On the oc­ca­sion of the 75th In­ter­na­tional Hu­man Rights Day, this WSN ed­i­to­r­ial by Jag­mo­han Singh fo­cuses on the broader Sikh na­tion, ad­dress­ing the con­cerns of both the di­as­pora and those within In­dia, in light of the re­cent al­le­ga­tions of transna­tional killings. It high­lights the com­mu­ni­ty’s fears, their his­tor­i­cal and ide­o­log­i­cal back­ground, and the need for in­ter­na­tional Sikh lead­er­ship, di­a­logue with the in­ter­na­tional com­mu­nity, and un­der­stand­ing of the need for po­lit­i­cal con­flict res­o­lu­tion by In­dia. This ed­i­to­r­ial note is to em­pa­thet­i­cally ex­press the emo­tions and as­pi­ra­tions of the Sikh na­tion in these chal­leng­ing times.

Recent rev­e­la­tions of transna­tional killings, re­port­edly spon­sored by In­dia, have sent shock­waves through the Sikh com­mu­nity world­wide. This news has not only height­ened fears among the di­as­pora but has also res­onated deeply with Sikhs in In­dia, reignit­ing long-stand­ing con­cerns over their safety, iden­tity, and rights.

Ex­ac­er­bated by the turn of events, well known in home­land Pun­jab and now re­ver­ber­at­ing on the front pages of the in­ter­na­tional me­dia, the Sikh na­tion’s col­lec­tive anx­i­ety, ad­vo­cates for a path for­ward that re­spects their his­tor­i­cal legacy and ide­o­log­i­cal as­pi­ra­tions.

Whether it was a re­sponse to Cana­dian PM Trudeau’s state­ment in the Cana­dian Par­lia­ment or whether it was the muted an­swer to the le­gal in­dict­ment by the United States in a court of law, In­dia, as usual, is still in de­nial mode. This more than any­thing else is even more dev­as­tat­ing than the rev­e­la­tions by the world’s pow­er­ful coun­tries.

The Sikh com­mu­ni­ty’s strug­gle for recog­ni­tion and rights is deeply rooted in their dis­tinct re­li­gion and rich his­tor­i­cal and cul­tural her­itage. Orig­i­nat­ing in the 15th cen­tury, Sikhism has al­ways em­pha­sized equal­ity, jus­tice, and the fight against op­pres­sion. How­ever, this ide­ol­ogy has of­ten put Sikhs at odds with var­i­ous po­lit­i­cal pow­ers, since the times of the Gu­rus.

The on­go­ing strug­gles for Sikh self-iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, self-rule, and self-de­ter­mi­na­tion have been thor­oughly high­lighted.

His­tor­i­cally, the Sikh lead­er­ship of yore has fought many ide­o­log­i­cal, re­gional, and po­lit­i­cal en­e­mies, al­ways up­hold­ing its dis­tinc­tive char­ac­ter. This has in­vari­ably led to pe­ri­ods of strife and suf­fer­ing, which the Sikhs have borne with pride, en­coun­ter­ing thou­sands of mar­tyrs to re­main sov­er­eign sui generis.

Since 1849, when the Sikhs lost their sov­er­eignty through chi­canery and de­ceit of the British sov­er­eignty and po­lit­i­cal lead­er­ship, we have faced tu­mul­tuous times since 1947. Barely had we found our feet, when the events of pre and post-1984 rad­i­cally changed our sta­tus world­wide.

To­day, as we stand at a cross­roads, these his­tor­i­cal events have left an in­deli­ble mark on the Sikh psy­che, both within In­dia and glob­ally.

The Sikh na­tion, span­ning across In­dia and the di­as­pora, shares a col­lec­tive mem­ory of dis­tinc­tive­ness, per­se­cu­tion, re­sis­tance, and re­silience. The re­cent ex­po­sures have not only reignited fears of state-spon­sored vi­o­lence. Yet, the on­go­ing strug­gles for Sikh self-iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, self-rule, and self-de­ter­mi­na­tion have been thor­oughly high­lighted.

In In­dia, Sikhs grap­ple with is­sues of po­lit­i­cal rep­re­sen­ta­tion, eco­nomic dis­par­i­ties, and re­li­gious free­doms. Si­mul­ta­ne­ously, the di­as­pora bat­tles against ris­ing in­ci­dents of hate crimes, cul­tural as­sim­i­la­tion, and a sense of alien­ation.

These chal­lenges have led to a cri­sis of iden­tity for Sikhs world­wide. There’s an ur­gent need for open di­a­logue – not just among Sikhs but be­tween Sikhs and the in­ter­na­tional com­mu­nity, in­clud­ing In­dia. This di­a­logue should tran­scend mere ac­knowl­edg­ment of vic­tim­hood and in­stead fo­cus on un­der­stand­ing the le­git­i­mate as­pi­ra­tions of the Sikh na­tion. It’s cru­cial to rec­og­nize their right to pre­serve their her­itage, prac­tice their faith freely, and par­tic­i­pate in global dis­course as equals.

To ad­dress these chal­lenges, a multi-faceted ap­proach is needed. Firstly, there must be a con­certed ef­fort by global lead­ers and or­ga­ni­za­tions to un­der­stand and ac­knowl­edge the unique po­si­tion of the Sikh na­tion. Sec­ondly and more im­por­tantly, there is a press­ing need for pol­icy changes and le­gal pro­tec­tions, both within In­dia and in­ter­na­tion­ally, to safe­guard Sikh rights and free­doms.

The Sikh na­tion seeks not just sur­vival but the free­dom to thrive and con­tribute to the global com­mu­nity of na­tions. The re­cent un­set­tling events serve as a wake-up call, prompt­ing a re­newed com­mit­ment to un­der­stand­ing, di­a­logue, and jus­tice. It’s time for the world to lis­ten to the Sikh na­tion’s voice and work col­lab­o­ra­tively for con­flict res­o­lu­tion lead­ing to­wards a fu­ture where their iden­tity, rights, and as­pi­ra­tions are not just ac­knowl­edged but cel­e­brated.