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Macdonald-Laurier Institute’ Paper on Khalistan Contains Conclusory Statements & Allegations Without Substantiation: Scholars [Open Letter]

September 16, 2020 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau

Chandigarh: On September 9, 2020 Canada based Macdonald-Laurier Institute released a paper titled “Khalistan: A Project of Pakistan” by Terry Milewski. A number of scholars have responded to this paper and said that it “contains a litany of conclusory statements and allegations without any substantiation”.

More than fifty scholars, who work closely with the Sikh community, have written open letter to the board of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute expressing their concerns about the manner in which the report casts wide aspersions on a highly visible, racialized community, engaged in legitimate advocacy.

The report maligns all Sikh-Canadians engaging in advocacy as extremist and foreign-influenced actors. This is especially concerning as so many of these advocates and activists are rigorous critics of both India and Pakistan’s record regarding minority rights, they said while adding that if Macdonald-Laurier Institute do truly wish to engage in producing reports on Sikh-Canadians in the unbiased spirit of your institute, we are happy to provide peer-review and reference to triangulate and balance such reports.

READ FULL TEXT OF OPEN LETTER by SCHOLARS to Macdonald-Laurier Institute:

An open letter from Sikh Scholars
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September 15, 2020

To the board of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute,
​
We are writing to you with regard to a report recently published by your Institute under the title, “Khalistan: a project of Pakistan.” We are asking that you reevaluate your decision to publish such vitriolic content under your institute’s name.

As academics who work closely with the Sikh community, we are concerned to read a report that contains a litany of conclusory statements and allegations without any substantiation. We are particularly concerned with the manner in which the report casts wide aspersions on a highly visible, racialized community, engaged in legitimate advocacy. The report maligns all Sikh-Canadians engaging in advocacy as extremist and foreign-influenced actors. This is especially concerning as so many of these advocates and activists are rigorous critics of both India and Pakistan’s record regarding minority rights.

The report also damages the credibility of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute as it lacks adequate academic rigour, historical and contextually-based journalistic analysis, and balance. As academics, writers, and professors, we regularly evaluate work for peer review and have our own work assessed for accuracy as well. The report is sparsely referenced and the few claims that are made seem to not have been fact-checked. The “reference” section is one-sided showing a lack of literature review or effort to triangulate claims. While the writing is presented as objective policy analysis, it actually reads as a scattered collection of opinions and vague allegations; it is a simplistic and single worldview. The report is shockingly un-Canadian in every aspect, from a lack of respect for free speech to a parroting of a foreign, Indian government narrative on Khalistani activism. Without any critical analysis, the author completely disregards the valid grievances and grassroots advocacy of the Sikh community.

Mr. Milewski misses the opportunity to provide a meaningful policy analysis based on facts that would further the Institute’s aims of making “poor quality public policy in Ottawa unacceptable.” The following are some examples.
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The very introduction to the report sets the tone for what is to follow by callously characterizing Sikh advocacy as a “steady and predictable drumbeat of victimization, persecution and genocide commemoration, presented as steps to assist a community in need of healing.” Since when are political grievances of a community, the commemoration of mass atrocities, or the advocacy for human rights and justice, proof of something sinister? That too in a country with unique genocide legislation.

The report’s characterization of the Khalistan movement is also surprisingly simplistic and incomplete. The author’s narrative completely erases the political context in which the Khalistani struggle for self-determination took place in the 1980 and 1990s—a struggle no international group, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, cast aside as simply “terrorist.” Instead, like all militant movements and armed conflicts across the world, serious questions under humanitarian law and human rights law were raised.
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The report neither cites nor explains that simply holding a political opinion for “Khalistan” is not illegal even under India’s own laws that allow demanding separation from the country, as long as the demand does not call for arms or incite violence. (See section 124A on “sedition”). That the Indian government fails to follow its own laws is often the crux of Sikh advocacy in Punjab and outside. Also, holding political opinions is squarely protected under Canadian law. Why then the Institute would allow for this incomplete and unsubstantiated report, is puzzling. The erasure of well-documented violence at the hands of the Indian State is telling. The author repeatedly demonstrates a commitment to telling only one side of the story.

We hope that you carefully consider our concerns and reevaluate your decision to publish such vitriolic content under your institute’s name, particularly considering the lack of academic integrity and the gravity of the accusations being leveled against a highly visible, racialized community. This report has already been circulated in Sikh studies circles damaging the credibility and reputation of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Your institute lays claim to policy analysis produced with integrity that is evidence-based and without bias. The basic premise of this report, however, undermines your own mission.

If you do truly wish to engage in producing reports on Sikh-Canadians in the unbiased spirit of your institute, we are happy to provide peer-review and reference to triangulate and balance such reports. There is a body of extant writing that shows a diversity of Sikh views and debates about Khalistan which documents the abuses by both Pakistan and India that are ignored. Canada, as a non-aligned state in terms of regional geopolitics, is meaningfully positioned to benefit marginalized groups in both countries. For now, we look forward to your response and the timely retraction of this report.

Kindest regards,

1. Dr. Amrita Kaur Sukhi, Lecturer, University of Toronto
2. Dr. Anne Murphy, Associate Professor, Department of Asian Studies, UBC
3. Dr. Anneeth Kaur Hundle, Dhan Kaur Sahota Presidential Chair in Sikh Studies at the University of California, Irvine School of Social Sciences
4. Dr. Arvind-Pal S. Mandair, Associate Professor of Sikh Studies, University of Michigan
5. Dr. Balbinder Bhogal, The Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Endowed Chair in Sikh Studies and Professor of Religion, Hofstra University
6. Dr. Bhavjinder Kaur Dhillon, Faculty of Science, University of British Columbia
7. Dipin Kaur, Yale University
8. Gurbeer Singh, PhD Student, University of California, Riverside
9. Dr. Gurcharan Singh, Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa
10. Gurinder Singh Mann (UK), Director Sikh Museum Initiative, Oxford University Published
11. Prof Gurnam Singh, University of Warwick, UK
12. Dr. Gurnam Singh Sanghera, Visiting Professor, ‘Centre for Studies on Sri Guru Granth Sahib,’ at Guru Nanak Dev University.
13. Harinder Singh, Senior Fellow, Research & Policy, Sikh Research Institute
14. Dr. Harjeet Singh Grewal, Instructor of Sikh Studies, Department of Classics and Religion, University of Calgary
15. Dr. Hafsa Kanjwal, Department of History, Lafayette College
16. Harleen Kaur, PhD candidate, UCLA
17. Dr. Harpreet Singh, Sikhism Scholar, Harvard University
18. H Bindy Kaur Kang-Dhillon, PhD Candidate, Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program, UBC
19. Dr, Indira Prahst, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Langara College
20. Dr. Inderpal Grewal, Yale university
21. Dr. Idrisa Pandit, Director of Studies in Islam, University of Waterloo​
22. Dr. Jagdeep Singh Walia, Department of Pediatrics, Queen’s University
23. Dr. Jakeet Singh, Department of Politics, York University
24. Dr Jasjit Singh, Associate Professor, University of Leeds (UK)
25. Ms Jaskiran Kaur, PhD, LSE
26. Jasleen Singh, PhD (c), University of Michigan
27. Dr. Jaspreet Bal, Professor, Humber College
28. Dr. Jugdep Singh Chima, Hiram College
29. Dr. Kamal Arora, Instructor, University of the Fraser Valley
30. Kiranjot Chahal, PhD Humanities, York University
31. Khushdeep Kaur, PhD Candidate, Temple University
32. Dr. Simran Jeet Singh, Union Seminary
33. Mallika Kaur, UC Berkeley School of Law
34. Dr. Manpreet Kaur, MD MS, Associate Professor, Stanford University
35. Dr. Michael Hawley, Associate Professor of Sikh History, Mount Royal University
36. Dr. Michael Nijhawan, Associate Professor, Sociology, York University
37. Narinder Kaur, University College London, UK
38. Dr. Nirvikar Singh, Distinguished Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz
39. Prabhdeep Singh Kehal, PhD Candidate, Brown University
40. Prabhsharanbir Singh, Instructor, Department of Sociology, UBC
41. Prabhsharandeep Singh Sandhu, DPhil, University of Oxford
42. Rajbir Singh Judge, Assistant Professor, Department of History, California State University
43. Dr. Sara Grewal, Assistant Professor of Postcolonial Studies, Gender and Race, MacEwan University
44. Sasha Sabherwal, PhD (c), Yale University
45. Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra, PhD (c), University of the Fraser Valley History
46. Dr. Shruti Devgan, Bowdoin College
47. Simran Kaur Saini, PhD (c), York University
48. Simratpal Singh, Ph.D Candidate, University of Manitoba
49. Sonia Aujla-Bhullar PhD (c), University of Calgary
50. Tejpaul Bainiwal, PhD. Candidate Sikh Studies, UC Riverside
51. Dr. Tarnjit Kaur, PhD Physics
52. Dr. Tavleen Kaur, University of Wolverhampton
53. Dr. Pashaura Singh, Distinguished Professor and Saini Chair in Sikh Studies, University of California, Riverside
54. Dr. Preet Kaur Virdi, Adjunct Assistant Professor, CUNY

For more information contact SikhScholarsResponse@gmail.com

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Related Topics: Khalistan, Sikh Diaspora, Sikh Diaspora (UK), Sikh News Canada, Sikh News UK, Sikh News USA, Sikhs in Canada, Sikhs in United Kingdom, Sikhs in United States

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