Homework | Allowing Protests, US, UK, Canada, Australia Envoys Should Visit Punjab to Know Khalistan Bogey

Punjab is a few hours drive from Delhi for the ambassadors of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. In fact, Canada and the United Kingdom have their consulates in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab. Perhaps it is time for these ambassadors to go on a journey through the Punjab.

This could be a fruitful exercise because this could help them see firsthand how the “ghost of Khalistan” has rather little resonance in Punjab, a country that elected a government by a resounding majority only last year.

Amidst the so-called “peaceful protests” in their countries over the Khalistan issue, which have now gone beyond the “Kill India” campaign with pictures of Indian diplomats on posters, perhaps the ambassadors need to convey the “true picture” of the mood of Punjab to their countries. Canada and its envoy, in particular, need strong introspection on this front.

Punjab is certainly not ruled by Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party but its fierce opponent, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). But the “ghost of Khalistan” is one issue on which both the BJP and the AAP agree.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reinforced the center’s point earlier this year when he said a handful of people chanting “pro-Khelistan” slogans did not represent the whole of Punjab and asked those who had doubts to visit the state. Mann then also accused the ISI of funding these elements who “run their shops”, which also led to protests abroad by a section of the Sikhs against the Cabinet.

If ambassadors tour the Punjab from Chandigarh to Amritsar, they will find how the country has been virtually unaffected by the arrest of Khalistani supporter Amritpal Singh and his aides earlier this year — there has been no disturbance of peace or law and order.

In fact, more problems arose in the four foreign countries over Amritpal’s arrest than in Punjab. This in itself explains how the ISI was able to fuel such protests abroad, but not in Punjab. Alternatively, the diplomats may learn from their trip and meeting with officials how Punjab remains a target for the ISI through drone and drug smuggling.

“Kill India” threats, bombed non-peaceful protests

The current protests in Canada and the United States were sparked by the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Najjar in Canada, which the authorities in Canada have not been able to resolve so far. Some pointed to guerrilla warfare behind Najjar’s killing while extremist elements blamed Indian intelligence agencies and put pictures of Indian diplomats on posters as targets. Such activity cannot be described as part of the “peaceful protests” that Canada allowed outside the Indian Embassy on July 8. The few demonstrators who attended showed that it was certainly not a “popular protest”.

Foreign ambassadors also need to keep up with what Indian investigators have to say about two such incidents. In connection with the protest against the Indian High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, on 23 March, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said that Khalistan supporters threw two grenades inside the High Commission building along with chanting anti-India slogans.

Regarding the protest at the San Francisco Consulate in the US on March 18-19, the NIA FIR says Khalistani activists urged protesters to “attack the consulate and kill all representatives of the Government of India” and leave an injured consular officer behind.

These incidents, along with the desecration of the Indian flag during a protest on July 8 in Canada, the protest in the United Kingdom at the Embassy in London, and the recent fire incident at the San Francisco Consulate, put the security of the Indian High Commissions to the test and put diplomatic relations at risk. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar did not mince words last week when he said that giving foreign countries space for such “timeless elements” is not good for diplomatic relations. The State Department warned that “freedom of expression” was being misused by extremists abroad to “legitimize terrorism”.

This makes an even more compelling argument for US Ambassador Eric Garcetti and his counterparts in Delhi from Canada, the UK and Australia to tour Punjab and check for themselves whether the activities permitted in their countries have any resonance back home. In the deal Garcetti can also add Punjabi cuisine to his menu of “tasty tasting” sessions across India.