As the Indian elections approach, the tone and tenor of Rajiv Gandhi’s rhetoric assumes familiar hues and color, He seems to be adopting the well tested elections strategy that he learnt from his mother Indira Gandhi, of shouting hoarse that the country’s security is endangered by internal enemies, of picking on a minority community (unfortunately Sikhs for the last two elections) as the root cause of India’s problems; and of blaming the parliamentary opposition for the failure of government’s policies.
Consider Rajiv Gandhi’s recent utterances for instance. He has dubbed the entire opposition as ‘anti-national’ when it protested the dismissal of the Karnataka state government led by Janata Party. He has branded his bosom pal Arun Nehru, Who has since joined the opposition and the highly respected lawyer Jethmalani as the ones working to breakup India. He crossed the threshold of sanity when he tried to identify the entire opposition with his mother’s assassins.
What is most disturbing to us is Gandhi’s vitrolic statement’s that the Sikh victims of fake police encounters and other innocents being detained in Punjab jails (4,835 as in March 1989) are terrorists. Sikhs and their gurdwaras both inside and outside Punjab are being held as pawns in his ruthless and unprincipled drive for power. Indeed there are freedom fighters in Punjab who are resisting government oppression. But to hold an innocent population hostage at large for personal political machinations is most reprehensible to say the least.
As a scholar commented the other day if Gandhi won’t spare his kith and kin for the sake of winning the next elections why are the Sikhs surprised at his utterances. It is apparent that he will not stop short of anything to win the next elections even if it takes another blood bath out of Sikhs living in India.
Why are we belaboring this point so much? We are clearly concerned about the safety, welfare and the economic wellbeing of the Sikh community in India in the coming months. We cannot and will not tolerate another Ghallughara.
The memories of Sikh massacres from June 1984 onwards are clearly etched in our minds and we call upon the conscience of the world to nip the evil policy of using a minority for electoral gains in the bud.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 28, 1989
