Langowal then referred to the Government’s decision to reduce the Sikhs in the Army to less than two per cent and attributed it to continued discrimination and distrust against the Sikhs, who have not only proved to be among the very best soldiers in the Country’s defense, but also carry the most outstanding and the most distinguished record during the freedom struggle. Quoting from a report of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, he provided us with the following figures: Out of two thousand one hundred and twenty five martyrs, one thousand five hundred and fifty (seventy five per cent) were Sikhs. Out of two thousand six hundred and forty six, deported to Andman (Kalapani) two thousand one hundred and forty seven (eighty per cent) were Sikhs. Out of one hundred and twenty seven Indians who were sent to the gallows, ninety two (eighty per cent) of them were Sikhs. In Subash Bose’s I.N.A. Army of twenty thousand, twelve thousand were Sikhs. Not only did India’s two per cent Sikhs make by far the highest contribution to the country’s freedom, but they also maintained the same tempo even after the independence of the country. Today, more than one third of the Country’s population lives on the grain produced and supplied from the land of Punjab, which was a deficit state with its barren lands at the time of partition of the country.
The most important stride that the nation has made since freedom was the ‘green-revolution’, which is in the main a Sikh contribution from Punjab State, in which the investments from Central Government have been Iess than one per cent of the National Budget. In spite of this impressive track record of diligence, courage and patriotism, Sikhs have been the victims of continued discrimination and suspicion since Independence. Firstly, the government denied the linguistic status of Punjabi-speaking state, a basic constitutional right enjoyed by all other communities in the country. When at last the Suba was formed after fourteen years of frustrating and humiliating delay, we were again deliberately deprived of a ‘capital for the state’ and some Punjabi speaking districts. Besides, Central Government took control of our state’s power and water supply headwork’s. Why was Punjab the only state to be discriminated against, on these counts? Is it a coincidence or is it because it happens to be the land of the Sikhs? One of his aides added that it is this basic discrimination against the Sikhs which alienates the Punjabi-speaking race from the rest of Indian society. Sant Langowal condemned the recent unwarranted and inhuman police firing on 4th April ‘Rasto Roko’ agitation, killing 24 innocent peaceful Satyagrahis. He strongly resented the Government’s suggestion of a foreign hand in the Akali movement. He condemned violence and strongly rejected Khalistan theory which he said, was a ghost movement. A one-man hoax of Jagjit Singh Chauhan receiving undue and deliberate publicity by the press and the Government to discredit the Sikhs and their patriotism and to frustrate a peaceful Morcha for fair demands. He said, it is a well-known fact, that Sant Bindrawale and his Dal-Khalsa were brought into politics by the Congress to confront the Akali party. He explained that the word Nation is a mistranslation of the word quom. He explained, India is a Nation of various races and quoms. Sikhs are one of them. On Hindu-Sikh conflict, he said our demands and Morcha are directed to the Government. Instead of joining us for mutually beneficial demands, the Punjabi Hindus started confronting our Morcha and played cry-wolf to turn our non-Punjabi Hindu brothers away from us. I would strongly welcome and support a committee to investigate the factions responsible for the present day Hindu-Sikh tension in Punjab and Haryana.
