In recent times, Khalistani separatists have sparked controversy in many countries. Khalistani separatists have organized demonstrations in America, Australia, Canada and Britain. In London, these separatists raised slogans of Khalistan Zindabad while protesting in front of the Indian Embassy. After this incident, the Government of India summoned the British Deputy High Commissioner and asked for an explanation.
Khalistan separatists have started spreading their influence even inside India. Amritpal Singh, head of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ organization, has been facing allegations of being a Khalistan supporter. According to a media report, Amritpal had also refused to consider himself an Indian. Amritpal has been arrested by the police, he is currently in jail. DFRAC has also published a detailed report on Amritpal, which you can read by clicking here.
The supporters of Khalistan are active in many countries and they keep running their agenda. Khalistani supporters had raised slogans of Khalistan Zindabad while waving Khalistan flags at a meeting organized by former Congress President Rahul Gandhi in San Francisco, USA. Apart from this, on many occasions, Khalistan supporters carried out their activities by sharing hashtags and posts on social media. In this detailed report, we are providing a detailed analysis of Khalistani separatists’ activity on Twitter.
The main points of the report are as follows-
- When did the Khalistan movement start?
- Pakistani users’ love for Khalistan
- Creation of pro-Khalistani Twitter accounts
- Khalistani supporters targeting Indians
- Google search history of Khalistan
- When did the Khalistan movement start?
The Khalistan movement is believed to be a fight for a separate sovereign Sikh state consisting of an undivided Punjab that includes parts of both India and Pakistan. The origin of this movement can be considered at the time of partition of India, in fact, after partition, the capital region of Sikh Empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Lahore, went to Pakistan. Apart from this, many prominent holy shrines of Sikhism including Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, also went to Pakistan after partition.
The Khalistan movement in India gained momentum several times but was suppressed after Operation Blue Star (1984) and Operation Black Thunder (1986 and 1988). But in many countries of the world, especially in Canada, Britain, America and Australia, some small Khalistani groups remain active and keep demanding Khalistan. Recently many activities of pro-Khalistan groups were seen in Canada, Britain and Australia.
- Pakistani users’ love for Khalistan
Pakistani social media users’ love for Khalistan has been seen on many occasions. Pakistani users supported Khalistan by creating fake accounts on many issues including farmer demonstrations, cricketer Harshdeep Singh, and Amritpal Singh. At the same time, there are many Pakistani celebrities who openly support Khalistan and also demand to open Khalistan’s embassy in Pakistan as a separate country.
There is a user named Sahar Shinwari on Twitter. She claims that she is an actress and a social worker from the city of Karachi, Pakistan. Sahar keeps writing on Twitter in support of Khalistani ideology. On 22 March 2023, she tweeted Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to “formally start the Khalistan Embassy in Islamabad”.
Shinwari wrote- “Since the Khalistan referendum has gained support all over the West, I request our Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to formally launch the Khalistan Embassy in Islamabad along with the Consulate General in Lahore after its recognition in the United Nations. The Sikh people need our support.”
At the same time, Sahar Shinwari keeps tweeting in support of Khalistan from time to time. The screenshot below shows some of the pro-Khalistan tweets by @SeharShinwari.
Apart from this, another verified user Khalid Imran Khan from Karachi, Pakistan was found to be fully supporting Khalistan on social media. He tweeted – “Amritsar Banega Khalistan”.
Apart from this, he also keeps tweeting from time to time supporting Khalistan. Here is a collage of some of Khalid Imran Khan’s tweets in support of Khalistan.
At the same time, many Pakistani users targeted Indian cricketer Arshdeep Singh by calling him Khalistani and used hashtags like #Khalistan #Khalistan_Zindabad. Below is a collage of screenshots of some of the tweets in which Arshdeep Singh was targeted.
Earlier, DFRAC team had published a detailed report on Arshdeep Singh being targeted by Pakistani users and termed as Khalistani, which can be read here.
- Creation of pro-Khalistan Twitter accounts:
From time to time, new accounts have been created on social media to promote Khalistani ideology and its agenda. Here we are providing the information of recently created accounts in support of Khalistan. Most of the accounts i.e. 43.8% were created in March 2023, which is around 150 new accounts created in a month. After this, 38.5% accounts were created in April, which included 130 new accounts. At the same time, 11.8% new accounts were created in February. The graph given here shows the creation of new accounts.
- Khalistani supporters target Indians:
Those who run the agenda of Khalistan on foreign soil have also been given a reply by Indians. When Khalistani supporters demonstrated outside the Indian Embassy in London, Indians responded by demonstrating. At the same time, Indians in Australia had given a befitting reply to the Khalistanis, after which attacks were also carried out on them. Apart from this, those who raised the slogan of Khalistan Zindabad in Rahul Gandhi’s meeting were given a befitting reply by the Indians by raising the slogan of Hindustan Zindabad.
The Indians have given a befitting reply to the Khalistanis several times, after which the Khalistanis also tried to threaten and target the Indians. Here we are providing details of incidents when Khalistani supporters tried to threaten or target Indians.
- Threats to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s first wife and children:
The first wife and children of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann living in America were threatened by Khalistani supporters after action was taken against Khalistani supporter Amritpal Singh in Punjab. A video of this also went viral on social media. It was seen in this video that Khalistani fundamentalists threatened Mann’s first wife and children.
- Khalistani supporter Pannu threatened Indian journalist:
One Khalistani supporter is Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. He is continuously engaged in anti-Khalistan and anti-India campaigns. He has also threatened to kill the leaders of India on several occasions. He has threatened several leaders including former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Himachal CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and former CM Jairam Thakur. Here is a collage of news coverage on his threats.
Apart from this, Pannu and his supporters attacked Indian journalist Lalit K. Jha. who was covering the Khalistani protest outside the Indian Embassy in Washington. He not only abused Jha, but also hit him with a stick while walking.
- Khalistani attack on Indian Sikh couple:
British Sikh couple Harman Singh and his wife Khushi Kaur, who spoke against the Khalistan movement, were attacked by Khalistanis and their restaurant was vandalised. In a media interview, Harman Singh had said that he had been hiding for several days to save his life.
- Search history of Khalistan on Google:
We examined searches for the keyword “Khalistan Zindabad” on Google Trends for the past 90 days. Our investigation revealed that this keyword was majorly searched in Canada, followed by India. The graph below depicts the ratio of two countries.
We took a deep dive in India to search the places which mostly google the ‘Khalistan Zindabad’. Our investigation revealed that the keyword “Khalistan Zindabad” was searched mostly in Chandigarh and Punjab.
When we analyzed Google trends and examined the keyword “Khalistan”, we found that India was the first country where the keyword was most searched for in the month of May 2023. After this comes the number of Canada, UAE and Georgia. This keyword was also trending in Pakistan and Australia.
Conclusion:
Khalistan and its supporters keep promoting Khalistani ideology not only on the land of India but also in other countries of the world. For this, they keep using different platforms, and they also keep on targeting Indians. On many occasions they have either directly attacked Indians or tried to intimidate them.
