The great tragedy that engulfed Punjab in the early 1980’s continues to shoulder without an end in sight. The silent points of the sufferings of the Sikh minority are: The popularly elected government of Punjab was dismissed in mid-1986 and Punjab is being ruled by the Center with repressive laws applicable to Punjab only; the breakdown of the due process of law in that no action has been taken against the criminals who killed over 3,000 Sikhs in India (Government of India figures) in November 1984; Sikhs are not being protected against violence from the majority community for instance scores of Sikh engineering students were killed in Bidar (South India) in September 1988 and several dozen killed and hundreds injured in Jammu (north India) in January 1989 as a result of preplanned violence by Shiy Sena and the Indian police.
Several hundred innocent Sikhs continue to be detained without trial for years; fake police encounters continue against the Sikh youth; nearly five thousand Sikhs have been detained without trial under the specially legislated laws; foreign press and Sikhs from overseas are not being allowed to travel in Punjab; restrictions on local press continue; Amnesty International, Asia Watch etc. have not been allowed to visit India for several years; subtle and not so subtle interference with the right to freedom of religion continues; one can go on with the list. Buta brie look at the Amnesty International Special Report of August 1988 and Annual Reports from 1984 to 1988 convey the gravity of the situation.
Historically the U.S. has used its ample influence to redress such abominable practices with economic tools and incentives. In the same tradition as the U.S. support for the. Opposed in Poland, Hungary, Afghanistan,. USSR etc. We urge the U.S. Congress to support legislation HR 1067 that will deny India its most favored nation trade status until it meets the internationally accepted behavior in the field of Human Rights.
In line with Amnesty International’s recommendations we urge that Indian Government, firstly, to take serious and significant action to stop police encounters and disband “Haitian style” killer gangs in Punjab; secondly to release all prisoners in jail who have not been charged with a specific crime, thirdly, to allow representatives of Western legislative bodies, Amnesty international, Asia Watch and other internationally recognized human rights groups to visit Punjab to have a firsthand account of the situation; fourth to take action against the criminals responsible for the mass murder of Sikhs in November 1904, 1900, 1909 ete, fifthly, to allow the people of Punjab to exercise their will through the ballot.
If what India says is right then it is to its own interest to allow the above actions to take place. We understand many of the distinguished members of the august body are thinking of passa law on the above lines. It is a fair course of action and we urge you to please come to the rescue of the helpless people of Punjab.
We want Peace Equality Justice and Freedom the usual norms which form the foundation of the democratic Western World.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 17, 1989
