Editing Khalistan movement (section)

===Pakistan===
Pakistan has long aspired to dismember India through its ''[[Bleed India with a Thousand Cuts|Bleed India]]'' strategy. Even before the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]], [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]], then a member of the military regime of General [[Yahya Khan]], stated, "Once the back of Indian forces is broken in the east, Pakistan should occupy the whole of Eastern India and make it a permanent part of East Pakistan.... Kashmir should be taken at any price, even the Sikh Punjab and turned into Khalistan."{{sfnp|Behera, Demystifying Kashmir|2007|pp=87–88}}

The Sikh separatist leader [[Jagjit Singh Chohan]] said that during his talks with [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|Pakistani prime minister]] that [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] affirmed "we'll help you and make it the capital of Khalistan"; Bhutto wanted revenge over Bangladesh.<ref name="ChohanIT"/>

General [[Zia-ul Haq]], who succeeded Bhutto as the Head of State, attempted to reverse the traditional antipathy between Sikhs and Muslims arising from the [[Partition of India|partition violence]] by restoring Sikh shrines in Pakistan and opening them for Sikh pilgrimage. The expatriate Sikhs from England and North America that visited these shrines were at the forefront of the calls for Khalistan. During the pilgrims' stay in Pakistan, the Sikhs were exposed to Khalistani propaganda, which would not be openly possible in India.{{sfnp|Haqqani, Pakistan Between the Mosque and Military|2010|pp=270–271}}{{sfnp|Sirrs, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate|2016|p=167}}{{sfnp|Fair, Diaspora Involvement in Insurgencies|2005|p=133}}

The ISI chief, General Abdul Rahman, opened a cell within ISI with the objective of supporting the "[Sikhs']...freedom struggle against India". Rahman's colleagues in ISI took pride in the fact that "the Sikhs were able to set the whole province on fire. They knew who to kill, where to plant a bomb and which office to target." General Hamid Gul argued that keeping Punjab destabilized was equivalent to the Pakistan Army having an extra division at no cost. Zia-ul Haq, on the other hand, consistently practised the art of plausible denial.{{sfnp|Haqqani, Pakistan Between the Mosque and Military|2010|pp=270–271}}{{sfnp|Sirrs, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate|2016|p=167}} The Khalistan movement was brought to a decline only after India fenced off a part of the Punjab border with Pakistan and the [[Benazir Bhutto]] government agreed to joint patrols of the border by Indian and Pakistani troops.{{sfnp|Haqqani, Pakistan Between the Mosque and Military|2010|p=272}}

In 2006, an American court convicted Khalid Awan, a Muslim and Canadian of Pakistani descent, of "supporting terrorism" by providing money and financial services to the Khalistan Commando Force chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar in Pakistan.<ref name="KCFconvict">{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2006/2006Dec20.html |title=U.S. Court Convicts Khalid Awan for Supporting Khalistan Commando Force |date=20 December 2006 |publisher=The United States Attorney's Office |access-date=26 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115092626/http://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2006/2006Dec20.html |archive-date=15 January 2012 }}</ref> KCF members had carried out deadly attacks against Indian civilians causing thousands of deaths. Awan frequently travelled to Pakistan and was alleged by the U.S. officials to have links to Sikh and Muslim extremists, as well as Pakistani intelligence.<ref name="theglobeandmail">{{cite news |title=Canadian gets 14 years for funding terrorists |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/canadian-gets-14-years-for-funding-terrorists/article693461/ |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=13 September 2007 |access-date=5 October 2018 |archive-date=24 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924210508/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/canadian-gets-14-years-for-funding-terrorists/article693461/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2008, India's [[Intelligence Bureau (India)|Intelligence Bureau]] indicated that Pakistan's [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] organisation was trying to revive Sikh militancy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/10vicky.htm |title=200 Pak organisations raise funds for terror: IB |last=Nanjappa |first=Vicky |date=10 June 2008 |work=Rediff.com |access-date=26 December 2011 |archive-date=22 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722112257/https://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/10vicky.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>