We begin the 7th year of service to the community with a fervent prayer that this year we report to you that the oppression of the Sikh has ended —that the Sikh nation is free!

For six long years the WSN has been in the fray against India propaganda and disinformation. Many malicious lies have been in bare but the effort must be redoubled. The Sikhs of America need to be thanked and congratulated for their heroic effort of keeping the paper going against such great odds. The spirit of the Khalsa ha always prevailed despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

We must move steadily towards our goal keeping in mind that we live in an age where communication and information are vital in ever: sphere of life. Historically, the Sikhs have short sighted refused to recognize that the media are powerful tools which can be used nation building. Several attempts were made even as early as 1876 t establish Sikh newspapers but they failed for lack of support. Th Ahluwalia Gazette, the Khalsa, Akal Parkash and the Khalsa Advocate made brief appearances around the turn of the century in Punjab an utter lack of interest saw their early demise. At that time only few Sikhs were educated and fewer still knew and cared about the wellbeing of Sikhs as a nation. This was a mere 50 years after The Empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh straddled the northern part of th ‘subcontinent.

In this age of communications we are constantly bombarded with messages, Billions of dollars are spent on advertising alone. Most of these messages are wasteful of your time but some are definitely harmful, One such pernicious campaign launched by Rajiv Gandh was fairly, successful in branding Sikhs as ‘terrorists’ and in disguising the Nazi like oppression of the people of Punjab as a law and order problem.

WSN has taken upon itself to expose the lies and half-truths put out by the Indian government. No foreign media persons or those front human rights organisations are allowed into Punjab or Kashmir Sadly, WSN is alone in regularly exposing the propaganda. The focus has been on bringing to the world’s notice human rights violations like extra judicial killings, tortures and gang rapes in police custody Amnesty International and PHRO reports have been published a Length. Eminent US Congressmen have used WSN reports to present House Resolutions 4641 this year and 1076 last year to stop develop mental aid to India. Top lawyers in this country and even as far away 8s Australia have used our reports in political asylum cases.

We have made a humble start in providing more general news of interest to Sikhs and we plan to add several new features in 1991.

In the six years World Sikh News has become a part of the Sikh Movement for freedom. Many people realise this but unfortunately ‘many still do not. While a few have devoted all their tan man and dhan for the cause, fingers have been pointed at these very individuals for being partisan. We admit we are subservient to a cause and that cause will always come before everything else.

WSN is far from perfect and it has a long way to go. Healthy criticism and suggestions are what we seek. We know there are many in the guise of Sikhs who go about telling you to reject WSN outright. We also know they do not have the interest of the Sikh nation at heart Out individual good can come only if we zealously guard our collective good.

We are the only bilingual Sikh newspaper in the world and the only alternative to Indian govt promoted antiSikh newspapers in the US.

To strengthen and permanently establish WSN is the challenge before the nation. We are certain it shall be met.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 21, 1990