Khalistan banners and graffiti went up at the Himachal
Pradesh Assembly in Dharamshala on Sunday triggering fears in the hill state
that led the administration to seal state borders. A special investigation team
(SIT) has been formed to probe the incident and find the people involved.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, leader of the US-based Sikhs for Justice, an
organisation outlawed in India, has been charged with Unlawful Activities
Prevention Act (UAPA).

Also Read | A brief history of the Khalistani movement

The charge against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun comes after
he announced that a referendum would be conducted in Himachal Pradesh on the
Khalistan issue on June 6. Pannun, and his organisation Sikhs for Justice, are
regarded among the spearheads of the current Khalistan movement.

What is the Khalistan movement?

The Khalistan movement is a secessionist movement to
create a sovereign state for Sikhs called Khalistan. While the call for
Khalistan originated when the British left India in 1947, the separatist
movement gathered steam in India in the 1980s. However, the Indian state took
very strong action against the separatist forces, including the massive, and
often criticised Operation Blue Star.

While the movement petered out in the 1990s, it left a
trail of dead bodies on either side. The movement was blamed for being behind
several terrorist attacks in India. The Indian state stamped out the
separatists, but the demand for a sovereign Sikh nation continued to hold currency
in certain sections of Sikh polity, especially among the Sikh diaspora.

Why were flags put up in Himachal Pradesh?

The Khalistan movement projects the Sikh sovereign
nation to be constituted of western regions of India that were once part of
undivided Punjab and the Pakistani state of Punjab. Sikhs for Justice considers
Himachal Pradesh to be one such region that was part of undivided Punjab, and
as a consequence, part of the Khalistan conception.

Last year, Sikhs for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh
Pannun threatened to not let Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur
hoist the Indian national flag in the state, according to a The Print report.

After Sunday’s incident, the Himachal CM tweeted in
Hindi: “Himachal Pradesh is a peaceful state and peace should prevail here. Those
to blame for the Dharamshala incident will be caught soon. This cowardliness
will not continue for long.”

The politics of it all

Himachal Pradesh goes to polls in the next six months
and the Khalistan movement seems inclined to exploit the politically fraught atmosphere
to make its point. Activities on part of the Khalistan movement have become
more pronounced since 2021. The Nanda Devi temple, located 10-15km from the
Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border, was vandalised and slogans were put up saying: “Welcome
to Khalistan” and “Khalistan border starts here.”

In March this year, the Himachal Pradesh government
outlawed entry of vehicles carrying flags of Jarnail Singh Bhrindanwale – one of
the most prominent leaders of the Khalistan movement who was killed during
Operation Blue Star in 1984 – into the hill state.

Reacting to this, Sikhs for Justice announced that
they would hoist the Khalistan flag at the Shimla district collector’s office on
April 29, the day marked by the banned outfit as “Khalistan Declaration Day.”

Himachal remains important to the Khalistan movement
because the state was carved out of Punjab in 1996. However, political
observers don’t think that the Khalistan issue has great resonance in the internal
dynamics of Himachal Pradesh. Ramesh K Chauhan of the Himachal Pradesh
University, who spoke to The Print, said, “Khalistan finds no place in Himachal
Pradesh,” adding that he believes tourists chanting pro-Khalistan slogans are being
given undue coverage.

Khalistan troubles also had an impact on the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP), which recently formed a government in Punjab, when their Himachal
social media in-charge was found to have allegedly openly supported the Khalistan
cause. The surfacing caused an exodus in AAP’s Himachal unit.