Excellency: We are writing this Open Letter on behalf of the twenty million strong Sikh nation captured in India as a result of British Colonial “map making” in 1947. Ten years ago this month (June 1984) the Indian Government in a calculated move ordered an assault by the Indian Army on the paramount seat of the spiritual and temporal authority of the Sikh religion Sri Akal Takht Sahib Punjab) and 37 other historical Sikh Gurdwaras (shrines) in which thousands of Sikh men women and children were massacred.
The Indian Army operation was by no means undertaken as a result of law and order situation. It was a pre-meditated move by the ruling elite to break the spirit and political will of a besieged but defiant people who take the pride in their 500 years history of democracy piety tolerance equality and generosity and who do not accept a social order which calls for a feudal Caste System as a fundamental pillar of society.
The question of why the world did nothing to prevent the Holocaust in Nazi occupied Europe has haunted the civilized world. Tragically we now know the answer 0 that question. We know it was cowardice callousness and massive failure of the moral imagination in the civilized world that made the Holocaust possible. Have we learned nothing from that experience? If the memory of the Holocaust victims does not move us to respond to suffering and persecution in our own time what conceivable purpose does memory serve?
Is the mighty UN and its Secretary General helpless in the face of the multi-pronged strategy of the Indian Government to destroy the monotheistic Sikh minority physically economically and religiously? Will the UN members watch in silence the deliberate desertification of the Sikh Homeland as a result of diversion of the rive: water of the Punjab by the Indian Government to neighboring non-Sikh provinces? Is the world in general and the UN in particular going to remain silent and do nothing to stop the systematic “hunt” of Amritdhari (practicing) Sikhs in India who are being murdered in staged encounters” sanctioned by the Indian state as an acceptable means of combatting political dissent by its defiant Sikh Muslim and Christian minorities?
According to the recent (May 1994) Human Rights Watch/Asia report Dead Silence: The Legacy of Human Rights Abuses In Punjab page 20 “The Amritdhari Sikhs are considered suspect by the Indian police because of their orthodox observance and practice of the Sikh religion. When the police need to arrest someone to fulfill an arrest quota Amritdhari Sikhs are often the victims”
In its introduction (page 1) the above Human Rights Watch/Asia report states that 1993 brought to an end one of the bloodiest chapters in Indias post-independence history in which; “most of those killed were summarily executed in police custody in staged encounters. These killings became so common in fact that the term “encounter killing became synonymous with extra-judicial execution. The deliberate use of torture and execution as counterinsurgency lattices was not merely tolerated but actively encouraged by senior government officials.”
The report concludes (page 99) by calling for the criminal prosecution and punishment of police responsible for murder torture and other egregious abuses. Among those who should be investigated is DGP (presently Director General of Punjab Police\ KP
Surely the UN and its Secretary General can do better! The August body can at least:~
- Apply pressure on India to revoke its Draconian Laws like TADA NSA etc. which override the presumption of innocence guaranteed by International Law under which thousands of Sikh political Prisoners are languishing in numerous jails all over India
- Send UN Observers to monitor the situation and insist on free access for International Red. Cross Amnesty International Human Rights Watch/Asia and other Human Rights organizations into Punjab Khalistan.
- Ensure that the twenty million strong Sikh nation captive in India is allowed to exercise its right of self-determination a right enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.
For Information Please Call: Tel: (408) 727-3191. Fax: (408) 727-3192. Sponsoring Urganizations:1 The Sikh Cultural Society Inc. 95-30 118th SL Richmond Hill NY 11419 2. Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver BC Canada.
- Guru Nanak Sikh Temple Surrey BC Canada
- Sri Guru Singh Sabha Inc. Glen Rock NJ.
- Sikh Youth of America
- Guru Nanak Sikh Temple Livingston CA.
- World Sikh Organization New York.
- Sant Baba Prem Singh Sikh Cultural Society NY.
- Gurdwara Singh Sabha Dallas TX.
- Garden State Sikh Association Bridge Water NJ.
- Dashmesh Culture Center Calgary Alberta Canada.
- Guru Nanak Sikh Society of Delaware Valley NJ.
(Courtesy: The New York Times)
Article extracted from this publication >> July 1, 1994
