an abstract of Dr.Gurmit Singh Aulakh’s speech Aug.30,93

CHICAGO,IL: Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning. My name is Dr.Gurmit Singh Aulakh, my beloved people live in Punjab and I am a proud adherent of the Sikh religion.

As many of the other peoples today, the 21million strong Sikh nation is indeed dispossessed. The story of our alienation is complex and spans the history from British withdrawal from South Asia to the present. I will give you an abbreviated account of those events.

In 1947 during the partition of Punjab, we were separated from Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of the founder of our religion, Guru Nanak Dey Ji. In our new truncated Punjab, the Sikh people at tempted to flourish and make the best of the unenviable position of starting over in a diminished home land.

Unfortunately, because we practiced a different faith from that of the majority and we constituted only two percent of the population, we were easily marked for discrimination. We experienced a campaign of dispossession in every sphere of human life.

Economically, we felt the bur den of unabashed discrimination. Against all international norms and even against the national policy with respect to other states, 75% of Punjab’s river water was diverted to non-Sikh states. Furthermore, public policies strangled the development of industry in Punjab,

Religiously, we have suffered the worst degradation and dispossession. During the first week of June 1984, the authorities led an all-out military offensive on the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines. On that black day, over 38 other Sikh temples throughout the Punjab were attacked as well. Twenty thousand Sikhs were killed, tortured, and butchered by the authorities.

As if the desecration of our holiest shrine was not enough to wound the Sikh psyche, four months later 20,000 Sikhs were killed in Delhi alone and 20,000 other Sikhs throughout India in the infamous Delhi anti-Sikh pogroms. Again we suffered the systematic mass rape of our women, the kerosene lit burning of our men, and the destruction of our property. Shockingly, the mobs who perpetrated these crimes were in full connivance with the governing authorities.

Since the 1984 attack on the Golden Temple, over 110,000 Sikhs have been killed by government forces. Between 20 to 30 Sikhs are killed every day in extrajudicial murders. At least 70,000 Sikhs languish in prison without charge or trial. In general, Sikh men are tortured, countless women have been raped, and even young children have been imprisoned. Let me narrate to you the story of Paramjit Singh Sckhon, a young. Sikh man who came to America after suffering torture from the police, Mr,Sekhon received a letter from his wife, Manjit Kaur, who has remained in Punjab. The letter describes the torture and harassment 10 which the police subjected her and her family in the absence of her husband. In one gruesome episode, the police took the family’s seven month old daughter, poured molasses over her body, placed her on top of an ant colony in the 100 degree (F) scorching summer heat, and watched as she was eaten away by ants. Mrs.Manjit Kaur was forced to watch this sadistic scene,

My friends, we are a market people. We only desire to live in peace but suffer constant degradation because of our faith. In short, the governing authorities have pursued a policy of repression on my people. Any Sikh: man identified by his religious symbols like those lam now wearing; a turban, steel bracelet, uncut hair and beard, is unsafe, Even our most visible and respected religious leaders are in danger. On Dec, 25,1992, Bhai Gurdev Singh: Kaonke, the highest appointed trustee of the highest seat of the Sikh faith was arrested by the police, tortured and killed task you, how can my people avoid dispossession if our highest religious authorities can be brutally murdered?

In the face of such oppression the: Sikh nation declared independent i on Oct.7,1987, forming the separable country of Khalistan. We pray every day that our people will eventually be free, our movement simply asks that our people be given the full dignities and rights of human life. Nothing more nothing less. As the title of “Dear Colleague letter from Congressman Pete Geren reads, “End Government Oppression against the Sikhs: Support Freedom of Khalistan.”

In closing, the Sikh religion teaches universal brotherhood of all mankind and equality for all people. We pray every day for the wellbeing of all humanity. We are instructed to pray every day, eam our living with our hands and share with the needy. The repression of the government authorities prevents us from practicing our way of life, The Sikhs simply want the God given right of freedom.

As U.S. Congressman Neil Abercrombie said in the U.S. Congress on June 16,1993:”What is going on in Kashmir right now and in the Punjab is a sin against God. It is as in against humanity.” “There are no more decent people on the face of the Earth than the Sikhs, If one is in their Temple, they will eat, they will be fed. They really believe and live their religion, as so many of the rest of us cannot do and will not do. They shelter people and feed people. They are guilty only of their common regard for all of humanity.”

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 22, 1993