Tag: Khalistan

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-38

About: the world this week, 17 September to 23 September 2023; Ukraine grain grind in Poland; Designated Terrorist in Canada; Antarctica’s Ice; Women’s Reservation; and Asia Cup Cricket.

Everywhere

Ukraine Grain and Poland

Poland has been a firm supporter of Ukraine from the beginning of Russia’s invasion. It often led the way in sending military aid and equipment, and argued passionately that such support is essential to protect Poland itself from Russian aggression. Now suddenly it feels like the political knives are out for Ukraine. There’s talk of how Ukraine should be grateful for Polish support.

This week, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned about scaling down or even ending weapons transfers to Ukraine. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda compared Ukraine to a drowning man who risks dragging his rescuers down with him.

The sharp downturn in relations between the neighbouring countries began with a dispute over grain imports that remains unresolved. Ukraine needs to export its grain harvest, and land routes are now critical because Russia is deliberately attacking ports on both the Black Sea and the Danube River. But in an effort to protect its own farmers, Poland does not wish to allow cheaper Ukrainian grain to hit its domestic market, only to pass through to the rest of the European Union in transit.

Later in the week, Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister said that he and his Polish counterpart have agreed to “find a solution that takes into account the interests of both countries”, after a phone conversation.

Designated Terrorist

This week, the already frosty ties between India and Canada plunged to a new low, almost reaching freezing point.

Canada’s Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau accused India of being involved in the killing of a Sikh Separatist Khalistani leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on his country’s soil, based on what he called ‘credible information’. PM Trudeau announced this in Parliament and said that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”. And almost immediately, Canada expelled one of India’s diplomats at the Indian Embassy in Canada.

India promptly described the Canadian PM’s allegations as absurd and motivated. That the frozen approach and inaction of the Canadian government on Sikh Separatist activity, inside Canada, aims to undermine India, is long-standing, and of continuing concern. And in a tit-for-tat move, India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat – to leave Indian soil within 5 days- citing interference of Canadian diplomats in India’s internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.

Later, in a deeper step, India suspended all Visa services in Canada with immediate effect and until further notice. And sought downsizing of Canada’s diplomatic presence in India.

Earlier this year, India reprimanded Canada for allowing a float in a parade depicting the assassination of former Indian PM, Indira Gandhi-by her Sikh bodyguards-perceiving this to be a glorification of Sikh separatist-Khalistani-violence. India has also been upset about frequent demonstrations and vandalism by Sikh separatists and their supporters at Indian diplomatic missions in Canada, Britain, the United States, and Australia. And has sought better security from local governments.

India counted that at least nine separatist organisations, supporting terror groups, have their bases in Canada. And despite multiple deportation requests, Canada has taken no action against those involved in heinous crimes, including the killing of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. India added that pro-Khalistani outfits such as the World Sikh Organization (WSO), Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), have been operating freely from Canadian soil. Multiple dossiers have been handed over to Canada, but India’s deportation requests have gone unaddressed.

The latest spat deals a fresh blow to diplomatic ties that have been fraying for years.

Who is Hardeep Singh Nijjar?

Nijjar is a prominent Khalistani leader who was trying to organize an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora in Canada- for a Khalistan State in India – with the organization muscle of Sikhs for Justice.

Nijjar hailing from a village in Jalandhar, Punjab, migrated to Canada in the mid 1990s. He arrived in Canada in 1997, using a fraudulent passport making a refugee claim. Nijjar then married a woman who sponsored his immigration and became a Canadian citizen in 2007. He works as a plumber. Nijjar became president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia in 2018, and was a leader of the Canadian branch of SFJ.

According to India, Nijjar is also the leader of the pro-Khalistan group KTF and a warrant for his arrest was issued in November 2014, accusing him of conspiring in the bombing of Shingar Cinema in Punjab’s Ludhiana, in 2007, in which 6 people were killed. India issued another Interpol warrant in 2016 claiming Nijjar was involved in a plot to transport illegal ammunition, by paragliders, into India.

In 2018 Nijjar was accused of multiple targeted killings in India. In February that year, Amarinder Singh, then Chief Minister of Punjab, handed over to PM Justin Trudeau a list of most wanted persons that included Nijjar’s name.

In July 2020, India designated Hardeep Singh Nijjar a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and, in September 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seized his assets in the country. The NIA has accused him of plotting the murder of a Hindu priest in Punjab and hatching a conspiracy to disturb peace and disrupt communal harmony. In 2022, the NIA offered a reward of INR 10 lakhs for any information that could help apprehend him.

What is the separatist Khalistan Movement? Get to the bottom, and history here:

https://kumargovindan.com/2023/03/25/world-inthavaaram-2023-12/

Briefly, the Khalistan Movement was started for an independent homeland for the Sikhs and dates back to India and Pakistan’s independence in 1947, preceding the partition of the Punjab region between the two new countries. Sikh separatists demand that their own homeland, Khalistan, meaning ‘the land of the pure’ be carved out of Punjab. Later, India reorganised its States mostly on linguistic basis and Punjab became a Sikh-majority State. The demand for Khalistan resurfaced many times, most prominently during a violent insurgency in the 1970s and 1980s, which paralysed Punjab for over a decade.

The Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by India. The bloodiest episode in the conflict occurred in 1984 when the then PM of India, Indira Gandhi, sent the Army into the Golden Temple – Operation Blue Star- the holiest shrine for Sikhs, to evict armed separatist leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his supporters. The operation culminated with the killing of Bhindranwale, among other terrorists. This infuriated Sikhs around the world. A few months later, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards at her home in New Delhi, in retaliation. The army launched operations in 1986 and 1988 to flush-out Sikh militants from Punjab.

But by then the Khalistan movement found roots in Canada.

Immigration of the Sikh population to Canada had begun in the early 20th Century. It started when Sikh soldiers in the British Army passing through British Columbia were attracted by its fertile land. By 1970, the Sikhs numbers in Canada rose and they became a visible face among the communities in the region.

The Khalistan-centric militancy climbed higher, when Sikh militants were found responsible for the 1985 bombing of an Air-India Boeing 747 flying from Canada to India: Air-India Flight 182, Kanishka, operating on the Montreal–London–New Delhi–Mumbai route. On 23 June 1985 it disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to London, at an altitude of 9,400 metres over the Atlantic Ocean, as a result of a bomb explosion from inside the aircraft. The remnants of the aircraft fell into the ocean about 190 kilometres (km) off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard, including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 British citizens, and 24 Indian citizens.

The bombing of Kanishka is the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history; the deadliest aviation incident in the history of Air-India; and was the world’s most outrageous act of aviation terrorism until the 11 September 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in the United States.

According to investigators, the bombing of Kanishka was part of a larger transnational terrorist plot against India, which included a plan to bomb two Air-India planes. The first bomb was meant to explode aboard Air India Flight 301, which was scheduled to take off from Japan’s Narita International Airport, but it detonated early, before it could be loaded onto the plane, killing two baggage-handlers. The planners had failed to take into account that Japan does not observe ‘Daylight Saving Time (a practice of setting the clocks forward one hour from standard time during the summer months, and back again in the Fall).

The second bomb planted aboard Kanishka in Canada was successful. It was later revealed that both the conspiracy and the bombs, which were stashed inside luggage, originated in Canada. The Sikh militant and Khalistani separatist group BKI was implicated in the bombings.

Although a handful of people were arrested and tried for the Kanishka bombing, the only person convicted was Inderjit Singh Reyat, a dual British-Canadian national, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2003. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for assembling the bombs that exploded on board Kanishka and at Narita.

The subsequent investigation and prosecution lasted almost twenty years. The two accused Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were both acquitted, due to lack of evidence.

In 2010, a Justice John Major-led commission of inquiry submitted a report in which Canadian police and spy agencies were blamed for grave negligence and hampering the investigation. In the report, Justice Major said that the authorities should have known that the Indian aircraft was a terrorist’s target. His report concluded that a ‘cascading series of errors’ by the Government of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had allowed the terrorist attack to take place. And their failure to prevent the bombing ‘inexcusable’.

Canada has blood on its hands.

PM Justin Trudeau’s family has a history of being warm towards Sikhs and siding with Khalistani terrorists. In 1982 his father, Pierre Trudeau, had refused the extradition request of Khalistani terrorist Talwinder Singh Parmar, wanted for the murder of police officers in India.

Pierre Trudeau’s Government refused the Indian request on the quaint grounds that India was ‘insufficiently deferential’ to the Queen of England. Canadian diplomats had to tell their Indian counterparts that the extradition protocols between Commonwealth countries would not apply because India only recognized Her Majesty as Head of the Commonwealth and not as Head of State. Case closed!

Parmar was the head of the Khalistani terrorist organization BKI, which in 1985, bombed Kanishka. And Pierre Trudeau is largely blamed for the Kanishka bombing, as it was only after his government ‘saved Parmar’ that he started preparing for the bombing. In 1984, Parmar told his fellow Khalistanis that, “Indian planes will fall from the sky”. In the same year, Ajaib Singh Bagri, a close associate of Parmar, pledged to kill Hindus. He said at the founding convention of the World Sikh Organization, “Until we kill 50,000 Hindus, we will not rest!”

Reports suggest that Canadian authorities were aware of what Parmar was planning. One of the Canadian police informers had told police that Parmar promised him to pay a suitcase full of money if he agreed to plant a bomb on the plane. Parmar and his aide Inderjit Reyat were in the radar of the secret agency officials of Canada. They witnessed them testing a bomb on Vancouver Island. However, the police and spy agencies did not take the information about the bombing seriously and considered the informers unreliable. The Canadian authorities even lost or destroyed some of the key evidence. As a result, a trial in the case of the Kanishka bombing ended in acquittal of the accused due to lack of evidence.

In 1992, Parmar was killed by the Indian police when he sneaked into Punjab from Pakistan.

Today, Justin Trudeau’s is a coalition Government, following the September 2021 snap Elections he had called, hoping to win a majority on his own. He wasn’t successful as his Liberal Party won 157 seats in the 338 member Parliament and is backed by the ‘Khalistan-Friendly’ Jagmeet Singh’s New Democratic Party with 24 seats.

In August this year Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire announced that they are separating after 18 years of marriage.

India’s suffering has been Himalayan on account of Khalistan related terrorism, and Canada is only rubbing salt into the wounds of many decades.

Meanwhile, the ice is melting in Antarctica.

Antarctica’s Ice

Antarctica’s huge ice expanse regulates the planet’s temperature, as the white surface reflects the Sun’s energy back into the atmosphere and also cools the water beneath and near it.

Sea-ice acts as a protective sleeve for the ice covering the land and prevents the ocean from heating up. As more sea-ice disappears, it exposes dark areas of ocean, which absorb sunlight instead of reflecting it, meaning that the heat energy is added into the water, which in turn melts more ice. Scientists call this the ice-albedo effect.

The sea-ice surrounding Antarctica is well below any previous recorded winter level a worrying new benchmark for a region that once seemed resistant to global warming. The ice that floats on the Antarctic Ocean’s surface now measures less than 17 million square km, i.e., 1.5 million square km of sea-ice less than the September average, and well below previous winter record lows.

An unstable Antarctica could have far-reaching consequences, polar experts warn. Without its ice cooling the planet, Antarctica could transform from being Earth’s Refrigerator to becoming Earth’s Radiator.

Scientists are still trying to identify all the factors that led to this year’s low sea-ice – but studying trends in Antarctica has historically been challenging.

In a year when several global heat and ocean temperature records have been broken, some scientists insist the low sea-ice is the measure to pay attention to.

Sea-ice forms in the continent’s winter (March to October) before largely melting in summer. And is part of an interconnected system that also consists of icebergs, land ice and huge ice shelves – floating extensions of land ice jutting out from the coast.

That could add a lot more heat to the planet, disrupting Antarctica’s usual role as a regulator of global temperatures.

Since the 1990s, the loss of land ice from Antarctica has contributed 7.2mm to sea-level rise.

Even modest increases in sea levels can result in dangerously high storm surges that could wipe out coastal communities. If significant amounts of land ice were to start melting, the impacts would be catastrophic for millions of people around the world.

Women’s Reservation

This week, India’s Parliament, which shifted operations from the old ‘colonial era’ Building to the spanking new ,vibrant Parliament Building passed a historic Women’s Reservation Bill -providing 33% reservation in the Lok Sabha (Member of Parliament) and State Assemblies Member of Legislative Assembly). This with a two-third’s majority in the Lok Sabha -only two voted against-and an unanimous vote-without dissent- in the Rajya Sabha. It will be made into law on the assent of the President of India, which is a mere formality. The Bill had been languishing in the corridors of Parliament for over 27 years. And this time has made it, but implementation would not be immediate.

The Reservation will come into effect after the national census and delimitation exercise is completed by the year 2029.

Asia Cup Cricket

India were crowned Asia Cup Champions for an eighth time after crushing defending Champions Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final in Colombo this Sunday. India literally steam-rolled Sri Lanka, to win the Cup.

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat. In a fiery spell of bowling, India’s Mohammed Siraj grabbed four wickets in his second over, removing two batsmen in successive balls, to break the backbone of the Sri Lankan batting order.

Mohammed Siraj’s 6 wickets for 21 runs helped bundle Sri Lanka out for 50 runs before India’s opening batsmen chased the target down in 6.1 overs, pulling off its biggest-ever One Day International victory in terms of balls remaining.

More melting stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Play with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-12

About-the world this week, 19 March to 25 March 2023: Sikhism and Khalistan, an Indian Member of Parliament is disqualified, and it’s not all right to be Gay in Uganda.

Everywhere

India: Sikhism and Khalistan

Sikhism is a religion, which developed from the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak who lived between the years 1469 and 1539. He is the founder, the faith’s first Guru, and was followed by nine Sikh Gurus. Guru means a spiritual and intellectual Teacher. The Tenth Guru, Gobind Singh who steered Sikhism between the years 1666 and 1708 named the Sikh Scripture called the ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ as his successor. This brought to an end the line of human gurus and established the Scripture as the Eleventh and the last eternally living Guru-a religious, life-guide for Sikhs.

Guru Nanak preached a new concept of God as, supreme, all powerful, truthful, formless, fearless, without hate, the sole, the self-existent, the incomprehensible and everlasting creator of all things. He taught people that the ‘One God’ dwells in every one of his creations, and that all human beings can have direct access to God without the need of any rituals or priests. Setting up a unique spiritual, social and political platform based on equality and fraternal love. He rejected the path of renunciation, laying emphasis on family life.

The Guru Granth Sahib opens with the ‘Mul Mantar’, a fundamental prayer about one God. The core beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the Scriptures, include faith and meditation in the name of the one creator; divine unity and equality of all humankind; engaging in selfless service; striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all; and honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder’s (family) life. Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on absolute truth. Sikhism also emphasises the remembrance of the teachings of the Gurus, which can be expressed musically through ‘kirtan’, or internally through ‘naam japna’ -meditation on God’s name- as a means to feel God’s presence. It teaches followers to transform the ‘five thieves’, lust, rage, greed, attachment, and ego to achieve ‘wealth’ in life.

The Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, initiated the ‘Khalsa’ (pure) tradition, which refers to the community that considers Sikhism as its faith, as well as a special group of initiated Sikhs. Upon initiation, a Khalsa Sikh is given the titles of Singh (male), meaning lion, and Kaur (female), meaning princess, and is sworn to a behavioural code of conduct of the Sikh faith.

Guru Gobind also introduced the ‘Five Ks’ in Sikhism, which he commanded Khalsa Sikhs to wear at all times. They are: Kesh – unshorn hair and beard as a respect for the perfection of God’s creation; Kangha – a comb for the Kesh, usually wooden, to comb the Kesh twice a day; Kara – a bracelet, usually made of iron or steel as a constant reminder that whatever a person does with their hands has to be in keeping with the advice of the Gurus and to symbolise God as never-ending; Kachera -an undergarment, short breeches, with a tie-knot, to be quickly ready for defence or battle; and Kirpan- a small curved sword of any size, shape or metal, used to defend others. The Kesh was to be contained in a Turban, to clearly and quickly identify Sikhs, among other symbols.

The City of Amritsar in Punjab occupies a significant position in Sikhism, with it being, not only home to hundreds of thousands of Sikhs but also the chief pilgrimage destination for Sikhs living elsewhere in India and abroad. The principal focus for pilgrims is the Golden Temple and its complex of several adjacent buildings located around a central tank. Situated on the west side, facing the causeway to the temple, is the Akal Takht, the chief centre of authority of Sikhism and the headquarters of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Supreme Akali Party), the main political party of the Sikhs in Punjab.

Sikhs have been living predominantly in the Punjab region of India. Before its conquest by the British, the region around Punjab had been ruled by a confederacy of Sikh Misls – Cavalry based armies – founded by Banda Bahadur. The Misls ruled over the entire Punjab from 1767 to 1799, until their confederacy was unified into the Sikh Empire by Maharajah Ranjit Singh from 1799 to 1849.

At the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, the Sikh Empire dissolved into separate princely states and the British province of Punjab. ‘Religion-nationalist’ movements emerged in response to British ‘divide and rule’ administrative policies to counter religious conversions and a general belief that the solution to the downfall among India’s religious communities was a grassroots religious revival.

The Akali movement was started in 1920 by the Central Sikh League’s political wing, the Akali Dal, which was founded in Amritsar in December 1920. The term Akali derives from the word Akal (timeless or immortal) used in the Sikh scriptures. The movement was named after the Akalis, a Khalsa militant order from the time of Guru Gobind Singh which had risen to prominence under Akali Phula Singh, one of the commanders of the Sikh Empire.

The Akali movement, also called the Gurdwara Reform Movement, was a campaign to bring reform in the Gurdwaras (the Sikh places of worship) in India during the early 1920s. It led to the introduction of the Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, which placed all the historical Sikh shrines in India under the control of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The Akali Dal assists the SGPC.

As the British Empire began to weaken in the 1930s, Sikhs made their first call for a Sikh homeland, called Khalistan (land of the pure). The Khalistan movement was started as a separatist movement seeking to establish a sovereign state of Khalistan in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of the territory which currently encompasses Punjab in India, and Punjab in Pakistan, with Lahore as its capital.

Meanwhile India was set to be partitioned on religious lines as Hindu and Muslim States.

During the pre-partition talks in the Lahore Resolution of the Muslim League one of the demands was that Punjab be made into a Muslim state, which the Akalis viewed as an attempt to usurp a historically Sikh territory. In response, the Sikh party Shiromani Akali Dal argued for a community that was separate from Hindus and Muslims. The Akali Dal imagined Khalistan as a theocratic state led by the Maharaja of Patiala with the aid of a cabinet consisting of the representatives of other units.

Following the independence of India from British Rule in 1947, the Punjabi Suba movement, led by the Akali Dal, sought the creation of a province (Suba) for Punjabi people. The Akali Dal’s maximal position of demands was a sovereign state-Khalistan-while its minimal position was to have an autonomous state within India.

As the religion-based partition of India led to much bloodshed, the Indian government initially rejected the demand, concerned that creating a Punjabi-majority state would effectively mean yet again creating a state based on religious grounds. However, later India was divided into States, for administrative purposes, mostly on a linguistic basis. And Punjab (as partitioned between India and Pakistan) became a State in India.

Ever since the movement gathered force in the 1980s, the territorial ambitions of Khalistan have at times included Chandigarh; sections of North India, including the whole of Indian Punjab; and some parts of the western states of India.

In 1940, the first explicit call for Khalistan was made in a pamphlet titled ‘Khalistan’. With financial and political support of the Sikh diaspora, the movement flourished in the India’s Punjab, continuing through the 1970s and 1980s, and reaching its zenith in the late 1980s. This period also saw the rise of militant-minded Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a leading figure of the Khalistan movement.

With the Shiromani Akali Dal failing to win respectable seats in Elections to the State and Central Legislatures it came up with a list of demands called, ‘The Anandpur Sahib Resolution’ in 1973 to improve its prospects and galvanise the Sikhs. The resolution declared its goal was to establish a State for Sikhs with quasi-independent status, leaving only the powers of Foreign Relations, Defense, Currency and General Communications subject to the jurisdiction of the Central Government. The then Prime Minister (PM) of India, Indira Gandhi, viewed the Anandpur Sahib Resolution as a secessionist document and refused to accept it.

The Anandpur Sahib Resolution reached prominence in the 1980s when the Akali Dal and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale joined hands to launch the Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1982 in order to implement the Resolution. Thousands of people joined the movement, feeling that it represented a real solution to demands. This included a larger share of water for irrigation, the return of Chandigarh to Punjab, which was shared with Haryana State, and of course, the idea of a Sikh Homeland. The movement turned militant and Punjab went into turmoil with terrorism becoming the order of the day.

In 1982, Bhindranwale and his militant cadres occupied the Golden Temple complex and made it his headquarters and later fortified the Akal Takht. During this time Bhindranwale ruthlessly killed many of this opponents including a former Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Pratap Singh. The killings were brutal to inspire terror such as chopping off the breasts of a female opponent named Baljit Kaur. Bhindranwale went on to establish what amounted to a ‘parallel government’ in Punjab settling cases and resolving disputes, while conducting his campaign for Khalistan.

With Bhindranwale growing to become a menace, in June 1984, PM Indira Gandhi ordered Operation Blue Star, which was carried out by the Indian Army to flush out Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the Golden Temple Complex. This resulted in hundreds to thousands of deaths including that of Bhindranwale. And the crackdown on militancy in Punjab brought back a semblance of peace in the State.

Then in 1984 PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh Bodyguards in a revenge action, which led to riots targeting Sikhs in northern India for being responsible for the killing.

In the 1990s, the insurgency petered out, and the movement failed to reach its objective for multiple reasons including a heavy police crackdown on separatists, factional infighting, and disillusionment from the Sikh population.

Now enter the year 2022 and 2023.

Amritpal Singh, 30 a self-styled Sikh preacher and separatist began reviving the idea of Khalistan in Punjab state, which has stoked fears of violence and brought back painful memories of a bloody insurgency that killed thousands. He was relatively unknown until the death of actor and activist Deep Sidhu in 2022.

Sidhu backed the country’s year-long farmer’s movement and founded Waris Punjab De-a group established to protect Sikh rights.

Waris Punjab De mobilised farmers and activists – many of whom were Sikh – against the Government of India’s attempt to modernize the country’s agricultural sector with the introduction of new Farm Laws, Farmers feared the changes would push prices lower. In a rare retreat, the laws were repealed in November 2021. But the Waris Punjab De continued its campaign to protect the Sikh religion and Punjab’s culture.

Sidhu was killed in a car crash in February 2022 and Amritpal Singh took over the reins, leading marches and giving impassioned – often provocative – speeches, building a large following and gaining popularity.

The popularity proabably went to his head and about a month ago he stormed a police station in Punjab along with his gun and sword-wielding gang of supporters to release an imprisoned fellow follower. They shouted pro-Khalistan separitist slogans and Amritpal Singh said he does not accept India as a nation. He likened himself to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The police quietly watched him whisk away his devotee.

Then the Police ‘found their guns’ and piled up charges on him for attempted murder, obstruction of law enforcement and creating disharmony in society.

Early this week, Punjab Police and central agencies launched a massive crackdown on Amritpal Singh and over 110 of his associates were arrested. However, he is still on the run. Internet was suspended in Punjab for a few days. Police say that Singh was in contact with the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) and received funds from Pakistan. Furthermore, Singh was creating a private army in the guise of an anti-drug drive and de-addiction centre.

Following the crackdown, official Indian Government establishments in London and San Francisco were attacked. Singh’s supporters vandalised the Embassies, tearing down the Indian flag and replacing it with the Khalistan Flag.

The Khalistan movement is outlawed in India and considered a grave national security threat by the government – a number of groups associated with the movement are listed as ‘terrorist organizations’ under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. But it continues to evoke a level of sympathy from some Sikhs, particularly in Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, which is home to sizeable Sikh communities, many of whom fled Punjab following independence in search of better economic opportunities. A small but influential number of those Sikhs support the idea of Khalistan, with referendums periodically held to reach a consensus to establish a separate homeland within India.

Rahul Gandhi

Late this week a Court in India’s Gujarat State, convicted Rahul Gandhi, a Member of Parliament representing Wayanad in the state of Kerala, and a leader of India’s grand old party – The Congress- for his comments in an Election Rally about PM Narendra Modi’s surname. He was found guilty of criminal defamation and handed down a two-year jail sentence. However, the same Court allowed him a 30-days bail, suspending ‘only the jail sentence’, to allow him to make an appeal. Rahul was present in Court to ‘receive the award’!

In the year 2019, during an Election rally in Karnataka State’s Kolar, Rahul Gandhi said, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” In his speech, he went on to name fugitive Indian diamond tycoon Nirav Modi, banned Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi, and PM Narendra Modi.

The case against Rahul Gandhi was brought by Purnesh Modi a former Bharatiya Janata Party Minister in Gujarat State, on the premise that ‘Modi’ being an Other Backward Class (OBC) Community, Rahul has insulted and defamed the entire community by comparing them with thieves. Modi is a common last name for many in Gujarat.

Following the conviction Rahul Gandhi was (automatically) disqualified from his Lok Sabha membership. This was based on a 2013 Supreme Court order, which decreed that a lawmaker convicted in a crime and sentenced to two or more years in jail stands disqualified from the Parliament with immediate effect.

This is a fabulous case of democracy working in India and the Law of the Land taking its course.

Uganda

People who identify as gay in Uganda risk life in prison after parliament passed a new bill to crack down on homosexual activities. It also includes the death penalty in certain cases.

The debate around the bill had led to fear of more attacks on gay people and blackmail. People were receiving calls on the lines of, “if you don’t give me money, I will report that you are gay”.

The bill is one of the toughest pieces of anti-gay legislation in Africa. Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda but this bill introduces many new criminal offences.

Amnesty International has called the bill, which criminalises same-sex between consenting adults, appalling, ambiguous, and vaguely worded. It has also been condemned by both United States and the United Kingdom.

The bill will now go to President Yoweri Museveni who can choose to use his veto to overturn the bill or sign it into law. He has himself made several anti-gay comments, in recent weeks, and also criticised Western countries for putting pressure on Uganda over the issue.

Same-sex relations are banned in about 30 African countries, where many people uphold conservative religious and social values.

More homeland stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay with World Inthavaaram. Fight another day.