Abstract and Keywords
This article explores the rallying cry for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan as a political critique of the Indian state. The violence of the extremists represented more than Sikhs alone; it also in-spired other minorities to believe that assertions of human rights could be linked to calls for a more federal Indian system. The Anandpur Sahib Resolutions of 1973 and 1978 put this senti-ment into words, and established the Sikhs not only as anti-national ‘rebels’ but also as leaders in the broader movement for decentralization of the state. The Khalistani militancy was but the first of an array of rebellions against Delhi, which continue to pop up among peripheral and disadvan-taged groups. This is the dark underside of Indian democracy and economic progress, which the world applauds even as conflict continues to be silenced by a state intent on establishing a posi-tive international reputation.
Keywords: political critique, militancy, violence, Khalistan, Anandpur Sahib Resolution, separatism, human rights, extremism, anti-national, minorities
Access to the complete content on Oxford Handbooks Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us.
