Punjab’s Patiala
went up in flames on Friday after two groups clashed over an anti-Khalistan rally
that left four people injured. A curfew was imposed at 7pm on Friday which was
lifted at 6am Saturday. Mobile internet and SMS services have been jammed, but
voice calls continue to operate. The Patiala administration says these measures
are to stop rumour-mongering.

Bhagwant Mann,
Punjab’s new chief minister, has had to face a barrage of criticism for his
administration’s inability to curb the violence. Mann said the Patiala clashes
were political and not communal and had been orchestrated by Shiv Sena and BJP
workers and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) men, NDTV reported.

In a state where the
word Khalistan often raises several red flags, the purpose of an anti-Khalistan
rally and its implications are wide-ranging. Here’s all you need to know about
the Patiala violence and its effect on Punjab:

As it
happened

The Shiv Sena (Bal
Thackeray), one of the at least 15 factions of the Shiv Sena in Punjab,
organised a rally in Patiala. The rallying call was “Khalistan Murdabad.” Nihang
Sikhs, a warrior group among followers of Sikhism, too gathered to register
their protest against the rally. This led to a clash causing four people to get
hurt, two of them cops.

What was the
rally about?

While the
immediate motivation behind the rally is yet to be uncovered, Khalistan is
consistently a sensitive topic in Punjab. The Khalistan movement is a Sikh
separatist movement that sought to create an independent sovereign state called
Khalistan. While the movement was largely crushed by the Indian administration,
certain elements of it have survived. Meanwhile, accusations of being
pro-Khalistan often come up when sections of Sikhs are critical of the Indian
state.

What has the government
done?

Along with
imposing curbs on communication, the Punjab government has also removed three
top cops from their posts for their inability to control the violence.
Inspector General of Police (Patiala range), Patiala Senior Superintendent of
Police and Superintendent of Police were transferred. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena
leader Harish Singla was arrested over the violence.