Imran Yaqub Dhillon
New York
The schedule for the unofficial referendum for Khalistan has been announced and voting will start in London on August 15, 2021, the Independence day of India. Non government Punjab Referendum Commission announced votes registration at a virtual meeting in London on 18 November. Voting is planned in 20 countries including England, United States ¡Canada and India referendum results will be presented in the United Nations.
Sikhs for Justice is the leading organization and its leaders are campaigning with the historical perspective. Five members Punjab Referendum Commission headed by Dane Waters have been assigned the task who has been part of Bougainville, Catalonia, Kurdistan and Somaliland referendums.
Sikhs living in United Kingdom ¡America, Canada are mobilizing their community member and votes registration camps can be seen in Sikh dominated areas of these countries. Indian Punjab and Haryana are also witnessing the fervor and referendum banners can be seen at tractors of farmers who are marching toward New Delhi against controversial farming law. Sikhs for Justice opened 50 phone lines for voter registration at the 551th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji on 30 November with a target of one hundred thousand votes. Sikh leader Dr Bakshish Singh recalled Sikh massacre by Indian government and said regime have always tried to weaken Punjab and Sikhs, so it is time to register as a voter and cast vote in favor of independence .
General counsel of Sikhs for Justice, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu and Avtar Singh Pannu wrote now is the time to correct historic wrongs and let Punjab determine how it wants to be governed. The partition of 1947 led to the creation of Hindu-dominated India and Sikh majority areas were forced under Indian control without seeking the consent of the people. He said Punjab existed as a sovereign state until it was taken over by the British Raj in 1849. We want to demonstrate the quantifiable desire of the indigenous people of all faiths living in Indian governed Punjab, as well as Sikhs in the UK and around the world, for an Independent Punjab state, wrote Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
He called upon UK politicians, the UN and the international community to support the holding of this non-governmental referendum, even if they don’t necessarily support our ultimate objective of establishing an Independent Punjab state, so that Sikhs worldwide and Punjab citizens can exercise their basic human right to determine for themselves whether or not they want to see a free and independent Khalistan.
