Sikh militants in Punjab associated with the panthic committee and four militant organizations on the one hand and the Babbar Khalsa International on the other hand have shown statesmanship by deciding to concentrate on stopping the supply of water and electricity from Punjab Rivers to India. This move takes the Sikh struggle ahead qualitatively. The latest strategy will send out a clear message to the world that the Sikh guerrillas are fighting a just war against Indian imperialism. All three rivers of Punjab belong to Punjab and to no other state. In terms of India’s Constitution as well as international law, Punjab alone has a prior claim to the water flowing through its rivers but fraudulently as well as by force over the years Delhi diverted more than two thirds of Punjab river claim, Punjab is an agrarian state. Farming is the lifeline of its population. Farmers in Punjab in overwhelming numbers are Sikhs while most other communities are engaged in wade and industry which by any reckoning are more remunerative. The Sikh farmers over the centuries have acquired expertise in farming. They are hard-working; They are frugal in consumption and are disposed towards capital formation. Despite heavy odds with insufficient flow water at their disposal, the Sikh farmers are contributing as much as two-thirds of India’s annual food buffer stocks. While the river water and the hydro-electricity produced on Punjab’s rivers are taken away by India imperialists, the Sikh farmers are left to sink costly tube wells run by diesel which is many times more expensive than the hydro machines. Punjab is also compelled to rely on power produced from the coal operated thermal plants, This power is again many times more costly than that produced from hydro sources, Thus Delhi takes away Punjab’s cheaper water and power leaving Punjab’s industry and agriculture expensive water and power, These forced handicaps are further compounded by India controlling Punjab’s Sikh farmers at gunpoint to sell grain at almost half the international prices. This is how India loots Punjab and its Sikhs. The Sikh movement had all along been resisting the Delhi imperialism through gentle talks and peaceful agitations. But India remained unimpressed and unresponsive, Instead, India tried to browbeat and bring to submission the Sikhs. That was precisely the intention behind the operation “Blue Star.” But Delhi was mistaken. It had not reckoned with the fact that the Sikhs are made of a different stuff than most other dissident Indian minority communities. The operation “Blue Star” was the midwife of Sikh militancy, the armed movement saw many ups and downs during the past eight years. The political course of the movement, too, was marked by many twists and tums. It took long for the movement to acquire a grip over the essentials of the issues at stake. If the militants all these years neglected the core issues in their struggle for Khalistan, the responsibility rested with their careerist advisers. These advisers projected essentially soft issues on which a compromise with Delhi was feasible sooner or later. They succeeded for years to mislead the militants by pooh-poohing the water issue on the ground that “this demand is a thing of the past and that now the main issue is Khalistan.” They forget that the water issue is not a “Sikh demand,” it is a “Sikh right.” While fighting for Khalistan as a separate state, the Sikhs cannot afford to lose their rights to river waters. Even Khalistan will need the Punjab Rivers. On the other hand, the Hindu India had all along been clear about their target: ensuring the existing transfer of water from Punjab and, if possible, taking away more through the S.Y.L, India can concede or negotiate all Punjab demands, claims or rights except for the one on water and power. But the militants’ careerist advisers were looking for posts and positions at the expense of Punjab and its struggle rather than anything else. Credit goes to Bhai Daljit Singh Khalsa, Dr.Sohan Singh, Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala, Bhai Paramjit Singh Panjwar, Bhai Rachhpal Singh Chhandran and other senior leaders of the panthic committee and Jathedar Sukhdev Singh and his senior colleagues of the Babbar Khalsa International for zeroing in the Sikh struggle on the most vital, core issues on which no compromise is possible with the Indian state, We respectfully appeal to Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal and Baba Wassan Singh Zaffarwal also to join hands with the other militant organizations in directing their cadres not to allow Punjab’s water and power to pass into India. That will be the real panthic unity for the common good of the Panth.
But it should be clear to all panthic organizations that the realization of the aim viz the stoppage of water and electricity to India is not an easy task, India is bound to protect all the canals and electricity systems with all its might. But the canal network as well as the transmission network is so dispersed and wide that a foolproof protection is not possible. Moreover, the panthic organizations will have to involve the general Sikh masses directly as well as through willing and committed over ground organizations in this mission. What is important is that the world must be made aware of the imperialist-colonialist character of the Indian
State in its relations with Punjab and the inevitable Struggle by the Sikhs against their looting. The world public opinion in this manner will appreciate the Sikh viewpoint better. This line of Sikh attack on India will also effectively blunt the Indian propaganda that Sikhs are mere terrorists without much of a cause to pursue, If successful, the Sikhs will render India economically bankrupt before long. An equally important outcome will be that the Sikh peasantry will rally round the militant organizations in a more committed way than i did so far. The Strategy will help in further consolidating the militant hold on the countryside after the success of the election boycott and the resignation by panchs and Sarpanchs,
Article extracted from this publication >> June 19, 1992
