The Sikh population in India is around 1.9 per cent. In Canada it is 1.4 per cent. That is a bit of trivia that may actually help to put in perspective the significance<\/p>\n
of politics over the community that seems to overshadow the Trudeau visit to India. In both countries, the Sikh community is vibrant and productive. Accordingly,<\/p>\n
the community\u2019s issues have drawn the attention of the respective governments equally. The only difference is on how the two governments approach those<\/p>\n
issues.<\/p>\n
To reduce the myriad of issues to the most essential, the dispute is over the said demand for Khalistan, a separate homeland for Sikhs. For the Indian<\/p>\n
Establishment it is the suspicion that there is a resurgence of Khalistan activism in Canada, while for Canada the concern is the way some of its Sikh citizens, if<\/p>\n
not the entire community, are looked upon with suspicion by India, including the Punjab Government. The Canadian Government\u2019s view is that raising a demand<\/p>\n
in itself is legitimate, as long as it does not call for violent means. Most among the Indian leadership believe even mention of the \u2018K\u2019 word is cause for alarm.<\/p>\n
It needs to be understood that Canada is right now building a new politics based on hitherto unseen levels of liberalism. And the Sikh issue is only a small part<\/p>\n
of that. The country has opened itself to the world for immigration, based largely on economic or humanitarian parameters. That, by default, but not without<\/p>\n
realisation, opens it to a host of new ethno-political issues. Apparently, that is a risk the Canadians have considered worth taking. Of course, vote politics plays a<\/p>\n
significant role in this \u2014 and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can well be accused of that \u2014 but then that is precisely what democracy is.<\/p>\n
Over the past year, certain \u2018developments\u2019 have been flagged by Indian security agencies \u2014 Canadian gurdwaras banning the entry of Indian officials; Trudeau<\/p>\n
attending \u2018Khalsa Parade\u2019; increased mention of Khalistan among Sikh gatherings in Canada; even the targeted killings in Punjab. But what needs to be seen is<\/p>\n
the number of people actually involved in such activities, and the response they evoke among the masses, both in India and Canada. That support, anyone who<\/p>\n
has inputs from both countries will tell you, is close to nothing, at least for Khalistan.<\/p>\n
On their part, India, and Punjab, would do well to come out of the historical view of Sikh militancy, out of the Bhindranwale shadow, so to say. Militancy cannot be<\/p>\n
started by a few people being killed, or a few incendiary speeches. The police can well take care of that. There have to be graver underlying causes. And that is<\/p>\n
what Punjab should be more concerned about. Make sure separatists do not find a fertile ground in the state.<\/p>\n
The most potent seed for communal trouble is suspicion, a lack of trust. And that is best overcome by talking. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has painted<\/p>\n
himself into a corner vis-\u00e0-vis the Canadians, and perhaps that has triggered similar egos on the other side too. National and state interests cannot be held<\/p>\n
ransom to personal issues. Both Canada and India, especially Punjab, stand to gain significantly if they were to open themselves to each other. And the<\/p>\n
dividend for Punjab would be far more on a social plane than economic.<\/p>\n
India has to realise there are Sikhs in Canada who have some real grievances, or even reasons for bitterness. As things stand, it may not be feasible to address<\/p>\n
many of those, but it can surely be ensured rancour is not carried into the future. People have the right to bemoan their pain, and even condemn those they hold<\/p>\n
responsible. The Canadian Government, on its part, has the duty to ensure no support to any illegal, especially violent, means is allowed on its land to the<\/p>\n
Khalistan movement, which is indeed happening currently even if on the margins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sikh population in India is around 1.9 per cent. In Canada it is 1.4 per cent. That is a bit of trivia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-punjab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22381,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22379\/revisions\/22381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}