Indo-Pak Conflict: Root Cause of Punjab Insurgency and Khalistan
It’s been 72 years since the partition between India and Pakistan and also for the Indo-Pak conflict, which has witnessed numerous wars, military standoffs, and conflicts. Constant war at regular intervals between both countries has forced people and the military officials to think about the possible consequence of another war.
The conflict between the two nations began right after the partition of British India in 1947 that led to the creation of Pakistan and India. The partition itself was tumultuous, as both the nations and the world bore witness to the 1947 riots. The riots were so grave that while the casualties amounted between 200,000 to 20 million, the number of displaced was 14 million.
Following the riots, the first Indo-Pak conflict started in October 1947 and is known as the First Kashmir War. The war started when Islamic tribal forces joined hands with the Pakistan military and attacked and occupied areas of Jammu and Kashmir. The move backfired for Pakistan authorities as the attack forced the J&K ruler Maharaja Hari Singh to become the part of India in response to the military aid.
During the conflict, Indian armed forces managed to gain back the control of the Kashmir valley, Jammu and Ladakh, which is now known as India-occupied Kashmir. On the other hand, Pakistan-led forces gained only one-third of Kashmir, areas comprising of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, which is now known as Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
The first Indo-Pak conflict ended after the declaration of a ceasefire on January 01, 1949. Post ceasefire, the fronts gradually solidified and became the Line of Control (LOC).
The second conflict between India and Pakistan started in the form of the 1965 Indo-Pak war, which started after Pakistan forces crossed the LOC into India-administered Kashmir to fuel insurgency against India. Although the war resulted in thousands of casualties on both sides, a ceasefire was declared in January 1966 after the diplomatic intervention of the Soviet Union and the USA, leading to the Tashkent Declaration.
Even though the wars fought until now and the wars to be fought in the future involved the issue of Kashmir, the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict did not stem from the issue of Kashmir. Rather, it was fuelled after India helped Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan) to achieve independence from Pakistan (then known as West Pakistan).
Even though India annihilated the Pakistan-led offense in 1971, it was this war that laid the foundation for both the internal and external conflicts in India. Post the surrender of 90,000 Pakistani army and civilians from East Pakistan to the Indian army and suffering heavy losses in the navy, airforce, and military; Pakistani leaders and military officials decided to propagate and follow a military doctrine of Bleed India with a Thousand Cuts. The military doctrine is one of the main reasons for the continued Indo-Pak conflict — a worrisome factor for many international organizations.
After announcing the doctrine, the Pakistani intelligence services led various covert operations aimed to impact India, its politics, development, and sovereignty through nationwide internal conflicts. These internal conflicts led to some of the dark spots in Indian history like the Punjab Insurgency — arisen due to Khalistan, a Sikh militant nationalism — and Kashmir conflict.
Hamid Gul, the then chairperson of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) said about Punjab Insurgency, “Keeping Punjab destabilized is equivalent to the Pakistan Army having an extra division at no cost to the taxpayers”. Although the Indian government and security agencies have managed to curb many of the Pakistan-backed insurgencies throughout the country, the government officials are still trying to put a stop to the Pakistan-backed Khalistan movement.
As per the reports, the Khalistani movement has no ground support in India but is gaining momentum in countries like Canada and the UK with the help of a secessionist organization like Sikhs for Justice, headed by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and funding by ISI and ISI-backed Sikh militant groups.
With Pakistan and these secessionist groups not learning from the history and the meaning of basic ideals like equality and calls for peace, the only thing that can be said with certainty as of now is that despite the continued Indo-Pak conflict, no one can malign or disrupt the sovereignty of India.
