Is Khalistan movement planning to spread its wings in Rajasthan too?

Archana Sharma

Jaipur, Oct 25 (IANS) Is the Khalistan movement spreading its wings in Rajasthan too? This question is being raised after “Khalistan Zindabad” slogans were seen in Hanumangarh on Tuesday, a month before Assembly polls in Rajasthan. 

“Khalistan Zindabad” was found written on the wall of a railway station in Hanumangarh and the Government Railway Police got it whitewashed after the station master informed higher authorities about it.

Videos supporting the Khalistan cause and stating that the desert state, too, would become Khalistan were also uploaded on social media from different accounts.

One of the videos with slides and a voiceover that went viral says, “Wahe Guru Ji Da Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Di Fateh! This is Hanumangarh Junction railway station of Rajasthan, where the flag of Khalistan has been put up. Long live Khalistan, long live SFJ!”

The video then goes on to state that in November 1984, hundreds of Sikhs were burnt alive at Hanumangarh Junction. It alleges that Bhairon Singh Shekhawat of Jan Sangh was leading the mob and the Congress' Shiv Charan Mathur supported him.

It adds that actor Amitabh Bachchan had raised the slogan “Khoon ka badla khoon” and Sikhs were murdered at every railway station, right from Delhi to other parts of the country.

“Bachchan, teach justice, the target is on you. The target is Modi who is the representative of this murderous society. Rahul Gandhi is the target. He is the representative of this murderous society. In the times to come, Sikhs who love justice will take revenge. Elections are going to be held in Rajasthan. Rajasthan will become Khalistan. In future the Khalistan flag will be hoisted at Hanumangarh Railway Station, from Delhi to the other side of the border, where the Sikhs were massacred. Blood will definitely be avenged with blood,” says the video.

The US-based group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) was set up in 2007 reportedly with the agenda to create a separate Khalistan in Punjab. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer in America, who studied law from Punjab University, is the face of the SFJ.

In 2019, SFJ was banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the Union Home Ministry on charges of running anti-national campaigns in India. According to the Union Home Ministry, the SFJ is trying to instigate people in Punjab. Also, demonstrations were held in many places globally, demanding Khalistan, due to which India's image has been tarnished.

Rajasthan BJP Vice President Sardar Ajay Pal Singh meanwhile expressed anger over the incident at Hanumangarh junction.

He said, “This is the first such case in Rajasthan. Even when terrorism was at its peak in Punjab, Rajasthan and its adjoining areas remained calm, but recently, after the statements made by Congress leaders on the Canada issue, the morale of such anti-social elements has increased. The result of this is that now anti-national slogans are being written on the walls in Rajasthan also.

“In such a situation, it is necessary to immediately control such elements in Rajasthan. The leaders of the Congress and Rajasthan Congress should also clarify their views on the Khalistan issue.”

A few months ago, a map went viral which showed parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi as part of the proposed Khalistan.

In Rajasthan, the map included districts like Sriganganagar, Anupgarh, Bikaner, Phalodi, Jodhpur, Alwar, Khairthal, Bharatpur, Deeg, Bundi and Kota adjacent to Punjab. The recently-formed districts of Anupgarh, Phalodi, Khairthal and Deeg were mentioned separately in it.

This map had come out two years ago. Now, after the rise of the Khalistan movement in Canada, this map is once again being circulated and discussed.

IPS officer BL Soni, the first SP of the Anti-Terrorist Operation, Rajasthan in 1992, earlier told the media that Khalistani terrorism was at its peak in Punjab between 1990-92 and at that time, Khalistani terrorists used to show just the border districts of Rajasthan in their maps. However, now districts like Bundi, Kota, Jodhpur, Alwar and Bharatpur are being included in the map of Khalistan.

Recently Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, “The demand for Khalistan has started rising because of PM Modi's Hindu-Muslim divide. The entire state is seeing all this for the first time due to the ruckus created by the BJP. Today the Sardars of Punjab have started telling me that ‘if we talk in the name of religion in India, if we talk about Hindus, then we are Sikhs, what wrong did our people do by demanding Khalistan.’"

--IANS

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