Manik Arora

People still analyse Khalistan through an old 1970s and 1980s lens. Memes evolve. Khalistan as an ideology has also evolved. Khalistan is not an Indian movement. It is a Western (primarily Canadian) movement. And the Western orthodoxy has also changed from right-wing to left-wing. It is all about victimhood. Khalistan is now a gang movement. A movement of gangsters, extortionists, murderers, etc. They use the Western ideological landscape to avoid scrutiny. Khalistan gives them victimhood. Drugs give them money. Immigration scams give them cover to run from one place to another. Musicians give them sex appeal. I am amazed that so many people did not understand why Balkaran Brar, aka Lawrence Bishnoi, used the Khalistani ideology. I am shocked no one read the NIA chargesheets. It means no one reads anything these days. It is just superficial outrage. No subject matter expertise exists. If you start listening to old-school Khalistanis, you will hear them whining about new Khalistanis and how they are not as ideological as they are. This is why the music industry matters so much to the new age Khalistani. This is why the trucking industry is their backbone. The tactics KPS Gill used were meant for the "Kharku" (ਖਾੜਕੂ). This is a new era. Yes, KPS Gill will matter, but innovations call for newer, better solutions. I keep following these gangsters and their activities, which is why I am not as bothered by the Khalistani threat. Because the modern state is far stronger and better equipped. The Khalistanis lost then to KPS Gill; they will lose now to the subsequent governments.