Responding to the letter initiated by Rep. Norman D. Shumway and supported by sixteen other Congressmen, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. Vernon Walters felt that it would be “inappropriate to single out the Indian government for human rights violations on the basis of allegations for which a solid body of evidences yet to be established”. The concern of the Ambassador not to proceed from the premises, the authenticity of which is yet ‘to be established is understandable. But it would also be equally inappropriate to dismiss the allegations simply because the government of India summarily rejects them as unfounded.
It is important to know whether there is any substance in the allegations or whether the Indian government is deceiving the world by concealing the facts. Sikhs are an important religious minority, comprising over fourteen million people, who subscribe to the concept of brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God and have a glorious history of establishing a truly secular kingdom. But, today, they find themselves in that unenviable situation where the champions of human rights peevishly accept the fictional yarns spun out by the arrogant oppressor and show cynical scepticism towards their systematic persecution. The diffidence in unveiling the truth does not auger well for the free world because when human rights are strangled anywhere, it is the spirit of freedom that suffers everywhere. It murders some fraction of each individual’s fundamental rights. It strengthens and emboldens the forces that owe allegiance to fascism and totalitarianism.
The basic issues involved in the Sikh plight trancend territorial loyalties. A badly bruised segment of humanity is wailing for succor. It would be suicidal to grow oblivious of their pitiful exhortations. It is not necessary to accept their version on its face value. Subject it to the most rigorous judgment. Don’t believe when they say that Sikh youths are being ruthlessly hunted and hounded. Don’t believe when they talk of State terrorism. Don’t believe when they read out a long list of discriminations or of the plunder of their homeland, Punjab’s natural resources. In short don’t believe in any of their allegations. But at the same time don’t also believe when the Indian government says that Sikhs are “terrorists” and “extremists”. Don’t believe when it says that human rights of Sikhs are not being violated and don’t believe in a host of other fabricated stories that are maliciously circulated to mislead the world.
Right approach would be to devise a methodology to arrive at the truth. A team of impartial investigators need to be posted in Punjab. Let them study the genesis of the Sikh problem and find for themselves the total breakdown of the judiciary. Let them first hand watch the gruesome reality of a police state in its ugliest manifestation. Let them discover the ravages done by the communal mobs actively supported by the ruling party functionaries and the law enforcing agencies. Let them study the psychology of the Indian Prime Minister who described the indiscriminate massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs after his mother’s assassination as the “inevitable tremor after the fall of a big free”, and ponder why no such “tremor” followed the assassination of such colossal giants as Abraham Lincoln, 4. Kennedy or even that of Mahatma Gandhi who was regarded by Hindus as the liberator of India and revered as the Father of Nation.
Mr. Vernon Walters’ concern for a “solid body of evidence”/is both legitimate and important. But to admit Indian government’s carefully worded explanations is to foredoom justice. In the interest of justice, it is imperative to steer clear of the infection suffered by the State Department which habitually and blindly repeats whatever brie handed overt it by the Delhi rulers, The Sikh persecution needs no Sherlock Holmes to unearth the evidence. It is there all over the Punjab State, clamoring to be collected by persons with a conscience.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 11, 1987
