The scope of this book is within the narrow compass relating to the query, "Are the Sikhs a nation or not?" The problem has been approached academically and the discussion is in no way related to its political connotations; nor is it in any way influenced by the political movement of Khalistan, within or outside India.

I am conscious of the catalogue of the alleged betrayals of the Sikhs by the leaders of the All India Congress Committee presented to the Lok Sabha by a Sikh member on 6th September 1966 (see Appendix I) and I have gone through the list of the outstanding grievances of the Sikhs against the present day government enume­rated by the President of the All India Sikh Intelligentsia Conven­tion held in New Delhi, on July 5, 1981. But I have entirely ignored these happenings and have dealt with the subject independent of them, while arriving at my conclusions.

Because of the wide use of the term 'Nation' its concept and meaning have become blurred and confusing. To clear the cobwebs, references have been made to historical events and authoritative texts and those have been given plain and simple definitions. Reli­gion, language, history, geography, character, and popular will are some of the other deciding factors and to explain their relevance to the theme of the book the basic tenets of the Sikh religion have been discussed.