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The Khalistan Movement
Ambassador article by M. Bahawal Hussain Chattha
Pre-Partition Historical Background
The Khalistan movement is a struggle of independence that can be dated as far
back as 1849 when the sikh empire that had ruled over the regions of Punjab and
Haryana for decades got annexed by the British Empire. Ever since then sikhs have
dreamed of having their own independent state in the northern regions of India
with some going as far to claim parts of Pakistan. But what is the khalistan
movement today ? Who founded the concept after partition ? and how successful
has the sikh community been in achieving their own independent state.
The first call for Khalistan was made in the 1930s with the support of the sikh
diaspora. This was as the British rule in India seemed to be coming to an end. In a
pamphlet titled “Khalistan” the ideals of the new state were set for all to see and
this rapidly spread among the sikh populace. The idea garnered massive support
from the local sikh communities and many began calling for the British to establish
a sikh state.
Everything changed on the 1st of September 1939. Hitler invaded Poland and 2
days later the British empire found itself in the second world war. India however
was reluctant to help the British against the Nazis without the promise of self
determination and freedom. As the war reached the brutal year of 1943 , the failure
of the Cripps mission meant that Indian independence was now inevitable. Massive
muslim , sikh and Hindu demonstrations called out for their respective demands to
be met.
Eventually Lord Mount batten handed the important task of deciding the post
partition border to Sir Cyril Radcliffe. By this point the decision for the creation of
an independent sovereign state for the muslims had been made however with only
6 weeks to evacuate India chances for a sikh state seemed dim. Indeed when the