I am not coming down heavy on Sikhs. My brother in law is Sikh. Sikhs are not Khalistanis. Khalistanis are Sikhs.
Sikhs in India, do not care for the Khalistan movement. They are the ones living in India. They don't care. My brother in law does not care and infact is against the Khalistani movement.
This movement is only popular amongst the Sikh diaspora in the west. None of the people supporting Khalistan in this diaspora are actually Indian citizens. So even if Khalistan was formed tomorrow, do you think they will immediately pack their bags and move back? So who are they fighting for when the majority of Sikhs that actually matter (the ones living there) do not even support the movement?
Nijjar is a terrorist because he has been implicated in multiple targeted killings in India. Infact, the chief minister of Punjab (Amarinder Singh, who is a Sikh himself) gave Trudeau a list of most wanted persons with this guys name on it. Regardless of all that, it is well known that the Khalistanis (who are Canadian citizens) were responsible for the bombing of Air India Flight 182. 329 people died. 288 of them Canadians. Is that a terrorist attack or no? If that was a terrorist attack, it follows that the Khalistani movement is a terrorist movement and belonging to that group automatically makes you a terrorist. So given all these guys are Canadian citizens that does make them a domestic terror group yet to be designated as one by the Canadian govt.
Now all of that does not justify India acting on Canadian soil. I agree with that. But if it did happen that India was responsible for the death of this guy, I am still not going to feel sorry or outraged.
I am not being tribal here. The Khalistanis are the tribal ones asking for a theocratic ethno-state. Me advocating for a multireligious, multiethnic, multicultural pluralistic India, that is inclusive of Sikhs, is the opposite of tribal.
Sikhs are INDIANS. They are NOT Khalistanis. There is no independence movement nor is any independence required, as they are already independent as Indians. Punjab is a VERY integrated state in India. The idea of Khalistan was born in the 1930s along with the "two nation theory" that led to the formation of Pakistan. So the Sikhs wanted a separate state as well, but their movement never had any widespread support because they were a minority. Infact, Punjab before the partition in 1947, spanned both India and Pakistan and over 52% of that state went to Pakistan during partition. The majority of the Sikhs, left Pakistan and moved to the Indian state of Punjab, where they were STILL the minorities. Their initial fear was that they would become 2nd class citizens and lose their culture, but this is clearly not the case today. Sikhs have their distinct culture that Indians actually appreciate. Sikhs are respected, well liked and successful, which is why they themselves don't care for a separate Khalistan.
Yes, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were horrible. India has had a few of those religious riots, Muslims suffering the most. That was indeed shameful. India is yet to bring to justice people who committed those crimes. But in my opinion that is a long forgotten chapter. Such things won't happen today.
Regardless of what religion you belong to, regardless of how Modi and his Hindu Nationalists behave, we are bound by one common identity (among others), that we are Indian. And any group that threatens the stability and integrity of that identity and worse, attacks the nation and its peoples, are terrorists.
I think that is the right position to take.