Berkley Ca: Sponsored by Hindu Pandits like Ashfaque Swapan from India West a lecture at the Berkely Student Union Monday Nov 30 became the site of an unplanned melee that saw a Police escort required for the safety of one of the speakers and-an audience member. The two planned Speakers for the lecture were Mr (Comrade) Jagjeet Singh Anand Jamana the other Mr. Laksma Pandita who is professor and Hindu Pundit from Kashmir.

Mr Jagjeet came into the hall around 6:30 to give his lecture. Upon entering he was handed a flyer that told of his nefarious activities in India and the Punjab Particularly When confronted with his own ideas on Kashmir Punjab Sovereignty he appeared to grow increasingly angered as he read. Then when he began his lecture he Started with comments against those things on the flyer instead of the advertised lecture. He started answering the com on the flyer and asked the audience if they had even more questions before he started talking he was prepared to answer.

The audience who were 90 % Sikh and Kashmiris asked “Are you here to answer the flyer or are you going to speak on a particular issue?”

When he said he would answer their questions nearly every hand was raised. They asked “What do you think about the independence movement of the Sikhs and Kashmiris?” “What do you think about the demand of Khalistan and the continued Human Rights violations in Kashmir and Punjab?”

He was asked to comment if he “Supported the Bluestar Operation” and what was his feelings on the Plebiscite and the failure of India to allow Amnesty and other Human Rights organizations free access to Punjab and Kashmir to learn the reality of the situation and why Nawan Jamana his newspaper spoke the government line And many other questions.

Then instead of answering directly he began by saying “I believe in the Indian Constitution I have full confidence in the constitution there is no demand for Khalistan and no Punjabi is really for Khalistan. The Punjabis a part of India It cannot be divided. Furthermore the Indian Army is there under the Indian Constitution. He then started giving his life history. The crowd grew angry and someone shouted out” Were not here to listen to your biography”.

“Start talking about the main issue stick to your topic.””

Instead Mr. Anand continued in the same vein obviously growing irritated and frustrated by the steady stream of questions from the crowd who continually interrupted him as he spoke stating that he was now avoiding the questions that he had asked for.

Meanwhile the stage managers organizers were also getting involved in the arguments as they made comments that some in the crowd were intentionally causing interruptions to the meeting. This also seemed to inflame the crowd.

The whole meeting was coming close to a melee when a Sikh lady asked the question that was the final straw. She stood and calmly asked Mr. Anand while you Comrade state your complete faith in the Indian Constitution and the Indian Army Sikh women are being Raped in Punjab what Comrade what would be your loyalty to the Constitution if your daughter were the one being Raped?

Before Mr. Anand could speak a Hindu man from the rear of the hall called out “Why should the Comrades daughter be the issue here. Why not ask this lady about her daughter being raped?” At this point it became obvious that the planned lecture was not to be. Sikh and Kashmiris in the audience rushed to this man. They asked him “Who the Hell are you to ask such a thing?” How dare you insult this woman everyone here has the right to ask any question? Especially in America we can question those who come propounding the great Indian Democracy to the western countries!”

The man’s companions then hurried to get him out of the hall and to the elevator where this reporter tried to get his name and to take his photo to no avail. The man’s companions told him not to speak and one of them tried to take the camera from this reporter. He put his hand over the camera lens to keep the young man’s photo from being taken. The attempted to mishandle this reporter and made several threats against him. At the same time one could hear the crowd shouting slogans of” Khalistan Zindabad Go Back Jagjeet Anand and Down with the Indian Government.”

Unbeknownst to the audience Security had been called and the Police came immediately and started escorting Mr. Anand and the young man out of the Hall. The organizers trying to call things to a close had a hard time getting Mr. Anand to stop talking and leave.

It was notable that an Indian Comrade one who has been a big supporter of CPIM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and a supporter of Russia during their invasion of Afghanistan is allowed to come and speak at Berkely against self-determination demand and the independence movement of Sikhs and Kashmiris which is going on in India.

2nd this program was organized by Hindu Pandit Kashmiris who deny that they even understand Punjabi. This brings the question to mind of Why would they have Mr. Anand come to speak on the Punjab issue No doubt there is a conspiracy at work.

Dr. Amarjit Singh Panthak Committee Spokesperson alleged that Mr. Anand is part of a greater issue having to do with the newly appointed ambassador to the US SS Ray whose program is to defame the Sikh movement and the reality of the Human Rights violations that are going on in the Punjab and that to damage the movements efforts in the US by confusing people about what is going on with Sikhs and Kashmiri demands He said “we will chase them down wherever they go. We are determined not to let those such as Anand speak on these controversial issues that are still under debate. “

Mr. Anand should be prepared for such confrontations wherever he may go in the US. Especially if he defends the actions of the Indian Govt and their police and their untrue stories in front of Sikh and Kashmiri audiences who can safely voice their dismay under the freedoms granted them in the US unlike their brothers and sisters in the Punjab whose very silence speaks volumes about their repression.

Mr. Pandita gave a brief history of Kashmir claiming that although there was a UN resolution regarding the Kashmir plebiscite any time they wanted  he stated that this was not an important issue now because after 1947 and after the UN resolutions regarding elections many elections had been held under the Indian Constitution showing that Kashmiris have total confidence in the Indian Constitution so there is no value in the UN resolution whatsoever And further he blamed Pakistan for their role in interfering in the internal problems in India. He said Kashmir is part of India and he maintained it always would be.

The people had many questions for these gentlemen and it was decided that after the lecture there would be a special question and answer period. Unfortunately although the audience was prepared to ask questions the Speakers were not totally prepared to answer.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 11, 1992