To our dismay, a bill introduced in U.S. Congress to sanction Government of India for human right violation, was defeated as usual. Like every year the bill introduced by U.S. |Congressman Dan Burton died [a premature death and there was nothing to show in the end except few press clippings. After more than a decade of fruitless lobbying, we think our community should reassess the direction and evaluate the achievement of its efforts. Every now and then U.S. Congressmen upon urging of some Sikh leaders, write letters of concern to Indian government or U.S. Secretary of State, or introduce a bill in Congress. |All these efforts have yet to make a noteworthy effect on U.S.A.’s policies towards India or Delhi government’s policies towards Sikhs.

Recently about three dozen 1U.S. Congressmen wrote ale titer to Secretary of State asking to deny a visa to KP.S. Gill (former D.G P. of Punjab) and stop him from visiting Atlanta to attend Olympics. Supposedly the Judge in Chandigarh presiding over his sexual harassment case was to bar Gill from leaving Chandigarh till 21st of July. But the Supreme \Court of India, against the June 29 order of Chandigarh Magistrate, on July 15, allowed K.P.S.Gill to attend the Olympic Games in Atlanta anyway. If so many Congressmen can’t stop a brutal killer of humanity from visiting U.S.A. then their realm of power is anybody’s guess or they are not sincere in using their power to help our community.

While maintaining the sight on our ultimate goal of Khalistan, our community should be more focused and goal oriented and put more efforts towards achievable goals to further our cause. Recently Bhai Daya Singh Loharia and his wife were ordered to be extradited to India by a judge in Texas. Though a writ of habeas corpus has been filed in their case but the ultimate authority who will decide their fate is US Secretary of State. Under the prevailing circumstances barring a miracle or a serious consorted effort by our community, their eventual extradition seems a foregone conclusion.

Likewise, Bhai Ranjit Singh Gill and Bhai Sukhminder Singh are in tenth year of their incarceration in New York facing extradition to India. These two Sikh men are the longest held inmates of M.C.C. New York, although M.C.C. is an institution for short term pretrial inmates. Overall Ranjit and Sukhminder are among the longest held pretrial inmates in any U.S. prison. There. Are also many other Sikhs held in immigration jails all over U.S. who are in dire need of attention.

People who preach about human rights violations should also practice what they preach in order to be credible. U.S.A. often preaches about human Rights violations but is very selective about where it practices. The Sikh leaders who are in the forefront in lobbying these Congressmen should ask them to put their money where their mouth is and do something to get these Sikhs released from U.S. prisons. If U.S. Congressmen cannot win the release of the Sikhs from U.S. prisons then asking them to help Sikh prisoners in India or seeking them to influence Delhi government’s policies towards its minorities is a futile effort.

The neglect of Sikh prisoner’s right under their nose by these Sikh leaders and U.S. politicians alike, and keeps on worrying about the events beyond their influence, has made us wonder about their sincerity. It seems that the astonishing mark of these people is to make their moral standards correspond with their materialistic interest and of being virtuous in everything that advances their imperial (personal) designs.

If a consorted and serious effort is not made by our Sikh leaders, then pretty soon the abovementioned Sikhs will be chained in dungeons run by Indian government where the jejune light of their toothless letters and their spineless resolutions won’t reach, Our efforts can be the deciding factor in changing the harsh delineation of their lives from black to white.

According to a Jewish scholar if not now, when, if not us, who?

Article extracted from this publication >>  July 17, 1996