AMRITSAR: Pakistan, which has been vehemently been denying any kind of support for the secessionist Khalistan movement, is in for a shock — a simple Google search for the ‘capital of Khalistan’ comes up with Lahore.

Highlighting an entry in the Simple Wikipedia, the Google result shows a portion of the text — “The new state created would be called Khalistan in the modern territories of Eastern Pakistan and Western India. Its stated capital would be Lahore, a city where Sikh empire was commenced by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and ruled for centuries by his descendants.”

Interestingly, all Wikipedia entries highlight the fact that the Khalistani secessionists include both the Punjabs — in India and Pakistan — along with parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Sindh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan in the so-called country.

The results also highlights Sikh insignia Khanda on blue and saffron-coloured background — the separatist Khalistan flag.

US-based separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal adviser to Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and a lead campaigner for the secessionist movement, appeared to be surprised with the Google search results. “The ones who are making Lahore as Khalistan capital, I want to see their campaign — what is their plan and how they are executing that,” he told TOI.

When asked whether he also supported demand for Lahore to be the ‘Capital of Khalistan,’ Pannun replied: “Those who want Lahore as capital of Khalistan don’t need SFJ’s permission or permit.”

SFJ, he added, was seeking a democratic peaceful resolution of re-establishing Punjab as an independent country through its ‘Referendum 2020.”

“It’s not a hidden fact that Pakistan is already sponsoring terrorism in India,” Bhagat Singh Youth Front chairman Gurmeet Singh Bablu told TOI on Wednesday while commenting on the issue. “I think there is nothing wrong in the result of Google’s search engine, if they (Pakistan establishment) are ready to make Khalistan in their country and make Lahore its capital, then let it, at least it’s not in India.”

In recent past, an image of Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan would pop up whenever any user searched for the word ‘bhikhari’ (beggar). Google results are based on certain keywords, which indicate that a majority of people must be talking about making Lahore the ‘capital of Khalistan.’