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Khalistanism

The Biggest Threat To Khalistan

It’s not the Indian government, nor western governments nor any nation state. The number 1 biggest threat to the formation of a Khalistan is...

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YOU

Well not all of you. Khalistanis themselves are the biggest obstacle to actually getting a Khalistan.

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Repeating slogans like "Khalistan Zindabad" is not a constitution.

Slogans and phrases to rally around are very useful to generate motivation and attract the simple to a movement. However, shouting “Khalistan Zindabad!” or saying we need “Azaadi” constantly only ever reveals a vague statement of intent, not a plan.

The next steps are taking those narratives and establishing a detailed vision of what those things would look like in the real world.

Azadism makes an attempt at doing this via the “

Azadist Manifesto⁠

” which outlines intricately how a modern Sikh system of governance could look like by taking into account Gurbani and Itihaas.

Azadism combines Sikh principles and the Khalsa ethos with the most successful economic theories that have propelled humanity out of poverty over the last century. Azadism may not even be the correct solution, but it is at least a start!

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“It is easier to say you want Azaadi, than actually want Azaadi”

This is why over the last few months, I have been working hard to push the Azadist Manifesto into the Panthic space. Many Aam Sangat have engaged and are deeply appreciated for both their praise and respectful disagreements. But many are not even aware of it in the first place.

Whilst growth has been steady, the main reason why is because of the majority of the so-called “Panthic” organisations, especially those who are considered “Khalistani” have suppressed this work (consciously or subconsciously). Not all, some have shown good support, and if you follow Azadism you will know who does and doesn’t.

Many of those who it is completely within their remit to engage with the things Azadism is covering have ignored or busied themselves elsewhere. Some have even outright shunned this effort! I’m not forcing them to engage if they don’t want to, and they are free to continue to run away, but consider this:

How are you going to get a raaj when you can’t even spend the time working out how it will work?

This lack of priority setting is troubling and frustrating (although expected) since this work aims to fill in the exact details for some of the ideals they themselves claim to represent. Instead these so-called “Khalistanis” prefer to stick to slogans, complain constantly about how oppressed we are, promote victim mentalities and hide in their echo chambers.

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Telling history vs making history.

The vast majority of the effort Khalistanis output is in the form of doing parchar of history. Again, just like the slogans, this isn’t useless. In fact, without this critical aspect there would be no Azadism. Preserving our history, the atrocities we have been through, our traditions etc are incredibly important component in the struggle for Azaadi.

Raising awareness about current affairs is also crucial and covered extensively by supporters of Khalistan. However, what isn’t covered is taking the lessons from the past and the present in order to inform effective strategies about the future. Again, this is where Azadism comes in as it recognised this gap and aimed to fill it.

You need all these components working together in order to take action that is effective. The inability for some prominent “Khalistanis” to engage with forward-planning is precisely why the sorts of “activism” they do today is so limited and largely fruitless to achieve a nation state.

Only then can we transition from a Panth of historians to one that historians will write about.

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“We’ll figure it out after we get Khalistan”

Unfortunately, this response is very common when pressing vocal advocates and supporters of Khalistan for details. It is so deeply representative of how brain damaged people can be when they abandon reason for emotion.

You wouldn’t start a business without a business plan, so why are you trying to start a nation without a plan? It isn’t just shareholders profit at stake here, it’s the lives of countless millions of people on the line. You can’t just wing it!

Secondly, they don’t have to wing it at all since I’ve already started all this planning process for them with Azadism. All they have to do is sit down, read (or listen to) it and discuss it with me. The Manifesto takes around 7 hours to read. That’s less than most TV shows. 1 hour a week and you will be done!

Thirdly, this whole figure it out later isn’t even a Khalsa mentality in the first place. The Khalsa is meant to be Tyar Bar Tyar. Proactive not reactive. We should be preparing far in advance, assessing different policies, governance structures, economic frameworks etc now! Again, this is what the Azadism project has been doing for the last year, and what many of these so-called Khalistanis have been running from.

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“It will be like Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Raaj”

Again, the bottleneck here isn’t the Sangat in general, its the loud mouths who claim to represent us. A few months ago when I was in Canada, I attended at Sukhmani Sahib Paath. The Kirtanis were told I wrote a book on Sikh economics and got excited. When we went to take Mahraj’s Saroop back to the Gurudwara they took me with them to meet their local “Khalistani preacher”, understandably assuming it would be a good opportunity to exchange ideas.

Upon meeting him and explaining what Azadism was about, his response was completely dismissive and along the lines of “we don’t need this since we will figure out after”. When I responded with the “business plan” point mentioned in the previous slide he then said “it will be like Mahraja Ranjit Singh’s Raj”. I was like, “oh really, the one that lasted 50 years?”.

The reality was when I pressed him on further details the guy had no clue about the pros and cons of such a system and was lost in delusions of nostalgia. He had no inkling of how such a system would fare in the modern world, who would be the king, how the commerce and trade would work, nor any idea about offering welfare protections or how we would out compete other nations in terms of prosperity and innovation with a feudal monarchist system. I was pulled away before too long.

It turned out this guy hadn’t spent any time on this type of vichaar. He was used to sitting on stages telling Sangat how we are oppressed and the only solution is Khalistan. Not how that Khalistan would work.

If you would like a more detailed understanding of Azadism’s view on monarchy,

see a previous post I made on the topic⁠

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We are our own bottleneck!

However, despite him trying to dismiss Azadism, I still have some respect for that guy because he actually tried engaging with me about it (although he didn’t really have a choice). Many others simply run away when faced with these criticisms. Statements like “how you going to run a Khalistan when you can’t even run a Gurudwara properly” or “how is a land-locked nation wedged in between 2 rival nuclear powers meant to work” etc are common doubts people have that do not get addressed adequately by Khalistanis at all.

They may not like them, but they are genuinely strong counter-arguments. Often, the response by Khalistanis are that “we are being oppressed, any change will do”. This is so problematic since they have not considered how badly things can actually go wrong with poor policy planning. If charismatic individuals get put in charge with no prelimary knowledge of the long-term effects of different policies, then we will get a system that pushes in all the “sound-good” policies and then get screwed over by the unforeseen consequences of them. In all likelihood it would be a complete disaster.

However, that is only if we don’t do the necessary vichaars now and establish the mindsets to do statecraft effectively before hand. We don’t need to wait to get the state and then think about it - think about it now! Hence, once again, the point of Azadism.

The inability for some of these so-called Khalistanis to have their ideas challenged, ironed-out and developed into plans is the sole reason why we haven’t got Azaadi yet. Not other governments, it is us!

We are our own bottleneck.

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ਆਈ ਪੰਥੀ ਸਗਲ ਜਮਾਤੀ ਮਨਿ ਜੀਤੈ ਜਗੁ ਜੀਤੁ॥

See the brotherhood of all mankind as the highest order of Yogis; conquer your own mind, and conquer the world. — Jap Ji Sahib, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 6

Those familiar with JapJi Sahib this should be no surprise. As we read these lines everyday, we should apply the lessons of them. The greatest barrier in life to anything is always first yourself, then those around you, friends, family your own community. Only then does your enemy or the actual obstacle itself come into play.

No Raaj, no victory, neither in Miri nor Piri can be obtained without first sorting out the way we think, our Sochni. Once that is sorted, we will be unstoppable.

Tyrants are going to spread tyranny, oppressors are gonna oppress. How is this a surprise to anyone? This has been the way things have been since day one. However, these days our whole approach revolves around establishing victim mentality and then doing nothing with that except express outrage constantly.

Although I have berated the mindsets of Khalistanis throughout this post, it is from a place of love and hope that they change. Additionally, it is unfair to generalise all Khalistanis with this mindset. I have met with and done vichaar with many Khalistanis who also recognise the points made here and are similarly fed-up of our Panth’s attitudes. In order to differentiate the two types of Khalistani, Azadism will from now on split them into 2 categories:

1. (Classic) Khalistanis 2.

Neo-Khalistanis⁠

Follow Bunga Azaadi for more, and share this with others. It’s up to us as a Sangat to hold our “Panthic representatives” accountable and contest the attitudes that hold us back.

If you want Raaj tomorrow, start thinking like Raaje today.

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