Sarkar-E-Khalsa – "Power to People"

Sarkar-E-Khalsa – "Power to People"

Slavery to Sovereignty Through Advocacy, Analysis & Action

(For Freedom & Justice Forever)

Prologue

The creation of the formal Sikh Warriors, the Khalsa, in 1699 is one of the most transformative chapters in South Asian history. It fundamentally reordered the social, religious, and political landscape of the Indian subcontinent. It transformed a community of spiritual seekers into a sovereign saint-soldier fraternity, cutting across the religious boundaries of Hindus and Muslims alike.

Linguistically, Khalsa is a Persian word. In the Mughal administration of that era, it referred to the royal estate of the emperor that did not invoke or pay any tax, signifying sovereignty and autonomy. The Sikh Warriors, founded by the Tenth Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Rai, were designed to be the ultimate spiritual and temporal sovereign. They were to bow before none but God Almighty, the Akal Purkh. As protectors of the weak and the oppressed, they were born to dispense justice and never beg for it.

Sovereignty, however, was never separated from morality. The Sikh Warriors operated under a strict wartime code and an equally strict code of chivalry that endeared them to all. They never attacked unarmed civilians, women, children, or those fleeing the battlefield. Muslim women captured in battles were escorted back to their families with their honor strictly protected. While the Sikh Warriors fought fiercely against the Mughal state and oppressive hill chieftains, their core ethos remained strictly humanitarian, earning deep respect across the religious divides of Hindus and Muslims. Their conduct was grounded in the Guru's eternal edict, "Maanas ki jaat sabhe eke pehchanbo"—recognize the entire human race as one.

According to Sikh historical tradition and contemporary accounts recorded by court scribes, Mughal informers, and royal spies, between 50,000 to 80,000 Sikhs had gathered at Anandpur Sahib for the Vaisakhi congregation of 1699 from across the Indian subcontinent. In compliance with the demand of the Guru, one by one, five Sikhs stepped forward and were baptized into the Khalsa. The remaining 79,995 Sikhs, comprising Hindus and Muslims alike and representing every section of contemporary society, continued in their own outward appearance and attire. They did not become Khalsa that day, but they became the social backbone of the Khalsa in its struggle against oppression and tyranny.

Guru Gobind Singh understood that the strength of the Khalsa did not lie merely in the courage of five individuals or in numbers alone. It lay in the unwavering support of society. That is why he proclaimed, "Sava Lakh Se Ek Ladaun, Tabhe Gobind Singh Naam Kahaun." The Guru knew that when even a single Khalsa enjoyed the confidence, trust, and support of thousands committed to the same ideals, the Khalsa would become invincible.

Modern insurgency warfare interprets such societal backing as the very oxygen of any resistance movement. Once that support is severed, the movement cannot survive. The same timeless lesson remains relevant today. Every protagonist of Sarkar-E-Khalsa – "Power to People" must remember that lasting social and political transformation cannot be achieved by a handful of committed individuals alone. It requires the active participation, trust, and support of society at every level. The experience of the decade of state violence unleashed upon the people of Punjab during the 1990s and the retributive justice brought to the symbols of power by Sikh youth and activists of that era further reinforces this enduring lesson.

The Sarkar-E-Khalsa – "Power to People" campaign is founded upon these timeless principles of sovereignty, equality, justice, fraternity & universal humanism, collective responsibility, and people's participation. It seeks to revive the spirit of the Khalsa not merely as a martial tradition, but as a living model of moral leadership, civic responsibility, and democratic empowerment. Just as the Khalsa drew its strength from the people while dedicating itself to their service, this campaign seeks to place the people once again at the center of governance and public life.

The Need for the Campaign

The state of mind that drives a person to repeat the same course of action over and over again while expecting different results is often regarded as a sign of insanity. Yet the people of post-British India have remained trapped in the same cycle of electoral politics inherited from the British colonial rulers. Since the first elections under the Government of India Act, 1919, were held in 1920, generations have continued to place their faith in the same political process, repeatedly expecting it to produce different outcomes.

When British rule formally ended in 1947, the predatory governance apparatus was inherited almost intact by independent India. Instead of dismantling and democratizing this colonial legacy, successive political governments elected by the people since 1950 have continued to preserve, strengthen, and perpetuate it. Over time, this inherited apparatus has evolved into what I call the "Four Pillars of Falsehood," serving as the principal instrument by which the democratic aspirations of the people have remained subordinated to the interests of the ruling elite.

The people of India shall remain forever grateful to the Gujarati duo for having vindicated our stand by their conspicuous and accelerated strengthening of the "Four Pillars of Falsehood" and for making the common man's life more difficult through rising costs of living, surpassing even the British colonial rulers in this respect.

Instead of dismantling this oppressive legacy, successive political governments and bureaucrats have continued to consolidate their autocratic governance structure through the enactment of anti-people laws in collusion with the central government. At the same time, elected representatives have compromised the Sikh institutions and centralized the democratic processes and institutional mechanisms gifted by the Gurus.

The inherited apparatus has never been democratized. Instead, for the last 79 years, it has continued to prey upon the lives, labor, liberties, and properties of its people. This remains the principal reason for the spiraling crime, the systemic corruption, and the growing conflict between the democratic aspirations of the people and the interests of the ruling elite. Rather than serving the public, those who man its executive, judicial, and legislative branches have weaponized organized crime and systemic corruption to exploit the very people they were meant to protect.

The existing apparatus was deliberately designed and vested with absolute discretion, granting those who man it with complete immunity to accountability. Every colonial law was designed to lawfully deprive the people of their life, liberty, and labor. All those laws I call 'laws of lawlessness.' Those who drafted the 'Constitution of India' wrapped all those laws of lawlessness with a cover page with a few lines as its ‘Preamble, obtaining selective text from the Constitution of the USA and the French Revolution to befool Indians. Consequently, they remain victims of these laws of lawlessness all these 79 years by bragging about the world’s largest constitution.

It is against this entrenched systemic failure that the Sarkar-E-Khalsa-Power to People campaign arises to deconstruct brick by brick the anti-people monster of "Four Pillars of Falsehood": Executive, Judiciary, Legislature, and Media each one of it needs to be reconstructed brick by brick, for pro-people policies. It seeks to bring a paradigm shift from state subjugation to civic sovereignty at the grassroots in its approach, activity, and actions.

This journey of 'creative dialogue' is not new. It was begun by the Sikh Gurus. It has always been perceived as a threat by the ruling elite, which wants to keep society divided for unhindered economic exploitation.

Let us rebegin this unending process for "freedom & justice forever," on the same ethos and principles as visualized by our Sikh Gurus. It is a journey of building bridges, not barricades, as envisaged by the Sikh Gurus. They followed the process of congregational prayers as Sangat—all-inclusive, not exclusive—and further strengthened it through Pangat.

Sangat is for commitment to the service of the people, not for a frenzied quest for power as in modern electoral politics.

We have concluded that exactly how a democratic framework is to be institutionalized and adapted to local exigencies is an issue that can only be resolved in practice. It can be achieved only by organizing local community leaders in a non-political structure and connecting their wisdom and oversight to the transition from post-colonial 'colonialism' to democratic institution building.

Objectives of the Campaign

• Research & Analysis: To fund independent research, surveys, public consultations, workshops, seminars, and evidence-based studies on pressing public policy issues. This includes preparing reports to support democratic policy reforms, with a special focus on identifying anti-people laws, protocols, practices, and governance systems within the security and justice sectors.
• Advocacy & Reform: To mobilize public opinion for the repeal of identified anti-people laws, protocols and practices and advocate for pro-people laws and democratic policy reforms. This includes placing important public policy issues before the political leadership, supported by first-hand information gathered through frontline public engagement, to enable informed decision-making and strengthen public trust in democracy.
• Citizen Empowerment: To educate and empower citizens through public awareness campaigns on their constitutional rights, responsibilities, and the need for citizen-centric governance.
• Community Mobilization: To strengthen public participation in governance by organizing regular bimonthly meetings of community leaders drawn from all sections of society.
• Coalition Building: To build broad-based citizens' coalitions by bringing together Resident Welfare Associations, Market Traders Associations, social organizations, religious organizations, and other representative bodies into Citizens' Vigilance Committees. These committees will monitor local governance institutions, act as watchdogs over legislation, and engage constructively with elected representatives to promote greater accountability, transparency, and responsiveness to community needs.
• Media & Accountability: To bring media attention to organized crime, corruption, and other urgent issues within the predatory governance apparatus, while highlighting matters of immediate public concern.
• Social Cohesion: To promote peace, harmony, and social cohesion by organizing dialogue and harmony meetings among religious leaders and representatives of diverse communities.
• Leadership Support: To identify, train, and support emerging community leaders who can play a proactive role in advancing democratic reforms and pro-people public policies. This includes supporting community leaders who courageously challenged the anti-people actions of the predatory governance apparatus, dedicated their youth to public service, and now struggle to live with dignity and secure their livelihood.
• The Khalsa Wave and Redefine the Sikh: Everyone keen to learn is a Sikh: Everyone, irrespective of his outwardly appearance, who identifies himself as a Sikh is a Sikh. Sarkar-E-Khalsa will be manned by these Sikhs but spearheaded by Khalsa to organize the Khalsa Wave through Amrit Sanchar, Langar, harmony meetings, community outreach, and public service activities that strengthen the spirit of seva, unity, social harmony, and people's participation in democratic governance and inspire underprivileged and non-Sikhs to be a Sikh forever, a student forever.