NEW DELHI: A UK-based prominent member of the Sikh Community has challenged Akal Takht’s recent assertion that "it is ready to accept the sovereign state of Khalistan if the Indian government makes such an offer".
Navdeep Singh, a member of the Community in an open letter to Giani Harpreet Singh, the acting Jathedar of Akal Takht asserted that not even one-fourth members of the community favour Khalistan. “We Sikhs have seen much at the time of Partition to know what it does with a nation and its people. There are many of us who’s ancestral homes, their memories of childhood, the place they were born, now lies in Pakistan. We still remember the painful memories of 1947. So, we would never want another such event to happen in our lifetime or with our future generations,” Singh wrote in his letter made available to ET.
“Now, for those who talk about the diaspora wanting Khalistan are wrong too. Again not all of us living abroad want any such thing. We came here to earn a livelihood which many Indians do. Though, I agree that there is a small part of Sikhs who do believe in the idea of Khalistan but they do not have real support.”
“In India, our community is respected a lot, people trust us, they vouch for our braver and kindness. You talk about unity? We Sikhs unite for the welfare of people, we unite to protect people and we unite to submit ourselves before our Gurus. We will never unite to break a nation as that is not what Sikhi is about. You being the Jathedar of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, should have known better,” Singh pointed out.
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