Ever since his return from the U.S. A., Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao has stepped up state violence against the people of Punjab and Kashmir, Not a day passes when a dozen-odd Kashmir youths are killed by Indian security forces in contrived encounters. In Punjab, the process of picking up Sikh youths from their homes and doing away with them has been resumed, More than a score of Sikh (and even non Sikh) advocates have written to the Chief Justice of India’s Supreme Court alleging that the Punjab police is now after those advocates who at one or the other stage had defended Sikh militants in courts, Already three or four such advocates have “disappeared” and had actually been done to death by the Indian states fascist squads.

Bhai Kanwar Singh’s wife wrote from Patiala jail to the Jathedar of Akal Takhat recently that certain women prisoners, 100, had been taken out for elimination by the Indian police, and had actually been eliminated. One woman left a baby to the care of her fellow woman prisoner. Prime Minister Rao’s statements on Kashmir after his return from the U.S.A. smacks of a haughtiness not seen before. India’s minister of state for home affairs, Rajesh Pilot, has brazenly come out with a Statement that the Indian air force planes will bombard the Doda district in Kashmir, The Indian army is too embarrassed by the statement to explain the targets it has in mind while raining bombs in the district. Pilot is widely being spoken of as an Indian dove! India is in no mood to scrap TADA, its antiterrorist law which is one of the worst the world’s dictators could think of. All this, despite the fact that India’s own commission for minorities has called for abrogating the law “because it is directed mainly against the Indian minorities.” ‘The Indian state’s arrogance has grown many-fold “after Rao visited the U.S.A. for a week and had extensive discussions with President Clinton and his Officials, Ray’s and Rao’s appearances convinced officials that barking dogs seldom bite. Moreover, President Clinton has not lately spoken a word about the human rights question in Kashmir or Punjab. This talk is done mostly by Congressmen, senators, journalists and human rights activists, who do not directly control] the American state.

What has given heart to the violators of human rights in India is the stand the U.S. administration took in respect of the human rights situation in China. The Rao government is fully justified in concluding that President Clinton and his administration would look the other way if India stepped up rights violations in Kashmir and Punjab to crush the people of these States, The U.S. enunciation of its China policy has further encouraged India. It is high time the leaders of public opinion in the U.S.A. take note of the close link between Rao’s U.S. visit and the stepped up Indian state, violence in Kashmir and Punjab, The conclusion is inevitable that President Clinton and his officials have a hand in India’s cruel policy in Punjab and Kashmir. The rights activists have a special and urgent responsibility to expose Clinton’s encouragement of India’s fascist regime, and his direct responsibility in the Spilling of innocent blood by India in Punjab and Kashmir.

Article extracted from this publication >> June 17, 1994