It is heartening to know that the world is becoming aware of the true state of affairs inside what India likes to call worlds largest democracy. As we reported last week 204 U.S. Congressmen voted to stop aid to India because of its poor record on Human Rights especially with regards to the Sikhs in India and its bullying attitude towards its neighbors.

Several Congressmen have advised us to inform our readers that each individual must help them carry out the task of pursuing the matter further by exposing India’s abysmal record on Human Rights. Some of the hints are given in the subsequent Paragraphs.

The first task is to stay in touch with your Congressman and Senator by communicating with them on a regular basis. Each person should be on the lookout to detect instances of Human Rights violations through newspapers, radio, personal letters, returning friends and relatives from Punjab etc. Any ‘specific case should be immediately brought to the notice of this newspaper and the Congressmen at large. Remember to look up the list of the Congressmen who voted for the Herger Amendment (see last week’s edition) and inform them also of the violations.

The information should be shared with other organizations like Amnesty International, Asia Watch, Churil (Citizens for Human Rights and Civil Liberties). The Committee for Information and Initiative on Punjab (London based organization), UN Commission on Human Rights, other organization dealing specifically with Human Rights and most important of all your Gurdwara Committee and local organizations. The idea is to share the information instantly with each other.

As for drafting the formal letter some useful tips are:

  1. Describe the facts that show the violation.
  2. Indicate the purpose of the communication.
  3. Indicate the rights that have been violated. To do so, you should refer at least to the following UN instruments (a summary is given to in the Churcil publication The Punjab Crisis and Human Rights).
  4. Universal Declaration of Human Rights Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination,

III. UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,

  1. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, V. International Convenient on Civil and Political Rights.
  2. Do not use abusive language or insulting references to the State concerned, as this will render your communication less authentic. Most importantly the facts should be accurate and the information should be submitted in a timely manner.

The US Congressmen have informed us that a concerted effort on our part will make their task of alleviating the sufferings of the Sikhs much easier. Let us today resolve to take on this onerous task with utmost seriousness.

Article extracted from this publication >>  July 14, 1989