Pak Army chief meets Sikh British military team, talks 'religious respect'

A delegation of serving British Sikh military officials visited Pakistan on June 28 where a meeting was also set up with the Pak army chief General Qamar Bajwa, writes Sanjib Kr Baruah for ETV Bharat.

New Delhi: A delegation of 12 British Army and Royal Air Force (RAF) officials belonging to the Sikh community visited Pakistan on June 28 on a pilgrimage tour named 'Ex Nankana 2022', a top source in India’s security establishment has told ETV Bharat. According to the official who requested anonymity, Pakistan’s Army chief General Qamar Bajwa interacted with the delegation and reportedly gave the assurance that there was respect for all religions in Pakistan.

Pakistan is already subject to immense fissiparous tendencies not to speak of extensive incidents of violence against religious minorities like Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. Even then Pakistan’s effort to promote separatist ideology in India, be it Kashmir or Punjab, is seemingly unrelenting and ceaseless as it were. Besides laying wreath at the Saragarhi Monument that commemorates the bravery of 21 Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army during a battle in 1897, the delegation visited many locations and historical sites near the Indo-Pak border.

The places of visit included the Kartarpur Corridor, Lahore Fort, Allama Iqbal Mausoleum, Badshahi Mosque, Gurudwara Darbar Sahib, and also the Orakzai district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. At least 150 Sikhs serve in the British military. The British-Sikh delegation belongs to an organisation called ‘Defence Sikh Network’ (DSN), which acts as a focal point for serving Sikhs in the British military.

A June 6 post of DSN on social media makes an obvious reference to 'Operation Blue-Star'. It says: “The month of June holds many painful memories for Sikhs across the world, as they remember the events of 1984, when the sanctity of many gurdwaras, not least the Harmandir Sahib & Akaal Takht was so violently compromised.” "The DSN stands with the Sikh community in remembering the countless loss of life and recognise the ongoing trauma caused to many in the Sikh community and beyond since this time."

'Operation Blue-Star' was the codename for an Indian military operation conducted from June 1-10, 1984 inside Amritsar’s Golden Temple, the holiest of the Sikh shrines, to flush out supporters of the separatist Khalistan movement led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Britain is among the countries where anti-India separatists have a major presence.

Organised by the ‘Sikhs For Justice (SFJ)’, a secessionist organisation, the controversial ‘Referendum 2020’ plan also began in August 2018 in London. The registration for ‘Referendum 2020’ was first carried out on April 14, 2019, from Gurudwara Panja Sahib (Pakistan), followed by a similar effort the same day at Stockton, California in the US and then in Surrey, British Columbia (April 20, 2019) in Canada.

Later, the online registration effort continued in locations like Hong Kong, New York, and New Jersey. SFJ espouses the right to self-determination and is committed to a revival of the ‘Khalistan’ movement. The SFJ was banned by the Indian government on July 10, 2019.