Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ke Fatech
‘Most respected Sikh brothers and sisters and people of other communities:
We would be with you today were we not imprisoned. We are detained in the maximum security section of one of the U.S. Government’s most secure prisons for persons who are not yet convicted of a crime. In fact, we have committed no crime.
We are daily in contact with other high priority prisoners. Among them are persons accused of being Organized Crime leaders and drug traffickers. There are also other persons like us, persons who are called “terrorists” by governments whose tyranny they have resisted in defense of their people.
Being the only Sikhs in this prison, we have experienced a degree of harassment because of the misunderstanding of our customs by the officials and very possibly because of the severity of the false claims by the Indian government against us.
Every day we pray. We thank God for all of the blessings He has given our people, and we ask for the strength to be given to Sikhs everywhere to unite with the vision of our earthly destiny….Khalistan.
Being senior members of the All India Sikh Students Federation (A.I.S.S.F.), we have been privileged to have known many brave friends who are currently incarcerated in India or dead, young men with promising careers from prosperous families. Each turned away from comforts and mertialism for the sake of opposing the oppressors of all Sikhs, the government of New Delhi. They did so with a declaration that we are going to accept no more false promises and that the endless repression of our people must end.
As we address you, this very day, our homeland is under siege. Today, any day, another ten young men students like us will be arrested or killed, a shrine will be defiled, innocent women and children of other communities will be killed by security forces of India in the disguise of Sikh militants, and, somewhere in India, Sikh worshippers will be persecuted.
Meanwhile, the most prized treasure of our heritage, far more valuable than the most coveted jewels in India, “Our Legacy” (promised to our fathers after so much sacrifice the rights to freedom of worship and to pursue our Sikh way of life) is stolen.
- Our water supply is being systematically turned off, turning our farms into dust fields.
- Our Gurdwaras are being desecrated.
- Decisions of “Justice” in our civil and criminal courts are being bought with bribes.
- The love of our hearts our own sisters and daughters are being defiled and sacrificed by the scourge of the dowry.
And through all of this, there are those among us, who call themselves friends, who are Sikhs by default, who gaze at the emptiness where our legacy should be on display in all of the glory, and tell us, that which is stolen and gone is in the safe haven of Mr. Gandhi’s crown.
They may as well tell us that we must sacrifice a part of our religion for the sake of the unity of India. What price will these deceived fools have us pay for the peace and harmony? Would they have us under a flag without justice and freedom?
There is no more room for our people to back up. We are against the wall. All that is possible to take from our people without losing our dignity and honor, is taken. After the massacre at the Golden Temple, there cannot reasonably be any discussion of autonomy anymore. Such discussions ended with the government’s gunshots.
It is time for all of the Sikh students scattered, perhaps by God himself, throughout the world, to organize under one banner Khalistan and do the following:
- Keep close ties and communication with, and support your brother hood organizations in India; otherwise after some time Khalistan movement will survive only in the western countries. There will be no one left to carry the flag of independence back home without your support.
- Support Khalistan and only Khalistan. All talk of autonomy under the New Delhi government must be seen for what It is confusion to divide us by taking advantage of our reasoning and luring us into sleep until we are choked by the muscles of the New Delhi snake. Take the cotton from your eyes and recognize the so called Khalistani supporters in these countries who help the organizations which have sold out to Indian government.
Ferret out those who are paid by New Delhi to infiltrate us to speak of autonomy, and shout them down with cries of “Partition”, “Secession”, and “Khalistan”! Don’t let the snake charm any more meetings to sleep.
- Appeal to all freedom loving and God fearing non Sikhs, showing them that our fight is as theirs once was, a stand for your right to worship God and pursue our way of life. As America was once a struggle, so is Khalistan. It is a fight for the love of the freedoms of a true democracy and for the love of God.
- Beware of some Sikhs who claim to be our “leaders” and who claim false credit for achievements accomplished by our community as a whole. Beware of the exaggerated propaganda made by these leaders for their personal interests. Keep a watch upon our leaders so that they don’t compromise our interests.
In conclusion, allow us to thank all those Sikhs and especially Sikh Cultural Society of New York who have supported and continue to support us. We are also indebted to those Sikhs who took time away from their daily pursuits to be present at our hearings, not because such is a personal show of support for us, but rather because it is sign of respect for our brave people in Punjab who heroically resist the injustices we are all working to see erased.
We are confident that other Sikh organizations will also actively involve themselves in the efforts being made at various levels to support the freedom fighters both in Punjab and abroad.
We address all of you with these closing words: If we are never to meet again because we are to be sent back to India to be executed, as so many Sikhs before us, for crimes that we did not commit, we will die gladly knowing that you will be standing there to take our place in this world and to take up the struggle which will be painted in prayer upon our lips as we die, a prayer for Khalistan.
Deg Teg Fateh,
Ranjit Singh Gill Sukhminder Singh Sandhu Metropolitan Correctional
Center”
New York, New York.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 4, 1988
