Concept of Khalistan as artificial as Pakistan was in its infancy: US expert
Michael Rubin has described the concept of Khalistan as artificial as Pakistan was in its infancy and cautioned the USA establishment against entertaining any Khalistani figures.
In an article titled ‘Khalistani Extremism: A Growing Threat In The U.S. And Canada’ in the National Security Journal, Rubin explained, “Khalistan today is as artificial as Pakistan was in its infancy. Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Choudhry Rahmat Ali and Muhammad Ali Jinnah created the concept of Pakistan to be a separate state for Muslims upon India’s independence. The name Pakistan, coined by Rahmat Ali, was completely artificial: It was both an anagram, taking the P from Punjab, A from Afghan, K from Kashmir, S from Sindh, I from the Indus River Valley, and the last four letters from Baluchistan, and a pun: Pakistan is both a Persian and Urdu word meaning “land of the pure.””
“Khalistan, likewise, has no historical basis. As with Pakistan, Khalistan literally means “land of the pure,” although it substitutes the Persian/Urdu “Pak” for the Punjabi/Arabic “Khalis.” Khalistani separatists use the term to frame their demand for an independent Sikh state in Punjab. Sikhs comprise slightly over half the population of Indian Punjab; their population is now near zero in Pakistani Punjab due to decades of Pakistani sectarian cleansing,” he alleged.
“Even with half the population in Indian Punjab, though, the Khalistani platform is wildly unpopular, notwithstanding violence in 1984 that culminated in Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination. Most
