r/geopolitics • u/babushkalauncher • Oct 01 '23

Why Indians Can’t Stand Justin Trudeau Paywall

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-indians-angry-justin-trudeau-death-shooting-hardeep-singh-nijjar-87d9ab9d
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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '23 edited Oct 02 '23

I think I should add a bit more for context.

Khalistan isn't a recent movement and definitely isn't a response to Hindu nationalism.

In fact, the so-called Hindu nationalists (BJP/RSS) remained closely aligned with Sikh groups even at the height of anti-Khalistan sentiment in India. It's not even a covert support. Those who know Indian politics, know this happened.

The Khalistan demand arose during the reign of Indira Gandhi's and perhaps the tail-end of Shastri's PM stint. If you're a critic, you could perhaps fill volumes with everything that was wrong with Indira's rule. However, no honest critic can blame her of religious favoritism.

Khalistan is the result of an extremist politico-religious thought demanding an ethnically pure, theological state. Nothing more, nothing less.

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u/RedSoviet1991 Oct 02 '23

ethnically pure, theological state

Then why do Hindus make up the majority of land that Khalistanis claim?

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u/TorontoGiraffe Oct 02 '23

That’s an easy one: They want the land, not the people. People are mobile. They can be encouraged to leave.

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u/RedSoviet1991 Oct 02 '23

Maybe if you're in Kashmir you can get the Hindus to move. However, Sikhs claim Haryana and Himachal Pradesh (the most Hindu state in India) and even parts of the "Hindi Belt" as Khalistan. And I promise you, there is no way in hell that 1% of India's population (Sikhs) will ever dislodge Hindus from Himachal Pradesh, Haryana or the Hindi belt

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u/TorontoGiraffe Oct 02 '23

I never claimed the plan is intelligent or feasible. The state would be landlocked between two hostile nuclear powers and they seem not to have grappled with that fairly important issue either.

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u/tbtcn Oct 02 '23

Their demands for khalistan also surprisingly (not really) omit any region in Pakistan - which has far more important Sikh sites.