Kanwarpal Singh, spokesman for the Dal Khalsa, rejects alliance with Indian political parties; says his group is a votary of independent Sikh state

Images of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale are a common sight at most gurdwaras in Europe, Canada, the United States and Australia.

And so are the portraits and photos of the assassins of the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi.

In the streets of Amritsar, small retail stores openly sell T-shirts with Bhindranwale's face printed on their front. Also available at the stalls are calendars bearing pictures of Sikh extremists killed in security operations of the 1980s and 1990s.

Once banned, memorabilia of Punjab's militancy resurfaced in the state almost a decade-and-a-half ago.

In 2003, a year after Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal lost power to Captain Amarinder Singh, Bhindranwale was declared a martyr by the Akal Takht. The head of the highest seat of the Sikh temporal authority in Amritsar is an appointee of the SGPC, which was then - and is even now - controlled by the Badals.

Since the mid-1990s, Khalistan has never been a rallying point in state elections.

But mainstream political parties of Punjab have routinely accused each other of hobnobbing with separatists in what political experts say is a shrewd tactic to influence the state's sizeable Hindu population.

The vote of 2017 is no different.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party is debuting in Punjab's assembly elections, is facing the same accusation. Of the two main Khalistan advocacy groups in the state, the Dal Khalsa pledges no allegiance to the Indian Constitution. The other, Simranjit Singh Mann's Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), is pushed to the margins in Punjab's electoral politics.

The former IPS officer, who became an MP in 1989 with an overwhelming support, hasn't had any electoral luck for over years now. Still, he keeps trying.

Unlike Mann's SAD (Amritsar), the Dal Khalsa does not participate in state or national elections.

"We boycott elections under Indian dispensation," said Kanwarpal Singh, the group's spokesman. He described his Dal Khalsa as an organisation espousing a sovereign state for the Sikhs.

"We are a votary of an independent, sovereign Punjab. We want the Sikhs be given the right of self-determination in this regard," he said.

Singh insists his group has no truck, covert or overt, with any Indian political party.

Pro-Khalistan Dal Khalsa activists boycott Indian elections, constitution and the national anthem

A fierce opponent of the Badals for their alleged misuse of the SGPC and other religious institutions, the Dal Khalsa said it had nothing in common with Kejriwal's AAP. "The Aam Aadmi Party is not pro-Punjab or pro-Panth (the Sikh community)," Singh alleged. "It's a pro-Indian party, with strong nationalistic streaks. We are poles apart."

Also read: How desecrations cracked Akalis' core constituency in Punjab

Fringe Khalistani leaders overseas share Dal Khalsa's ideological position.

On numerous occasions, they have been seen protesting visits of Indian Sikh leaders - from across the political spectrum - to their countries of residence. They would oppose the Badals, Captain Amarinder Singh and even then prime minister Manmohan Singh, the first Sikh PM of the world's largest democracy, alike.

New York-based Sikhs for Justice, for example, has legally accused Manmohan Singh of "funding crimes against humanity perpetrated upon the Sikh community in India" as Finance Minister.

In Punjab politics, the Badals have now come under fire from moderate Sikhs as well, largely because of their handling of religious issues.

Committed to Indian Constitution and the nation's electoral processes, this dominant bloc of Sikhs was stunned when the Akal Takht pardoned Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Raheem in 2015. The Dera head was accused of blasphemy for dressing up like Guru Gobind Singh.

Also read: Punjab Assembly election: Modi invokes Pakistan threat to seek votes for Akali-BJP alliance

Many Sikhs felt the pardon was orchestrated by the Badals, who have the SGPC in their stranglehold. However, the ruling family denies the charge.

Sikh protests forced the Akal Takht to revoke its remission later but not before it dented the institutional credibility of the religious authority in the eyes of the faithful.

"Those who are worried about their faith and want to restore the glory of their religious institutions cannot be termed extremists," said Kiranjot Kaur, a senior SGPC member. "It's their right to work democratically to cleanse the system of malpractices."

Dilvar Singh Sekhon runs a successful transport and gas business in New Jersey. He migrated to the United States back in 1996. Sekhon (53) is pro-Khalistan.

Dilvar Singh Sekhon holds a 'Sikh sovereignty' banner at a religious parade in New York

But at present, he says, his concern is not his "political demand" of a separate nation but the issue of drugs in Punjab.

"Punjab's youth are in a crisis. They are drowning in drugs," Sekhon said. "The scourge has epidemic proportions. Neither the Akalis nor the Congress can be exonerated. Punjab needs a transformational change that puts an end to drugs. Period," remarked Sekhon.

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