To say that “Sikh problems are Indian problems that can and should be taken care of by Indians themselves” is the height of naively and political rhetoric. By the same logic, presumably the genocide of the Tibetans by the Chinese is a Chinese problem and the world should have remained quiet as students were massacred in Tienamien Square. Nor should there by any criticism or sanctions against South Africa’s police of racism, apartheid, or human rights violations because that’s a South African problem.
Fortunately, all over the world there are persons of high conscience and moral responsibility who reject such Reasoning as perverse, self-serving of dictators, and an affront to human dignity. There may be political sycophants, vested interest groups, or misguided chauvinists who cry to subterfuge human rights with such arguments but sincere believers in democracy and human rights have long ago rejected that perception along with the feudalism and colonialism to which it belonged.
To support the excellent Bill by the Hon Wally Herger and the Hon Robert Torricelli for ensuring human rights for Sikhs in Punjab is to support human rights for all victims of human rights abuses by the government of India. We agree with the suggestion that Sikhs are not the only victims. Kashmiris, Telegus, Tamils, Nepalis, and especially Dalits (so called untouchables) also suffered and are continuing to suffer repression by the Indian government, police and military forces. Human rights violations are clearly widespread, systemic and endemic in India. Representative Herger’s Bill helps to address their griefand suffering as well as that of the Sikh people.
What a travesty for any one to believe that India resembles a genuine democracy. The same groups of political cronies have been playing musical chairs in Delhi for over forty years run by a dynasty of one family. That’s democracy? Legally elected governments have been ousted by this family, through the length of India, from Kerala to Kashmir, under the pretext of “law and order” situation or “constitutional crisis”. People are daily tortured in police stations and prisons throughout the country and especially in Punjab. That’s democracy?
The central government of Delhi alone controls and operates all radio and all television stations throughout the entire country. It refuses to allow any point of view except its own and all material is censored before broadcast. That’s democracy? Even the state governments such a Tamil Nadu which has a population twice the size of Canada or equal to that of France, is refused the right to on their own soil! Far less is there even the remote possibility for the expression of private opinion on the radio or television in India.
Children by the thousands, are brutalized on a daily basis in the prisons of India where they are held for years as under trials never having been convicted of any crime. Tribal women are raped on a regular basis by government forestry officials and police who are never brought to justice. Outright murder by the police occurs throughout India legitimized as “encounters” a special contribution of India to the vocabulary of human rights violations.
The evidence against India as a major world human rights violator is substantial and compelling. Preceding that the problem isn’t there, shouting down or labeling US. Congressmen, Sikhs and Human Right’s supporters as “antiIndia” or “stupid” or claiming that India’s sovereign prevents an independent investigation by Amnesty these are weak and pathetic responses that don’t remotely touch the real issues of human rights violations suffered daily by the peoples of India.
It is simplistic to think, as some government officials suggest, that the issues will be resolved by better public relations, networking Indians to parrot the official Indian government line to their congressmen or having effective propaganda against Sikhs.
The Herger amendment would have cut $25 million from development assistance until concrete efforts were made and sustained in the area of human rights by the government of India. That means stop the torturing. which goes on daily, It means stop the police from murdering people and claiming it was an “encounter” a regular feature of policing in India trials which hardly ever happens in India. it means release the thousands of under trials and political prisoners who have never been convicted of any crime. It means stop the periodic police rapes of tribal, Dalit and other women. These are all reasonable things to expect in a country that calls itself a democracy and has signed the United Nations Covenants On Human Rights and pretends to be morally outraged against similar violations in South Africa.
Many of the arguments of Rep Solarz against the Herger Amendment were contrived and spurious. Some were outright false. Anyone who says that “90 to 95 percent of (human rights violations) are due to Sikh extremists murdering …” doesn’t read the Indian press hasn’t seen the publicly available figures from the Lok Sabha, (the lower house of Indian Parliament) and obviously hasn’t heard of Ribero’s announced Punjab police policy of shooting three Sikhs for every policeman. shot, With police attempting to shoot Sikhs three to one, not to mention torture and rape Sikhs, you have to stretch the truth considerably to get Solarz’s figures of 90 to 95 percent.
He argued that if the argument were passed, “the chances are that it will bring the progress of the Punjab to an end. “That’s nonsense! Where is the progress? Three thousand Sikhs butchered and burned in Delhi with the collusion of the police and politicians and not one person brought to justice in over 5 years. That’s progress? Jodpur prisoners released and then rearrested. Thousands of ‘Sikhs in jails and prisons being tortured. That’s progress? Mr. Solarz has a strange idea of progress.
Another of his major arguments was that the U.S. should not cut development aid for the poor for it would eliminate important vaccination, forestry and irrigation programs. That simply is not true.
It is well established that the main beneficiaries of development projects in India are the government, the bureaucracy, officials and the elite. As an example, C.T. Kurien’s study of Tamil Nadu showed that 90% of the assets are owned by less than 10% of the elite. They get the tractors, the pump sets, the irrigation, the hospitals and the use of the roads and airports. Getting development benefits to the poor in India is more difficult than feeding fish in a sea of sharks, That’s why the poor get poorer as development assistance makes the rich richer. Ironically, about the same date Solarz was touting the forestry project. The Hindu (June 6, 1989) was reporting the Power Ministry” has termed the centrally funded social forestry scheme … a total failure.” The Bill now allows us to dump more money into another” total failure. The Bill now allows us to dump more money into another total failure development program. The Canadian CIDA is also wasting millions on a similar forestry project.
The recent June issue of the U.S. Journal Defense and Foreign Affairs indicated that “The Indian Air Force has more long range, heavy military airlift capacity than any country except the U.S. and the USSR,” and plans are to increase further. India now dominates the region military and is becoming increasingly belligerent using military resources in Sri Lanka, Assam, Kashmir, Nepal and of course against the Sikhs in Puniab. A letter to the Times Of India (June 14, 1707) also questions these massive military projects including the Agni Missile. “In India 300 million people are still at the level of poverty, millions of children are growing up underfed and undernourished, 100,000 villages have yet to be electrified, clean drinking water is a mirage even in metropolitan cities and overcrowded trains are like cattle carts, Yet, we spend Rs 400 crores (over $300 million) ‘on developing Agni (missile) with an enormous further amount to be spent.
Congressman Herger and the many other honorable members who voted for this amendment to cut only 25 million are absolutely correct to reduce development assistance funding which allows increased militarism which results in regular and major human rights violations. In fact the cuts should have been much greater.
The time has long passed for a serious and critical evaluation of development funding to India from Canada, the United States and international organizations. For years the government of India has been parading the poor before donor agencies asking for larger and larger funding. Meanwhile, larger and larger amounts go into military spending. Not surprisingly, human rights abuses also increase at all levels. But the worst part is that most of the funds don’t reach or benefit the poor anyway. In many cases, the development projects actually harm the poor and their environment.
The bungling, corruption, and mismanagement of Indian development projects is well known. The Times of India reported (June 30, 1989) under the heading “Road Projects Mismanaged” how the World Bank signed an agreement for $200 million for national high ‘way projects in six states. Four bridges are ready on one highway, but can’t be used because there are no connecting roads.
On July 1st, 1989, the World Bank called for a stop in’ payments on the $450 million Narmada Dam project which will displace nearly a million people into worse poverty. In addition to the good reasons for cutting development funds as a censure for human rights violations, and the support they provide for increased Indian militarism, there are stronger reasons to cut development aid simply because it doesn’t help the poor at all and often worsens the situation. We need hard congressional and parliamentary studies of the effects of development assistance on the poor in India. But the grounds are there to cut aid even now.
On July 1st, 1989, the West German government froze more than $100 million in development aid to China as “a result of the recent military assault for another $100 million was also frozen. It is estimated that there were between two and three thousand students who were killed but the Chinese military. For than human rights abuse alone, aid was frozen.
There were approximately three thousand Sikhs butchered and bumed with the collusion of the police, military and government politicians in Delhi in 1984, That doesn’t include thousands of the Sikh pilgrims killed, tortured or imprisoned when army tanks smashed through the Golden Temple. It doesn’t include those Sikhs who continue to be murdered regularly by the Indian police and military. Certainly these violations by the government of India against the Sikh people, whether in numbers killed, numbers tortured or falsely imprisoned, or years of oppression, exceed greatly the cruelties and human rights abuses of the Chinese government.
Surely the logic of stopping aid to India because of her human rights violations and refusal to allow impartial international investigations is clear through international precedent of both South Africa and China. The American Congress and Canadian Parliament ought to act on this issue to cut aid and impose sanctions,
Gian Singh Sandhu is the President of World Sikh
Organization (International),
“Certainly these violations by the government of India against the Sikh people, whether in numbers killed, numbers tortured or falsely imprisoned, or years of oppression, exceed greatly the cruelties and human rights abuses of the Chinese government.
Surely the logic of stopping aid to India because of her human rights violations and refusal to allow impartial international investigations is clear through international precedent of both South Africa and China. The American Congress and Canadian Parliament ought to act on this issue to cut aid and impose sanctions.”
Article extracted from this publication >> August 4, 1989
