Ottawa, March 23 (IANS) The so-called ‘Khalistani movement’ is a toxic cycle of intimidation and glorification of violence that has been kept alive by a small section of the diaspora as a grotesque parody of activism in Canada. It suppresses free speech in Western countries, undermines India-Canada relations, and unfairly impacts the majority of law-abiding Sikhs who have no affiliation with separatism, a report highlighted on Monday.

Highlighting a post on X by Canadian investigative journalist Mocha Bezirgan, a report in ‘Khalsa Vox’ documented this cycle with striking precision.

In a post on X, Bezirgan – who has covered over 37 Khalistan events across Canada, US, the UK, and beyond – highlighted the farcical nature of so-called Khalistani ‘referendums’.

“The Khalistan ‘referendum’ is coming back to Alberta. They were already here last year. There is a pattern where the ‘referendum’ repeats itself in the same states and provinces,” he wrote.

These votes, the report mentioned, never conclude and simply recycle in the same venues, drumming up the same fringe crowds while the real goal — perpetual grievance and radicalisation — marches on.

The cycle recurs with chilling familiarity, it said, as extremist groups like Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and the Council of Khalistan stage repeated referendums that resemble glorified picnics with sword waving, “Khalistan Zindabad” slogans, and Indian flag desecrations.

The pattern, it elaborated further began in blood with the 1985 Air India bombing — masterminded by Babbar Khalsa extremists — that killed 329 people. It remains the deadliest act of aviation terrorism before 9/11.

“Today, the cycle repeats with chilling familiarity. Groups like Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and the Council of Khalistan stage endless polls that amount to glorified picnics with swords, ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ chants, and Indian flag desecrations,” it mentioned.

“Leaders like Dr. Bakhshish Singh Sandhu — the self-styled President of the Council of Khalistan and SFJ co-founder — embody the persistence. Sandhu tirelessly promotes ‘Punjab Hun Khalistan’ and referendums from the safety of the United States, framing separatism as a UN-protected political opinion,” it added.

In his post, Bezirgan mocked Sandhu as “Dr. Khalistan”, pointing to his questionable medical credentials from a long-shuttered Dominican diploma mill which closed in 1984 for selling fake degrees. This is no statesman; he is a career separatist peddling the same failed dream that once drowned Punjab in blood.

“Hopefully the Khalistani cause keeps him very busy so he doesn’t experiment on the health and safety of Americans, as he has been doing for the last 40 years with his quack medical diploma from a Dominican medical university that was shut down for selling thousands of fake medical diplomas,” the investigative journalist wrote on X.

The report states that Sandhu is a career separatist peddling the same failed dream that once drowned Punjab in blood.

The trend, it said, escalated this month with the horrific killing of Khalistani critic Nancy Grewal in Canada’s Ontario.

“A Khalistani-linked account claimed responsibility, echoing the targetted killings of the 1980s. Critics, journalists, and moderate Sikhs face death threats, disinformation campaigns, and physical assaults — sword-wielding goons at Ottawa events, ‘kill’ slogans, and harassment of anyone daring to question the narrative,” the report noted.

Highlighting the pattern of violence and radicalisation, the Khalsa Vox report said, “By glorifying assassins like Mewa Singh and dragging children to rallies to groom the next generation, Khalistanis ensure the cycle never breaks: grievance, radicalisation, violence, crackdown, diaspora exile, repeat”.

–IANS

scor/as