The Sikh religion was revealed in Punjab in the late 1Sth Century. It challenged basic Hindu dogma and tradition, especially idolatry and the caste system. Most importantly, Sikhism is monotheistic as opposed to the hundreds of gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon.
The two religions coexisted peacefully as initially both were under powerful Moslem rulers or threats of Moslem invaders. By late 18th century, while the British were consolidating their Indian Empire, the Sikhs had established a powerful kingdom covering the nor them third of the subcontinent where Hindus and Moslems were treated as equals. But by mid19th century, Punjab too came under the British. In the 100 odd years the Sikhs were in the British Empire, they were lumped with scores of other nations, tribes, ethnic groups, and Hindu castes which is the India of today.
When the British left in 1947, they gave the option to these peoples as to their future nationality. The Moslems wisely chose an independent Pakistan. The Sikhs were pulled in both directions by the Moslems and Hindus. Lacking farsighted and strong leaders they did not opt for an independent homeland. They chose to join India on the many assurances and false promises made by the Hindus. The Sikhs soon realized their mistake and refused to sign the Indian Constitution. The series of broken promises, double-dealing and treachery had already begun in 1948, but by 1980, the Sikhs had their backs to the wall and feared for not only their identity, religion and Culture, but for their very survival. The Hindus have tried every means possible to amalgamate the tiny minority of Sikhs (2%). They successfully did this to the Buddhists in the 9th century. The Indian Constitution does not recognize Sikhism and Buddhism as religions but merely as sects of Hinduism. Failing to absorb them, India tried to subjugate Sikhs. Meeting resistance they branded them subversives and terrorists. The past decade has seen a virtual genocide by India in Punjab.
In June 1984, the holiest shrine of the Golden Temple was attacked using armor and artillery units of the Indian army on a religious day when over 10,000 Sikhs, many of them women and children, were inside to pray. Most of them perished. Young and old wept inconsolably at this great affront. This attack convinced Sikhs that they had no option left but to defend their faith. So grievous was the hurt and anger. And they have been struggling ever since to achieve a free nation where they can live with dignity. India responded with letting loose a reign of terror and a virtual genocide.
Delhi has kept the Punjab as a colony almost uninterruptedly for over decade now. A series of increasingly dictatorial Hindu governors have been imposed from Dell After the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, senior government officials led mobs in killing over 20,000 Sikhs all over India, These officials were rewarded with ‘promotions, not one was punished.
In 1985, it bombed its own Air India fight from Canada with 329 innocent people on board leaving a false trail of evidence to implicate Sikhs in the horrible crime. ‘Scores of Sikh youths are being killed every single day in au extrajudicial manner by the police and paramilitary forces to break the spirit of the Sikhs. Over a hundred thousand Sikhs have died so far in the past decade. Women are raped, tortured and paraded naked even in jails.
All the jails in Punjab are full of youths whose only crime is that they are Sikhs. A retired High Court Judge, Justice Sodhi recorded that over 20,000 Sikhs were in jail ‘and regularly being tortured. They were being held without trial or any other recourse to legal redress under special draconian laws enacted only for Punjab. ‘Amnesty International and other human rights groups are denied access into Punjab. Activists of the Punjab Human Rights Organization have been victimized by the police. Mr. Mohinder Singh lost a 19-year old son recently. In August this year, ten Sikh pilgrims were killed by the police in a fake encounter in the Hindu state of UP. Asia Watch has put out a report on the incident, all enquiries found the police guilty but no action will ever be taken. That has been our experience in the past.
The media is not free. Papers carrying factual reports have had their presses, printed newspapers and photographic equipment seized or newsprint quotasster ‘International media has not been allowed into Punjab since 1983. Except for the support of a few sensitive lawmakers in the U.S and U.K, the West preoccupied with its own interests has largely ignored the plight of the 18 million Sikhs.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 22, 1991
