The Sikh Diaspora: The Search for Statehood - Vidhia.com

18 THE SIKHS: SEARCH FOR STATEHOOD
1988, Punjab was virtually handed over to the security forces with
extraordinary discretionary powers, effectively dismantling the legal
framework, resulting in anonymous arrests, secret detention,
disappearances, extrajudicial killings and systematic practices of torture
(Amnesty International reports, Noorani 1984; Jaijee 1995; PHRO).
These measures included the National Security Act 1980, the Armed
Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh) Special Powers Act 1983, the Terrorist
Affected Areas (Special Courts) Act 1984, the Terrorist and Disruptive
Activities (Prevention) Act 1985 (TADA), and the Armed Forces
Special Powers Act 1990. As the war raged between the security forces
and militants, the civilian population was squeezed into two warring
forces; for years terror reigned in the countryside. 24 The militants ran a
parallel government, and the state finally gained the upper hand in
1992. 25 As outcry against human rights violations became intolerable,
primarily due to the efforts of the Sikh diaspora, the Indian government
appointed a National Human Rights Commission in September 1993. 26
Besides internationalizing the homeland issue, the state terror also
forced Akali leaders to appeal to the world for justice. 27 By 1995 the
Supreme Court took up cases of human rights violations, punishing some
police officers, taking a dim view of official explanations. 28
With over 15,000 Sikhs dead in the battle between militants and the
security forces, the central government brought back “democracy” after
holding a farcical election in February 1992 boycotted by all main
parties (Gurharpal Singh 1992). A Congress ministry took charge
headed by Beant Singh, who was later killed in a bomb blast.
Meanwhile the security forces continued to hunt Sikh militants,
pocketing many awards by “successfully” killing them. 29 By the
summer of 1995, with the calm of a graveyard, Punjab assumed its
“normality” and the central government allowed Akalis back into the
political field. In the February 1997 elections, a coalition of the Akali
Dal and the Bhartiya Janata Party was voted to power, and a ministry
headed by Parkash Singh Badal took charge from the Congress. The
realpolitik of resources bargaining and distribution has returned, the
Indian state has “managed” another ethnic conflict and the aggrieved
group has returned to normal politics by sharing power for the state
government.
Search for statehood: the dilemma
From a religious sect, the Sikhs have made a long journey towards an
ethnonational community. Having existed as an ethnic community