The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno‐religious sovereign state called Khalistan in the Punjab region. The proposed boundaries of Khalistan vary between different groups; some suggest the entirety of the Sikh-majority Indian state of Punjab, while larger claims include Pakistani Punjab and other parts of North India such as Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Shimla and Lahore have been proposed as the capital of Khalistan.
Avtar Singh Sandhu, who wrote under the pen name Pash, was an Indian poet, one of the major poets in Punjabi of the 1970s. He was killed by Sikh extremists on 23 March 1988. His strongly left-wing views were reflected in his poetry.
The Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) is a Sikh Khalistani militant organisation operating in the state of Punjab, India with prominent members based in Canada, United Kingdom and Pakistan. Its objective is the creation of a Sikh independent state of Khalistan through armed struggle. KCF is also responsible for many assassinations in India, including the 1995 assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. It is designated as a Terrorist Organisation by the Government of India.
The Insurgency in Punjab was an armed campaign by the separatists of the Khalistan movement from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Economic and social pressures driven by the Green Revolution prompted calls for Sikh autonomy and separatism. This movement was initially peaceful, but foreign involvement and political pressures drove a heavy handed response from Indian authorities. The demand for a separate Sikh state gained momentum after the Indian Army's Operation Blue Star in 1984 aimed to flush out militants residing in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a holy site for Sikhs. Terrorism, police brutality and corruption of the authorities greatly exacerbated a tense situation. By the mid-1980s, the movement had evolved into a militant secessionist crisis due to the perceived indifference of the Indian state in regards to mutual negotiations. Eventually, more effective police and military operations, combined with a policy of rapprochement by the Indian government and the election loss of separatist sympathizers in the 1992 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, largely quelled the rebellion by the mid-1990s.
The Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) is a militant group and is part of the Khalistan movement to create a separate country Sikh homeland called Khalistan by carving Punjab and some parts of neighbouring states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh out of Indian union.
The Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) is a Khalistani militant organisation operating in the Punjab with prominent members based in Canada, United Kingdom and Pakistan. Its objective is the creation of a sovereign Sikh nation‐state of Khalistan through armed struggle. It is responsible for numerous assassinations, abductions, and military engagements with the Indian Armed Forces during the Insurgency in Punjab. The KLF is also listed as a designated terrorist group by India.
Darshan Singh Canadian was a Sikh trade union activist and communist organizer in Canada and India.
Sukhdev Singh Dhillon, best known as General Labh Singh and also known as Sukha Sipahi and just Labh Singh, was a former Punjab police officer turned militant who took command of the Khalistan Commando Force after its first leader, Manbir Singh Chaheru, was arrested in 1986.
Baldev Mann was a left-wing activist of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) New Democracy. He was a state level leader of Kirti Kisan Union and the editor of Hirawal Dasta, a revolutionary journal of the Naxalites.
Nidhan Singh Gudhan was an Indian communist activist, a central team member of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). He was tortured and then hanged by Khalistan movement extremists. At the time of his death, he was leading Kisan Sangharsh Samiti of Ropar district. He was the founding editor of the journal Surkh Rekha. He also held the president-ship of Punjab Kisan Union.
Arjan Singh Mastana was well-known communist leader of Punjab. He was elected to the Punjab legislative assembly from Valtoha constituency on the Communist Party of India's election symbol. On the 27 of March 1986, during the insurgency in Punjab, India, Sikh militants killed Arjan Singh Mastana a Punjab MLA for the Communist Party of India. Mastana had raised armed squads to oppose Sikh militants. Sikh militants pretending to be cops that were beating fake peasants. This lured Mastana out. He was then killed by the Sikh militants.
During the years of 2016 and 2017, multiple attacks on political activists and mostly Hindu religious leaders in the northern Indian state of Punjab were perpetrated by individuals who were allegedly affiliated with the Sikh militant group Khalistan Liberation Force which is a designated terrorist group by India. Those culpable for the attacks were also arrested. The Pakistani agency ISI was allegedly held responsible by India for financing and aiding the militant acts to foment religious disturbances in the state.
Amritpal Singh Sandhu is a radical Indian pro-Khalistan separatist, a self-styled Sikh preacher and politician. He is a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha representing the constituency of Khadoor Sahib since 2024.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is one of the main leaders of the Khalistan movement, which advocates for a religion-based separate state to be split out from Punjab and many neighbouring areas in India, to be known as Khalistan. He is the legal advisor and spokesperson for Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which aims to promote the idea of a separate Sikh state. As of July 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs of India has declared Pannun a terrorist on the grounds of sedition and secessionism, and has requested an Interpol red notice for him.
Gurdeep Singh Deepa Heran Wala, commonly known as just Gurdeep Singh Deepa, was a revolutionary and the Jalandhar area commander and deputy chief of Khalistan Commando Force. By the time of his death, Gurdeep Singh Deepa was wanted in 217 killings and 37 robberies of vehicles.
Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) is a militant outfit of the Khalistan movement. In February 2023, it was designated as a terrorist organization by the Government of India.
Harmeet Singh also known as PhD or Happy was the 8th chief of Khalistan Liberation Force.
NeverForget84.com, written-out in prose as Never Forget '84, was a Khalistani-affiliated Sikh website that covered the 1984 Operation Blue Star military operation and the personal stories of Sikh militants. Indian media outlets had described the website as being "a popular hub of radical Sikh voices".
