indian government’s attempts to kill foreign nationals on foreign soil indicate a shifting approach. India under Modi is now prepared to carry out international repression and assassinate his detractors.
Sikhs in India and throughout the world have been reminded that this devolution is not unique to Modi’s India as the country continues its decline from democracy to authoritarianism. It is India as they have known it their entire lives. The most recent attack on Sikh lives in New York City and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada are part of a long history of abuses that highlight Sikhs’ sense of insecurity and validate their long-held conviction that India is the biggest threat to its own national security.
The aforementioned incidents pose a serious question on the overt support of western democracies for India in order to contain China. Where the tax payer money Europeans and Americans, and state of the art war machinery is being provided to a far right fascist regime on a sprint to cleanse all its minorities.
Writer is a student of Peace and Conflict Studies. Areas of interest include non-traditional security and foreign policy. He can be contacted on Ali7664556@gmail.com
Comments are closed.