Open Letter
Dear Prime Minister Major:
We write apropos Mr. Narasimha Rao the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to this country. This visit is clearly in response to your own visit to Indian last year to promote Indo-UK trade. ‘We are conscious that international trade is the life-blood of a country’s economy Major work economics are Tow inter-dependent and no country Can go it alone However there are lessons to be learned from recent unholy trade alliances between this country and certain repressive and Corrupt regimes – witness the Matrix Churchill affair involving arms sales to Iraq and the Pergau dam affair linking arms sales to Malaysia with the construction of a grandioso dam.
The primacy of trade relations ought not to be allowed to override basic human and democratic values of a Society. Respect for human rights is the barometer of a country’s civilization. Thus measured India has yet to take its place amongst the civilized nations Some 47 years after independence there is no evidence that the ‘so-called “largest democracy in the world’ has turned its back on the barbaric years. The official British ‘view of the Sikh situation in Punjab is that life is back to normal in that oppressed State and that democratic process has been restored. The reality however is quite different. Beant Singh’s government was returned to power in an election boycotted by all Sikh political parties with an electoral turnout of only 18%. The local elections were rigged and the opposition was terrorized into submission Punjabis a police state where even the army high command take their orders from the Director General of Police Mr. K.P.S. Gill. Judicial process is nonexistent and the murder of young Sikhs in extra-judicial killings rape of Sikh ‘women and pillage of Sikh properties by the security forces is very much the order of the day. The Indian army of occupation is still very much in evidence in every village town and city of the Punjab.
Rural Punjab is seething with anger at the looting and diversion of Punjab waters and -hydro-electric power by the neighboring states of Haryana Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh Punjab’s economy is in a mess and no heavy industry is being cited in the State. The Sikh youth are bereft of jobs and any hope for the future. The lives of a whole generation of youth have been blighted beyond redemption. With the civilian population brutalized an uneasy peace prevails.
But is this the proverbial calm before the storm? Only time will tell. Indian authorities have stopped all dialogue with Sikhs and no attempt to find a political solution is being made.
Twelve of India’s 25 provinces are 10.4 varying extent in a state of insurrection These include Kashmir Punjab Assam Nagaland Tamil Nadu Kerala and Gurkhaland Her Majesty’s Government has recently interceded with the Indian authorities on the Kashmir issue Yet what applies to the Kashmiri Muslims applies: equally to Sikhs and other Indian minorities The fact that the other minorities lack political clout in the international community should not be used as an excuse to deny them human rights. They are each entitled to the same consideration as the Kashmiris.
A large number of American Congressmen have written to President Clinton to voice their concern about Sikh human rights violations. On Dec.27 1993 President Clinton responded as follows:
“I am aware of the chronic tensions between the Indian government and the Sikh militants and share your desire for a peaceful solution that protects Sikh nights. Human rights are. an important issue in U.S.-Indian relations We will make our concert Known to the New Delhi authorities and i will look forward to your continuing advice as we proceed.”
Indian authorities duly protested to the American ambassador in India but all to no avail.
We need hardly remind you of the special relationship which existed between the Sikhs and the British in India. We were the only Indian community to remain loyal to the British during the Indian mutiny. We feel ‘sure that you would not wish to ignore this relationship purely for reasons of political expediency. The vast majority of 450000 Sikhs in the UK are British Citizens. It is sad therefore that successive Conservative government since the invasion of the Golden Temple in June 1984 have shown complete indifference to the Sikh plight. When you meet Mr. Rao you may deem it opportune to place our concerns on record.
Mr. Narasimha Rao represents secular India at its best or worst depending upon who is looking at it. He is a former active member of the Rashtriya Sevak Sang (RSS) the right wing Hindu extremist movement. He was the Home Minister when the Indian army invaded the Golden Temple killing thousands of Sikh pilgrims men women and children. He was in charge of Law and Order when thousands of Sikhs were massacred in post-Indian Gandhi assassination riots in Delhi Luck now Kanpur Bombay and other Indian cities He must bear the overwhelming responsible for not bringing those responsible for these atrocities to book. In human rights terms he is India’s answer to Saddam Hussein.
In the struggle leading to India’s freedom the British always accepted that Sikhs had a negotiating position along with the Hindus and Muslims It is unfortunate that in the Table ‘Talks leading to the Indian independence Sikhs did not press their demands as forcibly as they might have done. It is even more unfortunate that the British did not see fit to protect the Sikh position in terms of the Treaty of Bharowal 1846. Sikhs are now reaping the bitter harvest. Ethnic cleansing in India is at least a decade older than that in Bosnia and Serbia. At the heart of the Punjab problem lies the erosion of the Sikh identity and violation of Sikh religious and cultural traditions. India treats it’s Sikhs as second-class citizens it denies them their basic human rights such as freedom of speech freedom of assembly freedom of religion freedom of worship protection of the law free access to Courts and the night to life. Above all it denies them the right to self-determination a fundamental right of any peoples under the United Nations Charter We ask for a full and fair plebiscite in Punjab We ask for the release of 14874 Sikhs currently detained in Indian jails under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) which is the Indian equivalent of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. We ask that all trade and aid with India be linked to its record on human rights. We trust that you will not fail us.
Harjit Singh
President IHRO European Unit
Article extracted from this publication >> April 1, 1994
