Those hoisting the Khalistan flags must realize their dreams can never become a reality

The tieing of Khalistan’s flag on the main gate of the boundary wall of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Dharamshala on Sunday morning is nothing but a cowardice attempt to keep the Khalistan pot boiling. The action is supposed to be in retaliation to the State Government’s decision to ban vehicles carrying Bhindranwale and Khalsitani flags. In the last week of April, Intelligence agencies warned of such attempts and said the Sikh for Justice ( SJF) would try to hoist the Khalistan flag in the state. The incident in itself is not alarming. Anyone can sneak into the dead of the night, tie a flag to an object, scrawl a few slogans on the wall, and slip away. But what is worrying is the tacit support being provided to the Khalistan movement by elements both within India and at the international level. Within the country, there have been several cases of seizure of explosives and arrest of Khalistan sympathizers. Unfortunately, such sordid attempts find explicit support from the political class in India. Recently, a politician from Himachal Pradesh, Harpreet Singh Bedi, openly supported the demand for ‘Khalistan’. Bedi put out several tweets in support of Khalistan on the microblogging site Twitter and then deleted the account. “According to the constitution, Sikh can demand Khalistan, then how it is wrong if you want to stop this issue, try to change the act otherwise shut the...,” one such tweet read. Bedi was formerly associated with AAP but he was subsequently expelled from the party.

Political parties and their leaders must exercise extra care in targeting each other on the Khalistan issue. Instead of hurling pro-Khalistan accusations in public, they should provide evidence, if any, to the police. Remember,  there are laws to deal with subversive activities. Using such serious issues for political gains would be playing into the hands of the elements behind the Khalistan movement.  Intelligence inputs out in the media have shown that the Khalistan movement has a strong international financial backing and Pakistan’s logistic support. Worldwide, such elements have tried to come into the limelight by indulging in violent activities. The recent seizure of explosives from Khalistan sympathizers has to be seen in that light. India has crushed these elements every time they have tried to raise their heads. But we cannot afford to lower our guards. There should be no let-up in the

ongoing efforts to flush out all active Khalistan sympathizers. Equally important is to create an environment of well-being in Punjab so that youth could not be lured to such movements. Freeing Punjab from the drug menace should be the first step in that direction? Tackling the issue of growing unemployment faced by the educated youth and problems faced by the farmers should follow in right earnest. Those hoisting the Khalistan flags must realize that their dreams can never become a reality. India has crushed them in the past and will do the same in the future, too.