Dear Editor:
Please oblige by reproducing the following letter which I wrote to New York Times:
“I was shocked to read the ‘construction of news concerning the Killing of 24 passengers after hijacking the bus in Punjab, and no civilized person can condone such violence.
‘We the Sikhs of the United States also do not condone the killing of anyone, be it in Punjab or Delhi and it is a very sad event, especially when innocent people are killed. Let us take this opportunity to reexamine the problems and their causes.
Also in the news, you describe that Indian local newspapers published this very report, stating that “members of a certain community” killed another group of people, without mentioning Sikhs or Hindus.
This makes interesting reading because the Indian Government wants to give the same news to be published in a different manner for Local and foreign consumption to achieve different results. This points out amply that the news is controlled in Punjab.
I would not be surprised if the killers turn out t0 be the government created force murderers and this is exactly what we, the Sikhs in the United States feel to be true. State terrorism with counter terrorism (both being employed by the state itself) is being done to malign the Sikhs, so that justice may not be carried out. No positive step has been carried out in the last two years to create harmony in Punjab,
In your news, you bring out that there are extremist Sikhs and moderate Sikhs. Let me point out to you that there are no such divisions. This is a falsehood created by the government to continue state terrorism Khadafy style; unfortunately, the Indian press is severely censored to distort the news differently for different purposes.
Strongly suggest that Amnesty International get involved in this and going through Amnesty International reports about India from 1985-1986, a lot of young Sikhs have been killed in false encounters and this one has been created towards the same end.
It is common knowledge that the India Pakistan border is heavily guarded by the Indian military and the military is present all over Punjab, Similarly, trains have been suspended between 2 major cities in Punjab. All this is repression towards fresh covert activities by the Indian government to kill many more Sikhs and destroy Sikh property using this as an excuse. It is interesting also that they have released this news to all foreign press but have not published this in local papers. This indicates that they are creating justification for attacking Sikhs in Punjab and publicize it in the Western Hemispheres measures against the fictional “extremists”…
I feel that the newspapers in the USA should hold an open debate on this issue before we discover that government statistics prove to be wrong and the real killers are found.
Contradictory statements for foreign and local press is the vehicle by which the Indian government attempts to achieve their aims, They tell the Indian people that nothing has happened and go to the other extreme with the information given to the foreign press and this is done to justify state sponsored terrorism and ‘counterterrorism. The real solution to the problem is sitting with the Sikh leaders and not creating leaders of Sikhs who endorse Sikh genocide and are called moderate Sikhs. Your classification of Sikhs, with regard to their dress code of wearing turbans and beards, as extremists makes me feel as if liberals wear blue jeans and conservatives wear three piece suits is more serious in this case because the government of India wants to use exactly this to eliminate Sikhs.
Extremists and moderates are like liberals and conservatives in the Sikh community who have different approaches to the problem but at this time, both of these views are created by the politics of ‘government and has nothing to do with the dress code or external appearance. Our statistics show that Sikhs who wear turbans and have unshorn beards are more religious and therefore more moderate in their approach, but the government of India creates the reverse opinion so that religious Sikhs should be eliminated and amalgamated with the Hindus in appearance and dress code.
‘Overall, this is a very bad state of affairs. While the killing of innocent people continues, the government of Rajiv Gandhi gets more and more dictatorial, and ‘Mr. Ribeiro continues his active along with the military in Punjab, of killing Sikh youth indiscriminately in the name of checking terrorism. Naunihal Singh Dr. Adm. WSO USA
Dear Editor:
It is with deep regret that I must write this letter. I, through my own Unfortunate circumstances, have had the pleasure of meeting four Sikh gentlemen held unjustly in Federal custody in New Orleans, Louisiana, (Virinder Singh, Jatinder Ahluwalia, Sukhwinder Singh, and Jasbir Singh Sandhu).
I have read their legal documents, spoken at length with them and know for a certainty that they are being used as pawns in a strategic game waged by our American Justice system. I regret writing this letter because 1 must, hereby, admit that my country has been unfair, unjust, and harsh in its handling of this case, I can only hope that the people responsible for this travesty of justice will find that their ambitious prosecution will frustrate their personal careers.
In the meantime, I urge everyone reading this to take time right now (before other responsibilities push the idea aside), to write the Attomey General of the United States, and’ express your distaste and anger at this unnecessary, prolonged, and unjust prosecution, We must not allow these young men to spend any more time behind bars. It is well beyond time for justice to arise and shake off the Disgusting dirt of this horrible affair, Please act today,
Yours truly, Dana McCann
Article extracted from this publication >> December 12, 1986
