After Failed Kashmir Project; Pakistan Wants Khalistan Support
By
Naila Inayat
10
December, 2020
All
protests are commendable as long as they take place in India. That is why the
protesting farmers of India have given a new hope to those in Pakistan who
condemn all such activities at home. Be it the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, which
has been fighting for equal rights for about three years now. Or the recent
Pakistan Democratic Movement, an alliance of opposition parties protesting to
oust the government of Imran Khan.
File photo | Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan |
Facebook/ImranKhanOfficial
-----
More than
India, it’s Pakistan that takes the protesting farmers seriously, best
explained by how Pakistani troops were put on high alert along the Line of
Control, because a surgical strike was imminent. Perhaps UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson isn’t that naïve after all — farmers’ protest against the
Narendra Modi government’s three agricultural laws is a dispute between India
and Pakistan.
In the
backdrop of the protest, hyper patriots of Pakistan see an opportunity to break
India. Don’t ask how; they just do. After the roaring success of the ‘Kashmir
Banega Pakistan’ project, it is now time for the Khalistan jingle. It’s a
different matter that the idea of something like Khalistan also includes several
cities of Punjab in Pakistan, with Lahore as its capital. In essence, breaking
Pakistan is making Khalistan. But who cares about such boring details when you
are itching to break your enemy as much as the next guy. Hum Toh Doobe Hain
Sanam, Tujhe Bhi Le Dubenge (we are already drowning but we will take you
with us).
And
Pakistan’s decade-long struggle to make Kashmir a part of Pakistan, which only
resulted in India scrapping its special status, gives hope to no one but the
keyboard warriors. So after digital Baloch, digital Chinese and digital Turks,
we now have digital Sikhs. These warriors will ensure Khalistan becomes a
reality, so what if it’s only on Twitter. When you get mass tagged in some
Khalistan referendum chronicles, stay calm for this is the Nth generation
warfare. And who is a better foot soldier in this warfare than actress Veena
Malik, who not only supports Khalistan but seems to be counting days to
“welcome our new neighbour”. Veena can even have her own franchise of Bigg Boss
in Khalistan.
We are told
that since Khalistan will be a new country, we will require a visa to visit it.
Such is our tragedy that despite being the purveyors of the ‘Khalistan project’
and ensuring its imagined creation, Pakistanis still won’t manage a visa-free
travel. We have also been told that like Ghazwa-e-Hind, the formation of
Khalistan is in the hadith and that makes it inevitable. We can call this a
pure example of ‘truck ki batti ke peechhay lagna’.
It is with
immense pleasure that the warriors will tell you that Sikhs are so unhappy in
India that them breaking away is now imperative and just a matter of time. What
the warriors won’t tell you is how Pakistan is no paragon when it comes to
protecting its own religious minorities including Sikhs. The community at home
still isn’t counted as a separate entity from Hindus and is clubbed together in
the official census. Sikhs have faced targeted attacks on their life and
businesses, while their daughters fear kidnapping and forced conversion to
Islam. But the idea is not to bother about Sikhs living in Pakistan but about
those living in India. That’s what real patriotism means, in case no one has
told you.
This
Khalistan delusion is not new and makes an appearance every time the Sikh
community is in news. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, at the time of
Kartarpur Corridor’s opening, had said that PM Imran Khan delivered a “googly”
and India had to send two ministers to ensure its government’s presence at the
ground-breaking ceremony. The statement was rebuked by then Indian minister for
external affairs Sushma Swaraj for hurting the sentiments of the Sikh
community. Even the promotional video released by the Pakistan government to
mark the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor sparked controversy over featuring
three Khalistani separatists on a poster carrying the title ‘Khalistan 2020’.
At best, for Pakistan, Sikhs are just poster boys.
Some want
to carve out new countries, some want to reunite the old ones. They can’t live
peacefully apart; they want to live together. Maharashtra cabinet minister
Nawab Malik wants Bangladesh, Pakistan and India to become one happy family
again. Not only that, the state’s former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tends
to believe that Karachi will one day become a part of India, again. It seems
like K is the real charm here, if not for Kashmir or Khalistan.
Original
Headline: Pakistan finds love for Sikhs.
Now cheering the Khalistan dream after failed Kashmir project
Source: The Print
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism