The Sikh community is the religious minority in India and has been for centuries. The state of Punjab was predominantly Sikh and Muslim when the British conquered it in 1849. When all of India fell under British control, the religious groups were of no importance to the British Raj. As more people in India, of all religions, grew tired of British rule, the Indian Independence Movement began to become popular. It was never a completely unified movement because there was a long history of violence between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs.

Being the minority, Sikhs were barely considered when deciding the boundaries of the two separate countries, even though they had asked for Punjab to become its own country which would make it a Sikh country. Sikhs were dismissed on the basis of religion needing to be separate from politics. This was unusual as Hindus were given India and Muslims were given Pakistan because of religious differences and the inability to coincide with one another in the same country. The Sikhs were forced out of the Pakistani part of Punjab to the Indian part of Punjab, and the state of Punjab was split in two. The Sikh community continued to push for a country of their own, which they would call Khalistan (‘the land of the pure’). The Khalistani movement had been a large contributor to the independence movement in India, however, the Indian government wanted to keep Punjab as their own as it produced most of the grain in the country.

In the year 1984, the Indian government heard that Sikhs in Punjab were planning an attack on the government. The Prime Minister at the time, Indira Gandhi, viewed this potential insurgency as terrorism, which led her to enact Operation Blue Star. From June 1st through 10th, the Indian military carried out strikes on 42 Sikh temples in Punjab, including the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) located in the birthplace of the religion, the city of Amritsar. The strikes were meant to stop the potentially dangerous militants involved in the insurgency, however, there were tens of thousands of casualties, including people with no connection to the Khalistani movement. Although the Indian Army was killing innocent people, they were controlling the media which meant their side was the only side represented and Sikhs were not given the opportunity to explain the suffering they endured. The Indian government and military were seen as heroes and this contributed to the growth of Hindu nationalism and increased hatred toward the Sikh community. The government pushed the idea that Sikhs are a violent community that will hurt anyone and everyone in their way.

This image of the Sikh community was popularized by the Indian media as well as by Bollywood films. This negative stereotyping of the community is the reason Sikhs are still discriminated against in India today.