India has vast size and resources. It maintains one of the largest standing armies in the world. Sikhs in India are less than two percent; Their population in Punjab is even smaller. Yet India Continues to treat the Sikh issue as its major International concern, Whether it is the summit conference of non-aligned countries of bilateral discussions with any country, Delhi’s representatives must make mention of the Sikh issue in one form or the other, Prime Minister Rao’s recent visit to France was no exception to the rule. A few days earlier home minister S.B.Chavan was in London to sign an extradition treaty with the U.K. The main thrust of the so called treaty is reflective of India’s cagemness to take away all those ‘Sikhs living in the U.K. who propagate Khalistan. Sidharth Shankar Ray’s appointment as India’s new ambassador to Washington 1s also guided by the primary concern to counter the growing public opinion in the west against the violation of human rights of Sikhs and others by India. It was first Indira Gandhi and then Rajiv Gandhi who geared India’s foreign policy against the Sikhs, The latter went to the extreme position of introducing anti-Sikh bias even in the country’s external trade, He contracted to purchase certain helicopters merely on a word from the then U.K. prime minister that the unit was sick, The only quid pro quo was the prime minister’s ‘statement against the Sikhs living in the U.K. This obsession with Sikhs has been retained by Narasimha Rao who otherwise has been ‘seeking to distance from the Nehru dynasty’s policies. Ray was the most obedient servant of the Nehru dynasty and he caused the deaths of hundreds of Sikhs in Punjab mostly in contrived encounters. He earned the nickname of Butcher of Punjab. His appointment clearly shows the unbroken chain of India’s foreign policy under the different regimes. The Indian diplomacy vis-a-vis the Sikhs rests on the Gocblian thesis of repeated lies getting converted into truths. India describes Sikhs as terrorists. The implication is that Sikhs have no cause to espouse. The Punjab problem, according to Delhi, is the creation of Pakistan which manages to supply weapons to Sikhs in the state. India does not forget to bracket the alleged terrorism of Sikhs with the trafficking of drugs by them. The UK India extradition treaty refer to the mechanism of extraditing those involved in terrorist and drugs to either country. The twin phenomenon is highlighted because it is good salesmanship, The people in the west view international terrorism as a byproduct of drug trafficking. Therefore calculated efforts are made by India to create an image of Sikhs as drug-cum-gun runners indistinguishable from other mafias operating in the west. That is precisely why the Indian intelligence agencies had planted stories on the media that drugs in addition to weapons, had been seized from the followers of Sant Jamail Singh Bhindranwale in the wake of the operation “Blue Star” in June 1984. This canard was, of course, contradicted subsequently by the Indian army authorities themselves. But the Goeblian line of propaganda has not been given up by India as is clear from the wording of the India-U.K. treaty, The world one day will realize that the boot really was on the other leg. It is India’s police authorities who deal in and benefit from the international Smuggling of prohibited drugs, The case in point is India’s blatant retention on of Swaram Singh as the police chief of Jagraon district despite his proven involvement in the smuggling of harmful drugs. The charge against Swaran Singh has been made by the Indian come agencies themselves and not by any Sikh group. But the Indian prime minister quietly defends this drug smuggler and keeps him as chief of an important district even after his retirement from service. This is not an isolated case of a drug smuggler getting India’s patronage. Nearly half of Punjab’s Sikh-dominated village panchayats have been repeatedly passing resolutions and sending them to the Indian authorities seeking a total ban on the government sponsored sale of liquor and other drugs in villages so that the youths are weaned from the consumption of harmful drugs and intoxicants, What is the Indian authorities reaction to these resolutions? Negative. In fact, India makes it a point to officially supply intoxicants to Sikhs and other people of Punjab and has posted its security forces at the sale points so that no one dismantles these sale points. The recent killing of Punjab’s excise and taxation commissioner at Patiala by Sikh militants was the culmination of the Sikh resistance against the use of drugs and other intoxicants, Yet India tells lies to the world that Sikhs are drug-runners and terrorists. Sikhs, however, have never disowned the fact that they are waging an armed struggle to free their land from India’s armed occupation. This struggle is as holy as the freedom struggle waged by India itself against the British occupation of India or Pakistan’s occupation of Bangladesh. Sikhs are bound to cross swords with India which is armed to the teeth and has stationed half a million highly armed security forces in Punjab for more than 10 years. Sikhs are, of course, Waging an unequal war against an unscrupulous enemy which does not stick to the rules of the war. It picks up Sikh youths and kills them in fake encounters. This blatant violation of Sikhs human rights is what has caused international concern. But India is trying to counter the charges by making false allegations against the Sikhs. It is this trend that will have to be defeated by the Sikhs living in the western countries in cooperation with international human rights organizations and other decent persons.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1992
