Indian Hindu imperialism remains wedded to violence in Punjab. More than 2000 Sikhs have been killed this year alone. The latest to fall victim to the vicious imperial might are 19 Sikh youths. India claimed that they had been killed in an encounter with security forces. This is a lie. Such lies are uttered almost daily by Indian spokesman. At least 18 youths have not been identified by Indian authorities. It is generally believed that they had been picked up from villages and had been detained illegally in police stations after torture. These are obviously reprisal killings after the death of 16 Hindus at the hands of alleged militants. Police authorities in Punjab seek to please their Hindu bosses through these tactics. No one has so far cared to investigate the killings of Hindu bus passengers. Linking the Hindu killings with the murder of 19 Sikh youths is a typical method in Hindu madness. The aim is not only to quench the Hindu thirst for Sikh blood but also to raise the morale of Hindu forces in Punjab. India’s imperial authorities have been boasting of having suppressed the Khalistan movement in Punjab. But the movement continues despite occasional ups and downs. There have been a series of explosions attacks on police authorities and occasional targeted killings even after the police claimed that the Khalistan movement had died down as a result of the yearlong stepped up anti-Sikh tirade. K.P.S.Gill boasted early this week that the final battle against Sikh militancy would be launched on December 1. The subsequent developments showed that the police claims were unrealistic. Indian security forces and their political bosses know it too well but do not want to face the reality that the problem in Punjab is political. It is not a problem of terrorism as is made out for the consumption of western public opinion. Indian aim is to kill as many Sikh youths as is possible in the immediate future. Then Amnesty International and other international human rights organizations will be allowed to visit Punjab to see the peace of the grave. Indian violence against Kashmiri youths has also been stepped up in recent weeks. Leaders of Punjab Janata Dal Kirpal Singh Gian Chand and Jatinder Singh Dhillon have done the right thing by requesting the U.S. President-elect Bill Clinton to visit Punjab to see for himself how Indian security forces were arresting people torturing and killing them in fake encounters. Thousands of Sikh youths had been kept in illegal custody for killing one by one. They regretted that Indian authorities had given sweeping powers to police in Punjab. These views come from persons who could not be called as militants or their sympathizers. The U.S. administration cannot shut its eyes to whatever is happening to Sikhs and other residents of Punjab. It is the duty of the President elects to pay immediate attention to the plight of Sikhs in Punjab and send a paramilitary delegation for an on-the-spot investigation.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 11, 1992
