More than a hundred supporters of the Khalistan movement participated in a car rally from the Marina in Berkeley to the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, to raise awareness for the January 28 Khalistan referendum.
The rally was organized by U.S. based human rights advocacy group Sikhs for Justice, whose stated objective is to secure an independent state for Sikhs. As reported by Reuters, the Indian government banned the group as an “unlawful association” in 2019. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S.-based Sikh separatist leader, is also affiliated with this group as a legal counsel.
A Republic Day Protest
At around 10:30 a.m., rally participants started trickling into the starting point, a parking lot near the Berkeley Marina. Volunteers were affixing posters of the Khalistan referendum to the windshields of cars, and tying the yellow and blue Khalistan flags onto the doors. Two trailer trucks carried large hoardings that declared prominent figures from the current Indian administration as “enemies of Sikhs,” including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
As the crowd swelled, a group of organizers raised slogans of “Khalistan Zindabad” and other slogans condemning the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
According to Khalistan supporter and rally participant Bikramjeet Singh, the roots of the Khalistan movement stretch back to 1947 when India became independent and subsequently adopted its own Constitution. “We’re taking out a rally today, on January 26, because we want to tell the world that the Indian Constitution wrongly labels Sikhs as Hindus,” he said, referring to Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which lists Sikhs as a sect within Hinduism. “What does not accept us as Sikhs, we cannot accept as our Constitution.”
He also clarified that while lumping Sikhs into Hinduism is a contentious issue, the movement to establish an independent state for Sikhs is not a religious movement but a political one.
“We want to establish our independent state in a non-violent, democratic fashion. That is why we are conducting this referendum vote on January 28, to let the Sikh people decide their own future and not the Indian government.”
The referendum held on January 28 in San Francisco was not binding but was organized to give voice to the expatriate Sikh community and raise awareness about the movement in the United States.
Demonstration Outside The Indian Consulate
Dozens of cars set off in a rally towards the Indian Consulate on Arguello Boulevard in San Francisco. Anticipating protests, law enforcement had cordoned off the street outside the Consulate.
A little after 1 pm, a sizable crowd of more than a hundred participants gathered outside the Indian Consulate. From a temporarily raised platform, prominent figures of the movement in California addressed the crowd, including Bikramjeet. They all bookended their speeches with cries of “Jo Bole So Nihaal, Sat Sri Akal!” (Blessed is the one who says God is the Timeless Truth), and “Waheguru ka Khalsa, Waheguru ki Fateh!” (The pure followers belong to the Almighty, as does victory).
The speakers not only appealed to the gathered crowd but also railed against the Indian government, which they claim has been an oppressive regime towards the Sikh community since Independence. They listed the acts of violence that the Indian state has committed towards the Sikh community like 1984’s Operation Blue Star where armed forces attacked the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar to eliminate Khalistani militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
That same year, two Sikh bodyguards assassinated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which led to anti-Sikh riots in northern India. Some believe that the members of the ruling Congress Party played a key role in the violence that resulted in the death of at least 2,773 Sikhs in just three days in Delhi. Last year, the California State Assembly passed a resolution urging Congress to recognize the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as genocide.
A Final Act of Protest
While the speakers remonstrated against the failure of the Indian Constitution to recognize Sikhism’s distinct identity and the atrocities of 1984, they also criticized the current BJP-led Indian government for its alleged involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the failed plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
According to volunteer and rally participant Jagdeep Singh, the Indian government’s ploy to eliminate Khalistani activists in other countries was an “own goal”.
“Khalistanis could not have created a tussle between the Five Eyes’ Alliance and New Delhi, but Modi has done it,” he said referring to India’s diplomatic fallout with Canada and the U.S. He also pointed out that while the world media covered this story, they inadvertently raised awareness about the Khalistani cause on a global scale.
“India did an act of terror in frustration, and it helped the Sikhs gain momentum, even if it came at the loss of Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” said Jagdeep.
As the clock struck 3:30, a group of protestors drenched the Indian tricolor in inflammable liquid and set fire to it in a metal tub. As the Indian flag burned, they shouted slogans of “Khalistan Zindabad” and “Hindustan Murdabad,” along with cries denouncing the Indian government as terrorists.
Then the protestors gathered the ashes of the burnt Indian flag into a plastic bag which they hung on the metal barricades just outside the Indian Consulate, a few meters away from the tricolor waving in the brisk afternoon breeze atop the Consulate building.
This series was made possible in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program.