Action de la jeunesse pour le développement durable The primary impediment to peace and accountability in South Asia remains India’s refusal to respect the fundamental rights of minorities and its failure to hold perpetrators of human rights violations to account. This has empowered a dangerous security apparatus that continues to engage in torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings today. Since the colonial partition of Punjab in 1947, the Sikh people have been structurally marginalized by the British transfer of power to the Indian state. Sikhs have systematically been denied meaningful autonomy, and instead, have been subject to horrendous mistreatment and crimes against humanity by Indian security forces. Alongside the Sikh people, Kashmiris, Tamils, Nagas, Muslims, Dalits, and [inaudible] continue to face systematic discrimination and violence in India, while perpetrators receive promotions and rewards. As a result of this impunity, security forces continue to engage in violence against Sikhs who advocate for an independent Khalistan. The most brazen example of this was the daytime assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June 2023. In response to that killing, UN experts raised concern that such attacks “contribute to the hostile environment in Punjab.” This hostility is only increased. In 2025, security forces in Punjab have engaged in dozens of extrajudicial killings under the guise of so-called “police encounters”. The cornerstone of peacebuilding and transitional justice is accountability and human rights. Until India finally recognizes the universal right to self-determination and its security agents are held accountable for their crimes, India’s violence will result in escalating conflict in Punjab, and destabilize the region as a result.