President Clinton’s letter to Congressman Gary A Condit is a welcome response to several Congressmen’s concern about the situation in Punjab The group had pointed out to the President persistent violation of human rights of Sikhs by Indian security forces and had pleaded for a more activist US. role. The group had specifically suggested a U.N.-sponsored plebiscite in Punjab ‘and had moved a resolution in the house along these lines. The President noted in his reply to the letter that he was aware of the chronic tensions between the Indian government and the Sikh militants. The President shared the Congressmen’s desire for a peaceful solution that protects Sikh rights. Clinton also said that he was pleased that there had been some recent improvements in the Sikh situation. A series of elections with increasing voter tum-out since 1992 had restored local self-government the level of violence had declined and the federal Indian authorities had begun to focus on ways to end police abuses the President noted.

The President’s observations indicate that the U.S. government has started rethinking about the Sikh situation in India It is no longer being taken in by the Indian propaganda machine that the problem in Punjabis one of terrorism which needs to be  Suppressed. The reference to “Sikh rights are a clear suggestion that the Sikh militants are fighting for the committees rights which have been denied to it in that country. it must be noted at the same time that the President is not fully informed about the Sikh perceptions and the ground realities in Punjab. It is wrong to say that there is any “improvement” in the situation. A brutal armed suppression of a community cannot by any stretch of imagination produce the so-called improvement. India refuses to pull out its army from Punjab. Several thousand Sikhs have been killed torture imprisonment and a killing of Sikh youths is rampant and hundreds of Sikh women have been raped. This is hot improvement but merely reflects the silence of the graveyard.

It is equally wrong to say that any degree of local self-governance has been permitted in Punjab. The government in Punjab is representative of not more than 10% upper castes Punjabi Hindus who alone voted two years ago. The President Should know that the upper castes Hindus are in a miniscule minority of 15% in Punjab The fact that the chief minister and many of his ministerial colleagues happen to be Sikhs does not alter the situation outlined above Beant Singh and his colleagues are mere puppets who have no support base among Sikhs They have been drafted to perform the dirty work of massacres of Sikhs and to mislead the world about the Punjab Situation. The political polarization between the Hindu minority and the Sikh majority remained unchanged even in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha election where there was greater voter turn-out.

There is no such thing as local self-government in Punjab. The institution of Panchayats has nothing to do with politics. The Panchayats have been in existence since times in memorial. Earlier these were set up by the local village population. Since 1956 these institutions have been elected by voters governed by an Indian law. The Panchayats in Punjab are devoid of any political power and are not comparable with any organ of local self-government in the U.S.A. As such any talk of restoration of local self-governance in Punjab is wide off the mark.

It is equally wrong to say that the federal Indian government has begun to focus on ways to end police abuses in Punjab. K.P.S.Gill has been the symbol of India’s repression on Sikhs and he has been reported to Punjab as its police chief for one year more even after his extended tenure came to an end more than a year ago The police abuses have started covering new grounds Such as the branding of women on their faces What is more shuddering is the fact that the government authorities have defended the police action. The editor of a Sikh newspaper Aj Di Awaz who has been exposing police excesses has been arrested by dubbing him a Pakistani agent.

The President needs to be informed about all these aspects of the Punjab situation. He also needs to be apprised of the fresh assaults on the Sikh rights by the Indian government. The Haryana chief minister says that Prime Minister Rao has “detected” Beant Singh to resume work on the S.YL. canal. This is being done in flagrant violation of Sikhs’ human and economic rights India has already taken away more than 70% of Punjab Rivers” water to render the Sikh region barren. An Overwhelming majority of Sikhs rely on river-based agriculture for their sustenance. Congressman Condit and his colleagues deserve thanks and support in their mission of securing justice to Sikhs. They rightly seek a U.N. supervised opinion poll in Punjab to give to Sikhs an option to go in for independence in the same way as the people of Kashmir want such a right. There is no other way of protecting Sikh rights. The President needs to be convinced about the inevitability of a free Punjab.

Article extracted from this publication >> January 28, 1994