What's happening?

A religious leader being chased by 80,000 police officers. Angry crowds with swords. And a plan to start a new country just for SikhA follower of Sikhism, an Indian religion and philosophy. people.

It sounds like a film. But this is what is happening in PunjabA state in northern India, bordering Pakistan. in IndiaA country in South Asia. It has the second-largest population in the world, with a population of 1.4 billion. .

The religious leader is called Amritpal Singh. He wants a new country to be made for Sikh people called Khalistan. The Indian police accuse him of attemptedTried to do something (but did not succeed). murder and are trying to find him. They have stopped millions of people from using the internet while they look for him.

Find out more

Sikh people make up just 2% of Indians, but most people in Punjab are Sikh. The religion began hundreds of years ago, but the call for Khalistan started in the 1970s. Some Sikh felt that Indian leaders were discriminatingTreating a group of people unfairly because of who they are. against them. There were violent and deadly years afterwards, but Khalistan did not become a reality.

When India became a self-ruling country, it was set up so that no one religion would be in charge. Some say a Sikh homeland would go against this idea. But others say this has already happened - today, India is led by the BJPThe Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People's Party) is the ruling political party of India, led by Narendra Modi. It follows a right-wing Hindu nationalist ideology. , a party that some say wants to make India a HinduA follower of Hinduism, the third-largest religion in the world. Roughly 95% of Hindus live in India. country.

Yes! The Sikh people have their own culture. If they want to, they should be allowed to have their own homeland.

No! It would only lead to more separation and fighting in Indian society. It is better to make sure that Sikh people can take part in their religion freely in India.