Amidst a pow­er­ful diplo­matic push by In­dia is­su­ing dé­marche to Canada, the United States, the UK, and Aus­tralia to dis­al­low pro-Sikh free­dom ac­tivists from pur­su­ing their de­mo­c­ra­tic rights in re­spec­tive coun­tries by al­leg­ing vi­o­lence with­out any sub­stan­ti­a­tion what­so­ever, as­sisted by a vit­ri­olic cam­paign through main­stream In­dia me­dia and the anti-Sikh army of so­cial me­dia trolls, not to men­tion the brag­gado­cio and fool­hardy state­ments of a sec­tion of the Sikh ac­tivists, those in the Sikh re­sis­tance move­ment of Sikhs are not on the de­fen­sive but are step­ping up their lob­by­ing and com­mu­nity diplo­matic ef­forts to seek jus­tice and to up­hold their rights, en­shrined in UN con­ven­tions and treaties.  WSN ed­i­tor Jag­mo­han Singh pre­sents a per­spec­tive on con­flict res­o­lu­tion.

Of late, the Sikh com­mu­nity, par­tic­u­larly in the Di­as­pora, has been at the cen­ter of dis­cus­sion and con­tro­versy due to the sus­tained pitch by a vo­cal sec­tion of the Sikh com­mu­nity for an in­de­pen­dent state of Khal­is­tan. Ad­vo­cates for Sikh free­dom and self-de­ter­mi­na­tion, such as the Dal Khalsa, have been ac­tively pur­su­ing their cause through de­mo­c­ra­tic and peace­ful means, align­ing them­selves with the prin­ci­ples en­shrined in the United Na­tions con­ven­tions and in­ter­na­tional law.

How­ever, it ap­pears that a sys­tem­atic or­ches­tra­tion is un­der­way to tar­nish their im­age by falsely as­so­ci­at­ing them with acts of vi­o­lence on West­ern soil. The re­cent in­ci­dent of the at­tempted ar­son at the In­dian Con­sulate in San Fran­cisco has sparked a wave of ac­cu­sa­tions and ma­lign­ing of the Sikhs.

The pro-Sikh free­dom body in In­dia, the Dal Khalsa has de­nounced these claims as base­less and a deep-rooted con­spir­acy to por­tray Khal­is­ta­nis as vi­o­lent in­di­vid­u­als in the eyes of the global com­mu­nity. Their stance is sup­ported by the fact that reach­ing such con­clu­sions be­fore a re­port by the Amer­i­can in­ves­tiga­tive agen­cies is re­leased and hold­ing well-wish­ers of Khal­is­tan guilty amounts to pure prej­u­dice.

“The claims by In­dia are base­less, a con­spir­acy to por­tray Khal­is­ta­nis as vi­o­lent.”

Dal Khalsa

Lead­ers of the Dal Khalsa and the Amer­i­can Sikh Cau­cus Com­mit­tee, the Amer­i­can Gur­d­wara Par­band­hak Com­mit­tee, and the Sikh Co­or­di­na­tion Com­mit­tee East Coast rightly ar­gue that with­out con­crete ev­i­dence or thor­ough in­ves­ti­ga­tions by lo­cal po­lice and se­cu­rity agen­cies, it is un­just to ac­cuse any­one. Blam­ing in­di­vid­u­als solely based on the pres­ence of pro-Khal­is­tan graf­fiti is not only laugh­able but also ig­nores the fact that mis­chie­vous or hired el­e­ments can eas­ily cre­ate such slo­gans. These US-based Sikh bod­ies have un­der­lined this fact that when such graf­fiti was seen out­side tem­ples in Aus­tralia, it was later on It is vi­tal that we up­hold the prin­ci­ples of fair­ness and ob­jec­tiv­ity in our pur­suit of truth.

The Sikh com­mu­nity is fac­ing a dual chal­lenge. On one hand, there have been killings of Khal­is­ta­nis on for­eign soil, al­legedly or­ches­trated by cer­tain el­e­ments. On the other hand, vi­o­lent acts are be­ing as­so­ci­ated with Sikh names, fur­ther ex­ac­er­bat­ing the al­ready com­plex sit­u­a­tion.
The Dal Khalsa lead­ers have made a timely in­ter­ven­tion to call upon the Sikh com­mu­nity re­sid­ing in Amer­ica and Canada to re­main vig­i­lant against these dirty tac­tics and unite to thwart the ne­far­i­ous de­signs of those who seek to ma­lign the Panth.

“Ac­cus­ing with­out ev­i­dence is un­just; pro-Khal­is­tan graf­fiti on the walls of the San Fran­cisco In­dian con­sulate can be cre­ated by mis­chie­vous el­e­ments.” 

-Amer­i­can Sikh Cau­cus Com­mit­tee, Amer­i­can Gur­d­wara Par­band­hak Com­mit­tee, Sikh Co­or­di­na­tion Com­mit­tee East Coast.

It is im­por­tant to rec­og­nize that the strug­gle for Khal­is­tan, as ad­vo­cated by the Dal Khalsa and other Sikh lead­ers, is grounded in de­mo­c­ra­tic and po­lit­i­cal prin­ci­ples. They un­equiv­o­cally state their com­mit­ment to pur­su­ing their cause within the frame­work of in­ter­na­tional laws and norms. By do­ing so, they demon­strate their ded­i­ca­tion to non-vi­o­lence and the peace­ful res­o­lu­tion of con­flicts.

The Amer­i­can Sikh lead­ers have rightly de­manded a thor­ough in­ves­ti­ga­tion into the in­ci­dent from the Amer­i­can gov­ern­ment, city po­lice, and the FBI. This im­par­tial ex­am­i­na­tion will shed light on the truth be­hind the ar­son and help dis­pel any doubts or base­less ac­cu­sa­tions. It is im­per­a­tive that jus­tice pre­vails, not only for the Sikh com­mu­nity but also for the prin­ci­ples of truth, fair­ness, and hu­man rights that form the foun­da­tion of de­mo­c­ra­tic so­ci­eties.

The World Sikh Or­ga­ni­za­tion of Canada has called upon Cana­dian in­tel­li­gence and law en­force­ment to fully in­ves­ti­gate the as­sas­si­na­tion of Hard­eep Singh Ni­j­jar, in­clud­ing the role of for­eign in­ter­fer­ence, in­clud­ing from In­dia.

WSO has stated that, “Thou­sands of Sikhs have fled In­dia due to hu­man rights abuses and op­pres­sion. In­dia has a long track record of ex­tra-ju­di­cially mur­der­ing in­di­vid­u­als it ac­cuses of be­ing ‘anti-na­tion­al’, but see­ing this hap­pen in Canada is deeply con­cern­ing for our com­mu­nity and should be a wake-up call for all Cana­di­ans, our gov­ern­ment, and se­cu­rity-in­tel­li­gence bod­ies. While this killing may have had the in­ten­tion of strik­ing fear into the hearts of Sikhs, it will have the op­po­site ef­fect. Sikhs will con­tinue to fear­lessly ad­vo­cate for Khal­is­tan and against In­dian hu­man rights abuses, as they have the right to do.

“Canada must in­ves­ti­gate Hard­eep Singh Ni­j­jar’s as­sas­si­na­tion, and for­eign in­ter­fer­ence, in­clud­ing that of In­dia. Sikhs will fear­lessly ad­vo­cate for Khal­is­tan, and against In­dian hu­man rights abuses.” 

World Sikh Or­gan­i­sa­tion of Canada

The Sikh strug­gle for free­dom should not be over­shad­owed by un­sub­stan­ti­ated claims and a mis­lead­ing nar­ra­tive. The Sikh com­mu­ni­ty’s as­pi­ra­tions for Khal­is­tan should be un­der­stood in the con­text of their le­git­i­mate pur­suit of self-de­ter­mi­na­tion, an idea that res­onates with the prin­ci­ples of hu­man rights and free­dom cher­ished by de­mo­c­ra­tic so­ci­eties world­wide.

As re­spon­si­ble mem­bers of the global com­mu­nity, it is our duty to en­sure that the voices of those ad­vo­cat­ing Sikh free­dom are heard and re­spected. We must re­ject any at­tempts to de­mo­nize or be­lit­tle their peace­ful work, which is firmly grounded in the tenets of democ­racy, jus­tice, and in­ter­na­tional law. Let us join hands to pro­mote un­der­stand­ing, di­a­logue, and a gen­uine ap­pre­ci­a­tion for the Sikh strug­gle for jus­tice and self-de­ter­mi­na­tion, which is the only peace­ful route to con­flict res­o­lu­tion

“The Sikh strug­gle up­holds the right to self-de­ter­mi­na­tion, em­pha­siz­ing peace­ful con­flict res­o­lu­tion and global re­spect for their as­pi­ra­tions.”

The UN Con­ven­tion on Self-De­ter­mi­na­tion, for­mally known as the United Na­tions De­c­la­ra­tion on the Grant­ing of In­de­pen­dence to Colo­nial Coun­tries and Peo­ples, was adopted by the United Na­tions Gen­eral As­sem­bly in 1960. While it pri­mar­ily ad­dresses de­col­o­niza­tion, it also con­tains prin­ci­ples re­lated to the broader con­cept of self-de­ter­mi­na­tion.

The UN Con­ven­tion on Self-De­ter­mi­na­tion reaf­firms the prin­ci­ple that the will of the peo­ple is the foun­da­tion of the le­git­i­macy of any po­lit­i­cal au­thor­ity and un­der­scores the im­por­tance of re­spect­ing the rights of in­di­vid­u­als and com­mu­ni­ties to de­ter­mine their own des­tiny.