Desire for Khalistan Alive and Well in Punjab
Khalistan Zindabad Slogans Raised at Holla Mohallah Festival

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 21, 2006 – Slogans of “Khalistan Zindabad” filled the air at the Holla Mohallah festival in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, led by Dal Khalsa and the Shiromani Khalsa Dal. The two organizations pledged to unite to liberate the Sikh homeland, Khalistan, which declared itself independent from India on October 7, 1987.

Dal Khalsa, led by Satnam Singh, president of Dal Khalsa, and Daljit Singh Bittu, pledged to “provide a fresh platform for the Sikhs who were depressed withe the incompetent and incapable leadership of various factions of the Akali Dal,” according to The Telegraph, an Indian newspaper. Satnam Singh said the organizations would reach out to people to involve them in “the struggle to uphold our honor and dignity,” the newspaper reported. The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has directed the police that both groups be put under watch.

Dal Khalsa has sponsored numerous marches in Punjab in support of a free Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that declared its independence from India on October 7, 1987. It was the organizer of the two events at which Sikhs were arrested for making speeches and raising the Khalistani flag.

History shows that multinational states such as India are doomed to failure. Countries like Austria-Hungary, India’s longtime friend the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and others prove this point. India is not one country; it is a polyglot like those countries. It is doomed to break up as they did.

“The uniting of these two organizations is very good for the Sikh nation and its aspirations,” said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. “The Indian government continues to persecute and kill our Sikh brethren,” he said. “Unity is essential for the liberation of Khalistan,” he said. “As Professor Darshan Singh, a former Jathedar, said, ‘If a Sikh is not for Khalistan, he is not a Sikh’,” Dr. Aulakh noted.“This shows that the drive for freedom is still alive in Punjab,” he said. “What kind of democracy watches people for demanding freedom? Why don’t they watch the Black Cats who have killed thousands of Sikhs with the protection of the Indian government?” he asked.

The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, more than 300,000 Christians since 1948 as well as tens of thousands of Christians throughout the country, over 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, tens of thousands of Muslims elsewhere in India, and tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils, and others. An Indian newspaper reported that the police in Gujarat were ordered to stand aside in that massacre and not to get involved, a frightening parallel to the Delhi massacre of Sikhs in 1984. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs "worse than a genocide."

Indian police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and murdered, then their bodies were declared unidentified and secretly cremated. He was murdered in police custody. His body was not given to his family. The police never released the body of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna murdered him. No one has been brought to justice for the Khalra kidnapping and murder or for the murder of Jathedar Kaunke. Yet according to a report by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR), 52,268 Sikhs are being held as political prisoners in India without charge or trial, some since 1984!

Missionary Graham Staines was murdered along with his two sons, ages 8 and 10, by a mob of militant, fundamentalist Hindu nationalists who set fire to the jeep, surrounded it, and chanted “Victory to Hannuman,” a Hindu god. None of the people involved has been tried. The persons who have murdered priests, raped nuns, and burned Christian churches have not been charged or tried. The murderers of 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat have never been brought to trial.

“Only in a free Khalistan will the Sikh Nation prosper and get justice,” said Dr. Aulakh. “India should act like a democracy and allow a plebiscite on independence for Khalistan and all the nations of South Asia,” Dr. Aulakh said. “We must free Khalistan now.”

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This material is circulated by the Council of Khalistan, which is registered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of the Council of Khalistan, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab. The material is filed with the DOJ where the required registration is available for inspection. Registration does not indicate approval of the contents by the U.S. Government.