By MD Mesha

NEW DELHI (TSAT) - The situation in India worsened after the central government launched an operation against the Sikh community in different states and arrested several young Sikhs and some leaders for their alleged links with the “Khalistan movement”.

On Friday, Punjab police arrested the ruling party, BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga from the capital New Delhi which caused tensions between the police of Haryana, New Delhi, and Punjab.

Haryana police stopped the Punjab police team and forcibly took away Bagga from their custody and shifted Kurukshetra police station, NDTV reported.

New Delhi police also registered a Kidnapping case against the Punjab police and demanded for bringing back Bagga from Haryana.

According to Punjab police, Bagga was wanted by them in several cases including planned attacks against Sikhs in Punjab province.

The move by state government in Punjab, which is the heart of India’s Sikh community, came after the central government launched an operation against the Sikhs and many of their young people were reportedly arrested.

On Thursday, Indian intelligence officials arrested four young Sikhs in Haryana when they were on their way to Telangana.

According to The Wire, an Indian local media outlet, police later registered a case against them and claimed that police have recovered explosives and ammunition from the Young Sikhs.

However, the local Sikhs accused the Indian government of suppressing the minorities and targeting Sikhs after their reaction against RSS/BJP extremists’ attacks against them in Punjab last month.

“Sikhs in India are hassled on social media; trolled and threatened. TV channels are projecting Sikh’s as anti-nationals and anti-Modi. Hate knows no boundary; minorities are always under attack,” Aliraif wrote on Twitter.

“We Sikhs are always united, we need freedom,” he added.

On April 29, Several people were wounded in clashes between the Hindu nationalist groups and Sikhs in Punjab, which is a stronghold of India’s Sikh community.
 

Clashes erupted when a Hindu nationalist group, Shiv Sena called for Khalistan Murdabad March in Patiala that caused huge clashes as Sikhs resisted the March.
 
 
“Actually what happened was that shiv Sena called for Khalistan Murdabad March in Patiala today on 29 April which changed into Pro Khalistan zindabad March by Sikh organisations in which thousand of Sikhs took to streets. This all happened due to high provocation of Shiv Sena organizations,” according to Angad Singh Khalsa said.

On April 30, the Indian government launched an operation against Sikhs and accused them of reorganizing the “Khalistan movement” in India.

The Khalistan movement is a Sikh freedom movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān.

 
The movement was launched in 1940 during the British era. In 1980, it spread across the Sikh majority areas in India but in 1990, the Indian government launched an operation “Operation Blue Star” against the group and arrested most of its leaders.

 
However, the movement continued despite severe crackdowns against Sikhs by governments of the time. Sikh leaders living in Canada and other western countries are holding their gatherings and demanding a separate state in India.

The movement has been gaining lot of traction lately due to execution of ultra-nationalistic policies against minorities in India. Current crackdown is likely to further aggravate the security situation in Sikh dominated states of India.