The Demand of Khalistan

Khalistan is the proposed name for the Sikh dominated nation which is being demanded by certain people belonging to the Sikh religion. The proposed boundaries of Khalistan includes present day Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and area of Punjab in Pakistan. The demand for separate nation first emerged during the partition of India, people of Punjab faced a lot of hardship during the partition as the border passed from the heartland of Punjab, some people from sikh community started feeling that the best  interest of people belonging to Sikh religion can be protected only after the creation of separate nation. Conditions took a bad turn after the formation of state of Haryana, canals were constructed to supply water from Punjab to Haryana and Rajasthan. This angered the supporters of Khalistan as they believed that the resources of Punjab are being used for the development of other state.

As of now most of the supporters of Khalistani movement are located in Europe and North America and this can be due to ban on Khalistani related activities in India, Indian government considers Khalistani movement a threat to the sovereignty of India and severe actions has been taken against the leaders of the movement. Akali Dal is the only political party in parliament of India that supports the formation of new nation or giving autonomous status to the state of India within the territory of India.  

The Khalistani supporters believe that the land of Punjab belongs to the Sikh people and this area must be ceded to them. Here are some arguments that shows that the arguments given by Khalistan holds no grounds.

1.   Sikh religion is a pan India religion and is not limited to the areas of Punjab. Guru Nanak Ji himself travelled the entire India and preached people belonging to different section and areas. This itself gave the status of pan Indian religion to Sikhism.
2. The last Sikh guru Guru Govind Singh ji was born in Bihar(Patna) and left his earthly life in Nanded(Maharashtra). Both the places are one of the most sacred places for followers of Sikhism and are visited by lakhs of pilgrims every year.
3. Panch Pyare term is used to represent the first five Khalsa(the warier class of sikh religion introduced by the Guru Govind Singh) of sikh religion. Only one of the first five belonged to the Punjab region rest all belonged to different regions of India. This shows the pan India presence of Sikhism.
4. The population of Sikh community in Punjab as per the census of 2011 is 57%, which is almost half of the total population of state. The state of Punjab is home to people belonging to every religion hence it would be wrong to demand a separate state of Khalistan.
5.  Guru Granth Sahib the religious book of Sikh community contains teaching of saints belonging to different regions of India. This also grants status of pan India religion to Sikhism.
6. Very few Pubjabis living in India supports the cause of Khalistan, hence formation of a separate nation will be an injustice to the people living in these areas.
7. The political and economic instability in the region ( in the Pakistan side of Punjab) is not suitable for the formation of a separate nation. This will furthur increase the instability in the region and might lead to arms conflict in the region.