Sikh students across India, the U.K . and the U.S . gathered in major cities last week and this weekend to protest the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana , a conspirator in the assassination of a former chief minister of the state of Punjab.

After 17 years of trials and detainment, the government of the northwestern Indian state of Punjab announced Rajoana’s hanging for March 31, but rescheduled his execution to a future date, not yet determined.

Rajoana’s case exhibits an ongoing conflict since Indian independence from Britain in 1947, when the British partitioned the country due to religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims. However, the Sikhs, comprising the fifth largest religious body in the world, were divided during partition. India and Pakistan took portions of Punjab, the Sikh native state, and since then the religious minority has struggled for partial autonomy and sovereignty.

India is the largest democracy in the world, but according to Manpreet Kaur , a Sikh junior in design studies, the Indian government has not treated Sikhs with equality.

“The main problem is that Sikhs have always wanted an independent state, called Khalistan ,” Kaur said. “Punjab is known for its fertile land and industry, but that profit goes to the government, not our people. It’s been like that for centuries.”

Anti-Sikh sentiment reached an all time high in 1984, as Sikh advocates campaigned for the Anandpur Resolution, a political declaration for Sikh rights. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, daughter of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, reacted to the Sikh resistance and ordered Operation Blue Star, a military campaign to remove Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple, where separatists sought refuge. The controversial attack on the temple and the subsequent 492 civilian casualties in the attack resulted in political mayhem for Gandhi.

The attack occurred July of 1984, and along with civilian deaths, Indian government troops destroyed the Sikh Reference Library, the faith’s archive of religious texts and history.

“We have no account for our identity,” Kaur said. “They wanted to erase our history.”

This struggle for Sikh sovereignty comes from the basis of the Sikh faith. Gobind Singh formally established the Khalsa , the Sikh congregation, in 1699. Throughout South Asian history, the Sikhs comprised the warrior class in the era of the caste system.

“Now, some Indians still say Sikhs are Hindus,” IqJyot Gill, a junior in biological sciences, said. “That’s not the case.”

Sikhs call 1984 the year of the Sikh genocide, and political unrest overtook Northern India and Gandhi’s Sikh bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, assassinated him.

“Both of the bodyguards were killed afterwards,” Gill said. “It’s ironic that they were Sikhs, because they’re known as strong warriors.”

The case of Rajoana came about as Punjabi officials crushed pro-Khalistan advocates and militants. According to Kaur , the young police constable conspired in 1995 with another policeman to assassinate Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, unrelated to Gandhi’s Sikh bodyguard of the same name. After the minister’s death, Indian officials detained Rajoana , calling him a terrorist, according to Kaur .

“Beant Singh, who had killed thousands and thousands of Sikhs, he was immediately freed, but yet he [ Rajoana ] is sitting in jail for 17 years and is going to be hanged,” Kaur said. “There’s no appeal… but we don’t have any rights. It’s a huge double standard for Sikhs.”

Chief Minister Singh was Sikh, but pro-Khalistan Sikhs did not consider him of their own. According to Kaur , the Punjabi government has lost its credibility due to its corruption.

Recent protests in India and around the world have brought the issue to light, but Indian press has not covered the issue, according to Dalginder Bhangoo , a sophomore in biological sciences.

“All the government’s actions are justified as anti-terrorism,” Bhangoo said. “It’s ironic because the government’s acts are more terrorist-like. If it’s against the Indian state, even if it may result in long term peace, it’s confronted like terrorism.”

“Who’s the terrorist now?” Kaur said.

The issue of Sikh sovereignty will remain controversial, especially with Sikh Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in power of India. Singh expressed his concern for Sikh extremism and according to Gill, Singh is acting as the puppet to President of the India National Congress Sonia Gandhi, an Italian-born politician who married Indira Gandhi’s son, who pro-Khalistan Sikhs consider an opponent to equality.

“Our problem is a political one, it’s not a social thing,” Gill said. “Sikhs are strong people, and we hold our identity strongly, but our issue is not with Hindus or Muslims…some of the people who helped Sikhs and gave their lives for Sikhs were Muslims. We don’t have a problem with any people of India. We just want our freedom and right to be Sikh.”

Sikhs have mixed feelings about the postponed trial and execution of Rajoana , and according to Kaur , it’s bittersweet in the sense it gives Sikhs hope yet impending concern.

“None of the Sikh community wants it [the execution] to go through,” Kaur said. “But at the same time, we feel they’re [Punjabi government] postponing it for political reasons and that the hanging will eventually take place. They’ve already arrested hundreds in India for protesting.”

The Sikh issue has tested the largest democracy in the world, and Bhangoo said this may be a moment for India to realize this. But for now, according to Kaur , Sikhs will continue resisting with characteristic Sikh fortitude.