New Delhi: With less than six months to go for assembly elections in the state, visuals of pro-Khalistan flags hoisted outside the legislative assembly in Himachal Pradesh’s winter capital, Dharamshala, have prompted sharp reactions from all quarters.
The flags were reportedly hung and a pro-Khalistan slogan painted on the entrance gate and adjoining wall of the Vidhan Sabha Complex at Tapovan sometime Sunday. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Himachal Pradesh Police is probing the matter.
#WATCH Khalistan flags found tied on the main gate & boundary wall of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Dharamshala today morning pic.twitter.com/zzYk5xKmVg
— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2022
“The SIT has been directed to take up the investigation of this case immediately and carry out a professional and impartial investigation to ensure transparency. The SIT has also been directed to contact the State and Central Intelligence agencies to unearth the Inter-State and International linkages, if any,” said a press note issued by the state police.
The Himachal Pradesh police Sunday booked Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, chief of the banned pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice, under Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in addition to cases lodged against him in the same matter. A high alert had been sounded after Pannu threatened to hold a referendum in Himachal Pradesh on 6 June.
But this is not the first time Khalistan — a separatist movement fanned by the Sikh right wing — has found mention in the political discourse of Punjab’s neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh.
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When ‘Khalistan’ featured in Himachal’s discourse
Gurpatwant Singh Pannu had in 2021 threatened that he won’t let Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur hoist the Indian tricolour in the state. The threat, sent to several Shimla-based journalists, was based on the idea that Himachal Pradesh was once part of undivided Punjab.
That same month, a milestone near the famous Naina Devi temple — 10-15 km from the Punjab-Himachal border — was vandalised, allegedly by pro-Khalistan elements who wrote slogans such as “Welcome to Khalistan” and “Khalistan borders start here” on it.
In March this year, the Himachal Pradesh government issued an order banning the entry of vehicles carrying flags of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale — one of the most prominent leaders of the Khalistan movement killed during Operation Blue Star in 1984 — into the state. In response, Sikhs For Justice had threatened to hoist the flag of ‘Khalistan’ at the Shimla District Collector’s office on 29 April, the day the banned outfit observes as “Khalistan Declaration Day”.
According to reports, smalls groups of pro-Khalistan supporters did carry out demonstrations in parts of Punjab on 29 April, one of which resulted in clashes in Patiala.
However, no such incidents were reported in Himachal Pradesh where a group called ‘Anti-Terrorism Front of India’ actually set fire to a Khalistan flag the same day Sikhs For Justice had threatened to hoist on the Shimla DC’s office.
Is ‘Khalistan’ politically relevant in Himachal?
Himachal Pradesh was carved out of Punjab in 1966 and has since witnessed Sikh militancy in its neighbouring state, including its peak from 1980s to early 1990s.
Back then, people knew about the militancy in Punjab but nothing of that sort was happening in Himachal Pradesh, said Ramesh K Chauhan of the Himachal Pradesh University.
“It was never an issue then and never an issue now. Some fringe elements who are most likely to be weekend tourists from neighbouring states who have found a way to gain publicity by chanting these pro-Khalistani slogans and they are being given undue/disproportionate coverage and that’s it. Khalistan finds no place in Himachal Pradesh,” Chauhan told ThePrint.
Just last week, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is facing an exodus of local leaders amid its attempts to expand its footprint in the state, expelled its Himachal Pradesh social media in-charge Harpreet Singh Bedi after it came to light that he had openly supported the demand for Khalistan on Twitter.
Asked if the issue of Sikh militancy relevant to the state’s politics, Ramesh K Chauhan told ThePrint: “More than 95 per cent of the voters here are Hindus, so polarising doesn’t work on Himachal’s pitch. You need people from the other side for polarisation to work, which Himachal does not have; very miniscule minorities live here. Hence, this narrative and people chanting such slogans are being given disproportionate footage.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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