STOCKTON: Mr. Max Madden a British MP who went to Punjab on a fact finding mission along with a team of parliamentarians reported to the Parliament recently that unprecedented and barbaric atrocities are being committed against Sikhs.

I shall never forget the Sikh father whose 14 year old daughter was raped and drowned by a police officer,” Madden reported. “The father was brutally beaten by police three times over two days. He was seeking the return of his daughter’s body for cremation,” Madden continued. “He was warned that if he did not stop complaining what had happened to his 14 year old daughter would happen to his 7 year old daughter,” Madden said.

“The father is refusing to wear shoes until he gets justice.”

“I shall not forget the young Sikh who was shot as a terrorist after he stood with his arms above his head in a field for five minutes,” Madden reported. The police later admitted that they made a mistake. “I shall never forget the relatives of the young man who was shot while marching in a Sikh religious festival,” Madden said. While “the police again admitted they made a mistake,” Madden reported, “his brother has been warned off pressing for police officers to be punished.” According to the Punjab Human Rights Organization 7,000 Sikh youth have been killed in extrajudicial killings in the last two years alone.

Madden reported that repressive actions are routine. Out of 500 prisoners at the Amritsar prison, he said, “there were more than 300 held on petty offenses without bail, in the Amritsar prison alone, he stated. “The youngest was a boy of 14 and a half who had been held in that prison for eight months without trial”

“There were mothers and daughters who talked about their husbands and brothers who had been abducted by the police months and even years ago, Madden said. “There were men and women who showed us bruises, scars, broken arms and broken legs that were the result of police interrogation. I shall never forget the men and women who complained of systematic police harassment with regular house searches, property smashed, goods and money stolen and threats of extortion of money to avoid imprisonment.”

BAISAKHI, the first day of the first month Baisakhi, which coincides with 13th April of the Gregorian calendar, has not only a great seasonal significance but is also reminiscent of many an important landmark that led to the social regeneration and political awakening in Punjab.

Baisakhi marks the advent of the harvesting season. The fields of ripened wheat appear to glisten like gold. The sturdy, virile and hardworking peasants of the Punjab give vent to their uninhibited rejoicings through folk dances, to the accompaniment of the rhythmic beating of drums. Bhangra, the popular folk dance of the Punjab, which is acclaimed all over India, symbolizes the brisk activities of the farmers during the harvest season, as they reap the ripened wheat, thresh and win now it.

Article extracted from this publication >> April 13, 1990