Once again, another dark chapter in the history of Sikh leadership is unfolding before our very eyes. The Akal Takht, the heart and soul of Sikh national and spiritual life (Miri and Piri), is once again threatened by desecration, This time the threat is not from the bullets and rockets of the Indian Amy. This time the threat is from our own Sikh leadership and the Khalsa Panth’s unwillingness to hold them accountable.
Although the Akal Takht Sahib cannot be tamished by the acts of a single Sikh, all Sikhs have a duty to request that our present Jathedar, Sti Singh Sahib Professor Manjit Singh, account for his inaction in face of some of the worst committed in the entire history of the Khalsa Panth.
Just recently, the Tribune {Aug.20, 94), reprinted excerpts from a letter allegedly written by the Foreign Secretary of India detailing the Jathedar’s payment of RS. 1.5 crore in foreign currency by R.A.W. (India’s Research and Analysis Wing) agents in order to conduct “a special Mission” on behalf of the Indian Government. Khalsa Ji, clearly this could be more slanderous disinformation by the Indian Government. However, it is not the letter alone which should raise questions about the Jathedar’s ability to lead the Sikh Nation.
Last month, the Jathedar shared a public stage with India’s High Commissioner in London. Appearing with him on a festival that was aired on TV Asia, the Jathedar declared, “Ab tome walon ke din gave, jorne walon ke din aaye hain—those who want to break away, their days are gone; those ‘who want to stick together, their days are in.” Khalsa Ji is the Jatheder representing the Sikhs ‘when he stands with the London High Commissioner of India and effectively tells millions of viewers that he is not for Khalistan!
What was the image that the public saw when they watched this program on TV Asia? They saw Moran Bapu, a Hindu preacher from Gujarat, assuming the highest seat on stage. And Below the Hindu preacher sat the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Professor Manjit Singh! Imagine the highest spiritual and political leader of Sikhism sitting below a Hindu preacher. This degrading image of Sikhs and Sikhism is the image that the Indian Government has always promoted.
In the presence of the Jathedar, LM. Singhvi, Indian High Commissioner, stood up and declared that Sikhism is part of Hinduism and the Jathedar simply sat on stage and said nothing!
And make no mistake, this was not a “spiritual unity” festival; it was a festival devoted to promoting Hinduism. There were 15,000 Hindus present and only four Sikhs present at this event. Why Did The Jathedar Spend A Week At This Festival? He was supposed to be on a “tour” to meet with Sikhs. ‘The entire festival was sanctioned ‘and supported by the Indian Government, According to India Abroad, “[Indian) High Commissioner J…M, Singhvi spent hours almost every day at the festival and High Commission cars were used occasionally by some of the Religious leaders. They had been privately invited but the event appeared to have been given an official stamp.”
Khalsa Ji, now more than ever, we must demand accountability from these Sikhs who profess to lead us. The Jathedar must be asked to account for his recent actions, as well as his continued inaction; * Why has the Jathedar not responded to the Indian Government letter implicating him in a scheme to disrupt the Sikh independence movement abroad?
* Why has the Jathedar embarked ‘on a two month tour ahead in light of all of the terrorism being un leashed by the Indian Government against the Sikhs in Khalistan— including torture and rape of Sikh women and children, death squad “hits” against Sikh lawyers, threats to press journalists and censorship of the mail?* Why has the Jathedar failed to excommunicate K.P.S.Gill and Chief Minister Beant Singh for the ongoing genocide of the Sikh Nation?
* Why has the Jathedar gone on public television, sitting in a visible position of inferiority with a Ramayan Preacher and India’s High Commissioner, and made statements implying that he does not support Khalistan?
In the Jathedar’s two month tour of Sikh gurdwaras in Canada, the U.S. and the U, K, he received the same message. Declare Khalistan 8s occupied by the Indian Government and call for a Shantmai Morcha to free our homeland. Despite the fact that “Khalistan Zindabad!” slogans were shouted at every Sikh gathering, the Jathedar was still willing to share the stage with Indian Government officials as they slandered Sikhism and to remain silent on the Sikh Night to a free and sovereign homeland.
Has the Sikh Nation forgotten what the role and spirit of an Akal Takht Jathedar is supposed to be? In Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s time, Jathedar of the Akal Takht. Akali Phoola Singh would not hesitate to lash the Maharaj to a tree for personal conduct unworthy of a Sikh. Recall the contemporary of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Bhai Mani Singh, who had every joint on his body severed by Muslim rulers when he refused to hand over revenue which belonged to the Panth. This is what we must expect from an Akal Takht Jathedar, in this time of supreme crisis for the Khalsa Panth, we cannot expect less from the present day Jathedar.
Outside of Khalistan, Sikhs have openly urged the Jathedar to openly endorse Khalistan and call a Shantmai Morcha to oust the Indian Government from our homeland, As [have done before, I urge the Sikh Nation in Khalistan to press the Jathedar on issuing the following three Hukam Namas: I. Declare the Director General of [Punjab) Police K.P.S.Gill and Chief Minister Beant Singh as Tankhayas, Declare that any Sikh police official who tortures, rapes or wrongfully imp son any person (Sikh or non-Sikh), they too shall be Tamkhayas.
Tl, Call upon all Sikhs to boycott the Indian Government.
IIL. Raise the slogan of “India Quit Khalistan” and call upon the Sikh Nation to unite and start a Shantmai Morcha to liberate Khalistan.
Khalsa Ji, if we are to preserve the sanctity of the Akal Takht and the high status of Jathedar of the Akal Takht, we must hold our Jathedar answerable for these actions. We must also urge the Jathedar issue the above Hukam Namas. If we do not, it is the Sikh Nation itself that will be desecrating the holiness of the Akal Takht and all that it represents.
But the Jathedar is not the only Sikh leader who has failed to respond to the needs of the Khalsa Panth. The Akali leaders, obsessed with personal gain, have consistently shown cage mess to support the Indian Government and collections under the Indian Constitution ‘So that they may enjoy the privileges of Chief Minister under the auspices of Indian dictatorship.
In the August 22, 1994 issue of the Tribune, Badal’s Akali faction demanded that SGPC Chief Tohra and Professor Manjit Singh resign as their Akali faction is being backed by Indian Government’s R.A.W. Although Badal may be correct, Badal’s accusation that Tohra is backed by the Indian Government is totally hypocritical. Both Badal and Tohra are competing for the same position of subservience to the Indian Government.
Badal’s endorsement of elections under the Indian Constitution means that he is willing to be the Indian Government’s chimcha, in the same spirit as Chief Minister Beant Singh. Reject Badal as a leader of the Sikhs. Any Akali Government that rules under the Indian Constitution must continue to promote the Indian Government’s policy of systematic genocide against the Sikh Nation. How can the Akalis forget that the Indian Government has dissolved Punjab state governments 10 times?
Do not let Indian leaders like Badal and Tohra lie to you. Do not let them squander the future of the Sikh Nation. The old Akalis have betrayed the Sikhs at every um since 1984, Remember Giani Karpal Singh, who was Jathedar of the Akal Takht in 1984, He publicly lied to the Khalsa Panth when he said that the Akal Takht suffered no damage after the Indian Government’s June 1984 massacre.
Now these same leaders, who have been party with the Indian Government in a long program of deception and cover up, not only ask the Sikhs to suffer another round of Indian government sponsored elections, but are trying to rejuvenate the old Rajiv Longowal accord! Khalsa Ji, the Rajiv Longowal accord betrayed the Sikh Nation in 1986. Today, it still betrays the Sikh Nation.
Khalsa Ji, beware! So far, there is only one leader who recognizes that a free and sovereign Khalistan is only solution for the Sikhs. That leader is Simranjit Singh Mann, $.S.Mann is the only Sikh leader who knows that boycotting any and all elections under the Indian Constitution is the first step towards a free and sovereign Khalistan.
I urge all Sikhs to rally behind Simranjit Singh Mann and any other Sikh leader who openly endorses a free and sovereign Khalistan. I urge Simranjit Singh Mann to declare that Khalistan is illegally occupied by the Indian Government and to lead the Sikh masses in a Shantmai Morcha to liberate Khalistan.
Khalsa Ji, if this Shantmai Morchais to be successful, leadership for the Sikhs must be present at all levels. The Sarpanches and Panchayats throughout Khalistan must educate their communities to understand and support the need for a Shantmai Morcha to liberate Khalistan. No individual, Simranjit Singh Mann or anyone else, can deliver freedom for our occupied homeland, this effort must occur at the village, district, national and international level.
The three million Sikhs outside Khalistan will ensure that the Shantmai Morcha receives global attention needed to protect Sikhs in Khalistan. The last decade of brutality meted out by the Indian Government has continued only because human rights groups, the foreign press and anyone interested in the truth have not been allowed to enter the villages of our homeland, As a result, the Indian Government has been able to dismiss the Khalistan freedom movement as the work of terrorists and to hide the Indian Government’s own terrorism.
But the efforts of Sikhs outside of Khalistan are making the Indian Government very nervous. That is why the Indian Government censors mail coming in and Out of Khalistan. That is why the Indian Government wants the Jathedar to try and “pacify” Sikhs internationally.
It was the efforts of this office, the Council of Khalistan that brought intervention by the U.S, Congress demanding that the Indian Government release Simranjit Singh Mann from jail last March. Mann, on August 21, noted that the USA already supports the Sikh demand for a free and sovereign Khalistan. When Prime Minister Rao visited President Clinton fast May, 38 members of U.S. Congress wrote a letter to the President urging him to take up the case of self-determination for the Sikh homeland, Punjab, Khalistan.
If the letter from Indian Foreign Secretary to the Indian High Commissioner of London concerning the Jathedar is to be believed, then the Indian Government was willing to spend Rs. 1.5 crore just to try and quell the Khalistan movement abroad. Why? Because Sikhs abroad cannot be controlled by the muzzle of a gun, the Sikhs abroad can do something the Sikhs in Khalistan cannot do expose the Indian Government’s barbarities.
Again, lask all Sikhs to appeal to Sri Singh Sahib, Professor Manjit Singh, to express the will of the Sikh Nation and to issue the above Hukam Namas. We must remember that the Sikh Nation can no longer afford the critical mistakes made by our leaders. Just imaging, how much oppression and bloodshed would have been avoided in, the past 47 years if Baldev Singh, had not refused the British offer (, establish a sovereign Sikh homes, land with access to the seat w We must remind our Jathedar, and send notice to all who would, choose to lead the Sikh Nation that history and the Sikhs will not. forgive their blunders and there. betrayals. Aroor Singh, the. Jathedar, who presented General Dyer with a saropa after he butchered Sikhs, spurred forward the Gurdwara Reform Movement marking the beginning of the end of British rule in the Sikh home land. Let us hope that Sri Singh Sahib does not become another negative catalyst in the Sikh free, Dom movement. Because whether he chooses to lead the Sikh Nation’ or not, the Sikh Nation’s Shantmai Morcha to liberate Khalistan is unstoppable. If Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President Council of Khalistan, Washington, DC.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 16, 1994
