AI Generated Summary
- The same Pakistan that offers rhetorical “support” to Khalistanis abroad quietly allows the erasure of Sikh heritage sites, the encroachment of Gurdwara lands, and the steady conversion or displacement of local Sikh families.
- The tragedy of Khalistan extremism is not only in its violence but in its delusion — the belief that a theocratic, unstable state next door offers a haven for Sikh identity.
- The recent viral video from Pakistan — showing a Sikh man dancing for the amusement of Muslim landlords — has shaken the global Sikh community.
The recent viral video from Pakistan — showing a Sikh man dancing for the amusement of Muslim landlords — has shaken the global Sikh community. What looks like a trivial “cultural moment” to outsiders is, in fact, a painful reminder of the entrenched feudalism and religious discrimination that minorities, including Sikhs, face daily across Pakistan. For Sikhs worldwide, the humiliation captured on camera evokes collective memories of partition, persecution, and a long history of erasure.
A Dance of Subjugation
Reportedly filmed around mid-October 2025, the video shows a Sikh man—once a Christian convert—performing before powerful landlords (waderas) in Sialkot. What’s deeply troubling isn’t just the act itself, but the context: in Pakistan’s rigid social hierarchy, minorities have often been reduced to entertainers for the elite, performing under economic coercion or fear of reprisal.
The Sikh diaspora has condemned this as a “degrading spectacle,” reminiscent of colonial-era feudal entertainment where human dignity was the price for survival. Even the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) has urged silence among members, wary of backlash ahead of Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary. The fact that silence feels safer than truth says everything about the precarious position of Sikhs in Pakistan.
The “Brotherhood” Mirage
Ironically, some Khalistani leaders continue to romanticize Pakistan as a natural ally — a “brother” in their imagined struggle against India. But such illusions are cruelly betrayed by ground realities. Sikhs in Pakistan live on the margins, stripped of influence, forced to navigate a state that denies them equal rights, representation, or safety.
The same Pakistan that offers rhetorical “support” to Khalistanis abroad quietly allows the erasure of Sikh heritage sites, the encroachment of Gurdwara lands, and the steady conversion or displacement of local Sikh families. The country’s Sikh population has fallen from over 40,000 at independence to just a few thousand today — a collapse more devastating than any statistic could convey.
To claim brotherhood with a regime that commodifies Sikh identity for optics while marginalizing its adherents at home is not just naïve — it’s self-destructive.
The decline of the Sikh community in Pakistan is stark. From the bustling pre-Partition presence in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar, to today’s fragile remnants in Nankana Sahib and Hassan Abdal, Sikhs have been reduced to a symbolic minority. Their representation is tokenized; their safety, uncertain.
Each video, each report of discrimination, each coerced “performance” becomes another brick in the wall separating idealism from reality. The fantasy of solidarity with Pakistan collapses when confronted with the lived experience of Sikhs who cannot even freely assert their faith without fear or humiliation.
The tragedy of Khalistan extremism is not only in its violence but in its delusion — the belief that a theocratic, unstable state next door offers a haven for Sikh identity. The recent video is a mirror held up to that falsehood. It shows, in unfiltered form, what “brotherhood” looks like when it’s built on exploitation.
For Sikhs everywhere, it’s time to look beyond political fantasies and confront the truth: the dignity of the Sikh faith can never depend on the goodwill of those who treat it as entertainment.
