On the morning of January 28, 2024, Kulwant Singh and his family set off from their home in Lafayette and took the BART to the Civic Center station in San Francisco. After getting off the train car, Kulwant led his wife and 7-year-old son towards the exit, pushing a stroller in which his toddler slept peacefully.
Their destination was the Civic Center Plaza opposite the San Francisco City Hall, where thousands of Sikhs from all over the country had assembled to cast their vote in a referendum for Khalistan.
The Khalistan movement is a political movement that calls for the formation of an independent state for the Sikhs in India. The roots of the movement date back to the establishment of the Indian state, but it has gained momentum in the past year due to the assassination of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, and the foiled assassination attempt on another prominent Khalistani voice, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the U.S.
Human rights advocacy group Sikhs for Justice has been at the forefront of this movement globally. Despite being banned by the Indian government as a terrorist organization, the group set up an independent Punjab Referendum Commission to organize and supervise a series of non-binding referendums starting 2021. The San Francisco referendum was the latest, following referendums in the U.K., Australia, Italy, and Canada, and all Sikhs over the age of 18 were eligible to vote.
The Commission will release its results after the conclusion of all voting, and “then present the case to the United Nations for reestablishing the country of Punjab,” according to its website.
Voters from all over the country
When Kulwant and his family reached the Civic Center Plaza, it was packed with people. A queue of voters snaked all the way around the perimeter of the plaza, while loudspeakers blared Punjabi music, Sikh prayers, and slogans of “Khalistan Zindabad”. The blue and yellow flags of the Khalistani movement dominated the landscape, as Sikh men, women, and children moved slowly in the queue, heading towards the voting booths. Gurudwaras from all over the Bay Area had set up stations along the perimeter of the plaza, distributing water, tea, soft drinks, paranthas, and even pizza.
Volunteers wearing neon green vests were herding voters into queues and giving them instructions on how to vote once in the voting booth. After asking one such volunteer, Kulwant and his family finally made their way to the special queue reserved for families with infants, and older voters.
When asked if he would vote for an independent Khalistan, Kulwant smiled and said, “Yes, we have come all the way from Lafayette with this very objective in mind!”
Also standing in the queue is Palwinder, a driver who lives in Tracy. With Palwinder are his brother-in-law Mandeep and his wife Sandeep, who have come from Texas, where Mandeep works at a liquor store.
All three are in the United States under asylum after fleeing India. Mandeep, who was a lawyer in Uttar Pradesh, left India with his wife after he received threats and had cases registered against him for supporting the Khalistan movement in India.
In India, “as soon as someone raises his voice and speaks the truth, he is eliminated,” he said to me during the Sikhs for Justice-organized Khalistan rally on January 26.
He misses his family members back home and hopes that he can see them again soon. But for the moment, he is happy to be in the U.S., showing his support for the Khalistan movement without fear of consequence.
“Here there is freedom,” he said.
Yes for an independent Khalistan?
According to the Sikhs for Justice website, the question on the referendum ballot was, “Should Indian-governed Punjab be an independent country?” giving voters two alternatives of yes and no to choose from. However, most people I spoke to at the referendum said that they would vote yes. According to Asees Kaur, a Black Sikh woman who was manning a stall displaying Khalistani movement posters and leaflets, very few would be voting “no” in the referendum.
“If you have come all the way out here to vote, my guess is you’re voting yes. If you wanted to vote no, you would have stayed at home,” she said, suggesting that showing up for the referendum is in itself a vote of support for the movement.
Asees is originally from Texas and was raised an Evangelical Christian. Then, her Sikh high school friend introduced her to Sikhism and soon after, Asees became a member of the faith in 2017. She has been an ideological supporter of the Khalistan movement for the past 2 years, but started working for the cause for less than a year, volunteering with Panthic Media, an independent Sikh media outlet.
When asked about other Black Sikhs like her, she smiled and said, “There’s not a whole lot of us out there because it’s a minority within a minority – a super minority!”
“Jai Shree Ram” amid Khalistani slogans
A few yards away from Asees’ makeshift stall, a woman stood in the middle of the courtyard, observing the throngs waiting in line to vote. With the Indian tricolor pinned to the front of her jacket, she occasionally raised the slogan of Jai Shree Ram in response to the cries of “Khalistan Zindabad” over the speakers.
When asked her full name, she smiled and identified her first name as Nalini, and her last name as Hindustani. A proud Punjabi herself, Nalini made the trip down to the Civic Center to register her protest against the Khalistan movement on behalf of her home country India.
She hoped that other Hindus would join her in protesting the referendum and the incendiary posters and slogans condemning prominent Indian government leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. She also expressed disappointment at the faction of the Sikh population that supports the Khalistan movement.
“There are millions of Sikhs who live in India and they respect us, they respect India!” she said. “These people” – pointing to the crowds – “all have a mistaken identity. They have forgotten who they are.”
She believes that despite the large numbers of voters – estimated to be more than 125,000 according to some sources – Khalistan will not become a reality anytime soon. She expects that if the matter comes to pass, the Hindu American community will unite and take a stand against the Khalistan movement.
“They tried to pass the SB403 caste bill, but we came together and got rid of it,” she said. “And that’s what we will do again if necessary.”
At the end of the referendum, Punjab Referendum Commission member Paul Jacobs announced that thousands of voters had not been able to cast their votes in the allotted time.
“The world has seen how many Sikhs came to vote today,” he said. “We are going to have another vote on March 31, in Sacramento.” The Commission has not yet revealed the location of the referendum in Sacramento.
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.