My Interview with a Sikh Separatist (Episode 2)

My interview with Dr. Gurinder Grewal, a Sikh activist and founder of World Sikh News, who supports the idea of a sovereign nation for Sikhs, often called Khalistan.

Feb 25, 2025

New episode now out on the The Sikh Nation Report Podcast: on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen

Today I want to highlight a conversation I had with Dr. Gurinder Grewal. I’ve called him a “Sikh separatist” – and indeed he is. But, as a person of Indian origin, I can say that we have a certain view of Sikh separatists, formed out of the hellish decade in the 1980s and 1990s when the Sikh separatist movement caused mayhem and fear in the country.

I wanted to challenge that view a little bit by speaking to an urbane intellectual who proudly showed me his library the moment I walked into his house.

Dr. Grewal is the founder and publisher of World Sikh News, and a Sikh activist of many years standing. You’ll hear in the interview how he became engaged in these issues starting in 1984. He supports the idea of a sovereign nation for Sikhs. In the common parlance this is called Khalistan.

I will say upfront that I disagree with Dr. Grewal on several issues, but that is what makes this conversation interesting.

I don’t agree that India should break up to create a new nation for Sikhs.

I don’t see Bhindranwale, the cleric who was at the center of the Punjab insurgency of the 80s and 90s, as a martyr, but as a domestic terrorist, a vigilante, and a militant.

I don’t think that the government of India is deliberately creating the problem of drug addiction in Punjab.

On the other hand, I do agree with him on various points.

I think what political leaders did to innocent Sikhs in 1984 after the prime minister’s assassination was a real atrocity. Not only were they not punished, some of them were promoted.

I am a Hindu but I don’t like the caste system, which has been a part of Hinduism for thousands of years. In fact, I think the caste system is a terrible evil. I hear that in rural India its power continues like it always has.

Some who approach this from one side or another might find the conversation frustrating. But I think we need to keep talking, in depth, with people we disagree with.

I want to thank Dr. Grewal for inviting me to his home for this project, giving me the time and attention and answering all my questions with seriousness and depth