The rise of Hindutva ideology in India has redefined the state’s identity into what its proponents openly call a Hindu Rashtra. Under this doctrine, religious minorities are increasingly portrayed as outsiders with their rights curtailed and voices suppressed. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and even the low caste Hindus alike have felt the brunt of this reckless nationalism.
For the Sikh community, India’s heavy-handed approach is nothing new. The memory of Operation Blue Star in 1984, when Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple – Sikhism’s holiest shrine – killing hundreds of worshippers and desecrating sacred grounds, remains a permanent scar. The operation, followed by the anti-Sikh pogroms in which thousands were massacred, is seen by Sikhs worldwide as proof of systemic persecution. Decades later, India’s treatment of Sikhs continues to echo the same cycle of repression.
The Sikh diaspora is once again answering India’s violence with democracy. The next phase of the Khalistan Referendum took place in Washington DC, where thousands cast their votes in favour of independence. It is organised by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) on 17th August. For Sikhs, the ballot remains their strongest reply to India’s bullets.
The establishment of the Khalistan embassy in Canada is expected to provide the movement with a new diplomatic platform and international legitimacy.
The referendum follows earlier votes in the UK, Canada, Italy, Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand since 2021. All have been peaceful, falling squarely under Article 1 of the UN Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which enshrines the right of peoples to self-determination. Despite India’s attempts to brand the movement as extremist, no UN member state has outlawed the referendums. Democracies instead view them as legitimate exercises of political freedom.
India’s response to the Khalistan campaign has gone far beyond rhetoric. Its global crackdown has been marked by assassinations, espionage, and covert operations. In June 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced ‘credible links’ between Indian agents and the killing of a prominent sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The revelation caused a major rupture in Indo-Canadian ties. Soon after, Avtar Singh Khanda, another vocal activist, died under suspicious circumstances in the UK, reinforcing fears of a coordinated elimination campaign. In the United States, federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta and RAW officer Vikas Yadav in a foiled plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The indictment exposed India’s systematic attempt to silence Sikh leaders even on foreign soil. India has sought to block the Khalistan campaign online, but its efforts have largely failed. Tech giants Google, YouTube, and X refused to censor referendum content despite diplomatic pressure. Sikh activists continue to leverage digital platforms to mobilise voters and expose repression. Similarly, India’s repeated attempts to extradite Sikh leaders from the West have collapsed in courtrooms. Judges in the US, UK, and Europe dismissed such requests as politically motivated, underscoring the lack of credible evidence and further damaging India’s global standing.
Democratic states are increasingly confronting Indian interference. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) last year exposed a RAW-linked network involved in stealing defence secrets and surveilling Sikh activists. Canadian and US intelligence agencies have also dismantled Indian espionage cells targeting the diaspora. These revelations not only highlighted violations of sovereignty but also cast New Delhi in the mould of authoritarian regimes that use covert repression abroad.
The 25-million-strong Sikh diaspora is now at the forefront of the Khalistan movement. The establishment of the Khalistan embassy in Canada is expected to provide the movement with a new diplomatic platform and international legitimacy. Sikhs frame their demand for Khalistan as part of a broader anti-colonial struggle. India’s treatment of minorities mirrors British colonial tactics of divide-and-rule and violent suppression. By branding Khalistan activism as “terrorism,” Modi’s Hindutva regime reveals its fascist tendencies – silencing dissent, curbing democratic rights, and criminalising political opposition. Ironically, India’s attempt to stifle Sikh voices has only amplified them. From parliaments to courtrooms, democracies are calling out India’s overreach. With each failed extradition request, each exposed covert plot, and each peaceful referendum, India finds itself increasingly isolated on the global stage. For Sikhs, this isolation reinforces the legitimacy of their cause. They see their struggle not as an act of extremism, but as a rightful pursuit of self-determination – one protected under international law and recognised by the democratic conscience of the world.
The Khalistan referendum represents more than a milestone in the sikh independence movement. It stands as a direct rebuke to Modi’s Hindutva vision of a Hindu Rashtra and a reminder that minorities cannot be silenced indefinitely. This self-determination campaign is not only a rejection of India’s repression but also the death of Modi’s ideology itself. For every assassination, intimidation and smear campaign, Sikhs have responded with absolute resolve. Their votes in Washington echoed far beyond the US capital: a message that Sikhs globally defy the Modi-led Hindutva rule!
The writer is an alumnus of QAU, MPhil scholar & a freelance columnist, based in Islamabad. He can be reached at [email protected]