The World Sikh News presents excerpts from “A White Paper on The State Terrorism in Punjab,” the original version in Punjabi was released by the Dash Punjab Student’s Union, in November 1989. The World Sikh News translated the document in English so that the information could be shared with the world. The full paper will be published as a booklet soon. We are grateful to the Sponsors of this Special Supplement who have helped us bring the horrifying story to our readers.
The present White Paper is limited from the time the Central Government assumed direct control over Punjab in May 1987 to the present time, It has documented 100 cases of fake encounters and 25 cases of atrocities on women. They expose a pattern of state repression,” The situation in Punjab has not changed since the time this paper was released despite a change of government. It has deteriorated further. None of the policemen named in this Paper or in other reports of human right organizations have been punished or censured in any way, fake encounters are still continuing, the innocent still languish in jails, women are still harassed, extortion by Police in various disguises is still the norm and thus continues the program against a brave and numerically small nation. The following description excerpted from the paper describes Punjab since the last 5 years to today:
“Punjab is facing a time of massive repression. The rulers of the day are using multifaceted strategies to crush the pride and the aspiration for freedom of the Punjabi people. This is not the first time that Punjab is facing the brunt of tyranny. Many a Vajidas and a Mir Manu came as did Lakh pat or a Dyer, but history shows that everyone failed miserably and died like a dog. The present rulers are not unaware of these historical truths, but if despite this they are not stopping then one thing is clear, they want to show that they can be worse than even these historical figures. They are particularly proud of their power, their Machiavellian techniques and their butchers. It was because of the same false sense of pride that they destroyed the Akal Takhat, burnt the Sikh Reference Library and sent a known butcher Siddharth Shankar Ray to Punjab.”
The paper also states, “We would like to create a society in which people are not killed in fake police encounters and do not suffer lifelong humiliation. The State has through its customary coercion turned humans to sub humans. Through an unfettered rule, we want to see the Khalsa (Pure) person.” We will let the facts speak for themselves.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 6, 1990
