Dear Mr. Prime Minister. Once again on April 30th 1986 moral integrity and political wisdom were brazenly surrendered by the Indian authorities to strike yet another blow at the heart and soul of the Sikh faith Sikhdom’s Golden Temple. BLUESTAR I betrayed an abysmal ignorance of the Sikh psyche, an absence of memory and a mocking disregard of the ‘past and its teachings. Unrepentant, the Indian government seems bent upon heaping up further indignities on the Sikhs by cunningly cloaking Punjab’s socio-religio politico-economic ills under the guise of law and order.

Punjab continues to be militarily occupied. Its borders remain sealed to outsiders. Western media, Amnesty International and now even the Canadian MP’s are purposefully kept out of ear reach of Punjab. News is scrupulously managed arranged and calibrated before being disseminated through government-controlled TV and radio stations,

Viewed alongside the blustering’s of the newly appointed self-worshipping police chief of Punjab Julio Ribeiro who has vowed to match gunmen bullet for bullet, hit-list with a hit-list, it is as if time warp had taken us back in time into the chaotic and unruly world of the Cowboys and Indians.

July 24, 1985 accords were heralded as a heal-all though they looked astonishingly like a retread of agreements of yester-years, The skeptics got proved right as they had held all along that the accords were a farce and a mere window dressing. For example

Faced with the dilemma of keeping covenant with the Sikhs by handing over Chandigarh to Punjab as promised on January 26th or risk the ire of Haryana who insisted on a collateral quid proquo. Mr. Prime Minister you chose going back on your solemn word to appease Hindu fundamentalists “Mathew. Commission’s finding that Hindi-speaking areas of Punjab could not be awarded to: Haryana if the principle of contiguity was to be upheld as spelled by the underwriters of the accords sent the Haryana rednecks into a maddening fury. Rather than grin and bear the Joss of some land, Haryana raised a howls if these lands were to be lost to some foreign power or end up under some alien ‘ownership.

For your part Mr. Prime Minister you decided to pass the buck by instructing the two leaders of Punjab and Haryana to reach an agreement between them on realignment of the borders. How can third parties be made privy to a contract or an accord without the express approval of both Mr. Longowal and yourself?

‘No wonder people ask the question: are we deaf of ear or blinded by misting of vision not to see these naked violations of the accord

*Perpetrators of the November 1984 Aceldama some of the suspect’s names read like the Who’s Who of Indian leadership who encouraged the orgy of violence are not only free but are actively sharing in running of the government. Law and ‘order which is so uppermost on your mind in Punjab is shamelessly ignored elsewhere which in the eyes of most Sikhs is symptomatic of double-standards.

Seen in this field of vision can you blame the Sikhs for feelings of injustice and oppression and for their loss of trust in their government, State and Center? Even the Vatican in a document titled Christian Freedom and Liberation justifies the defense of the right of the down-trodden to struggle against injustice and warns governments which have cannily cloaked their totalitarianism under the banner of democracy. The Vatican goes on to defend the right of the oppressed to revolt “as a last resort” to put an end of tyranny. No wonder the downtrodden continue to find solace in Voltaire’s words that “a little evil is often necessary for obtaining a great good.”

All Indians ought to take a serious introspective look and shake away the cobwebs blinding their eyes for a clearer view of the communal landscape. They must learn once again to feel the pricking of the heart over the pain and anguish of their Sikh brethren who are nowadays made to feel as if they were a historical aberration not deserving ‘of equality. Indian leadership may be accused of knowing great deal but understanding very little resulting in their unforgiving arrogance towards their vulnerable minorities,

Article extracted from this publication >> May 16, 1986