On 6th May, Law and Society Alliance hosted a webinar on the topic of ‘How Khalistanis Use Western Democracy To Promote Extremism And Violence — Bloom Report’. The esteemed speakers at the webinar were Shri. Sameer Kaushal from Sher-e-Punjab Radio based in Canada, Shri. Anilesh Mahajan, Deputy Editor for India Today and lastly the webinar was hosted by Shri

N.C. Bipindra, Chairman of Law and Society Alliance

The webinar was centred around a 160-page report by Colin Bloom, an Independent Faith Engagement Advisor. The report talks about the means and ways in which the terrorist groups that demand a separate Khalistan have been making use of the freedom provided in Western nations, especially the UK, to fan the flames of hate and extremism and also bring violence to innocents that dare to speak up against their violent ways

The truth is that the majority of Sikhs and Indians living abroad do not support extremism and the call for a separate Khalstan.

They are deeply patriotic Indians. But the theKhalistani movement at present is being fanned in the US and Europe today by a microscopic minority of terrorists and extremists who are aided and funded by Pakistan. The Idea of Khalistan is a long dream of Pakistan.

The report points out that there is a power tug-of-war between the Khalistanis and larger Sikh organisations in the UK for the control of the Gurudwaras, the Khalistanis use the Gurduwars as a means to spread their messages of hate and extremism and also to collect funding for their operations.

Additionally, the Bloom Report highlights that the Sikh community in the UK that support Khalistan are a tiny minority but they use violence, harassment and their influence to coerce other moderate and peaceful Sikhs to fall in line and support their ideology.

The first speaker at the webinar was Sameer Kaushal. He started by stating that this 159-page report is extremely comprehensive and recorded the answers of 2100 respondents. He added that according to the report, people are divided into three categories, True Believers, who are generous and kind and follow the teachings of their faith, then there are some who do not believe in a higher power, these people are also largely peaceful and kind, and lastly, there are the make-believers, these comprise of people and individuals that do believe in religion but use their religion as a justification of violence and personal greed.

He added that the majority of Sikhs in the UK have perfectly assimilated with life in Britain and benefit British society, itis only a small vocal minority of extremists that use aggressive tactics to propagate their beliefs. Mr Kaushal then goes on to narrate his own experience of how he was attacked and harassed by Knhalistani activists during an event organised by the Indian High Commission in Surrey, Canada. While attempting to enter the event, Mr Kaushal was labelled as anti-Sikh even if he is from Punjab. Mr Kaushal then had to leave the event for their safety and the mob of extremists were turning hostile and violent against him.

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He added that the report clearly shows that some places of Sikh worship have been taken over by Khalistani elements and these places are then used as tools of violence and hate propaganda to please Pakistan. Mr Kaushal goes on to add that these extremists are brainwashing the youth and creating a false narrative that the Indian state is hostile towards the Sikhs, which is not true. Mr Kaushal has even interviewed Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Legal Counsel for Sikhs For Justice and asked him why Khalistan extremists only demand that the Indian side of Punjab make up the new Khalistan, and not the Punjab that lies in Pakistan. Unsurprisingly, Punnun did not have a satisfactory answer. This raises a lot of questions, who is truly behind the call for Khalistan? Because the majority of Sikhs have no opinion on it and wish to live in peace and harmony.