by;Harbir Singh Mahwah, NJ
Punjab has been burning since 1984, when the Indian forces stormed Sikh’s holiest shrine “The Golden Temple’ in Amritsar, Punjab.
Instead of recognizing the political aspirations of the Sikhs, India has decided regardless of what the problems, it can be solved by simply applying ruthless forces and crushing the uprising for the interest of the ruling elites living in well protected fortresses of the capital Delhi.
Reportedly over 100,000 young Sikhs have been eliminated by the para military forces and police in Punjab in the name of containing terrorism since the reign of terror was let loose in 1984 and more than 50,000 Sikhs still could be languishing in jails.
The fire has now spread to two other ethnically distinct Indian States: Kashmir & Assam who 100 are now seeking autonomy and where too the Indian Army has been deployed in maximum strength to check the insurgency.
A country with such deep down recipes for success develops an in ability to challenge dogmas. Such countries feel no sense of urgency to change and eventually fall.
By simply elevating some relatively unknown Sikh entities and appointing them {o very visible positions in the Indian Government or within the ruling Congress party ranks and flashing their pictures across national and international newspapers and television news, India cannot ignore the hard realities nor it can solve the political problems; Over 75% of the Sikhs in Punjab boycotted the last general elections where Beant Singh got elected with a largely Hindu vote and where the Sikhs are in majority (over 60% of a 15 million total state population).
Abroad, all major Sikh associations boycott the India Day Parade in New York held every year, whereas over 5 to 10 thousand Sikhs attend the Sikh day parades all over N’America and in New York) to protest India’s continued violations of Sikh human rights and in support of political aspirations of the Sikhs.
The economic costs for sustaining this civil war for both India and the states effected by this turmoil has been staggering and the poor people of these states can hardly afford to wage such a prolonged civil war when the rest of world is rapidly moving ahead,
India must recognize that these states and the people are distinct: They have their own languages, culture, religion and have little in common with other states, other than being from the same Indian subcontinent. The ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Bombay in 1993, following demolition of Babni Masjid by RSS/ BJP supporters and that of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984, following Indira’s assassination by pro congress sup porters were certainly not the last and perhaps may be just the beginning of a countrywide civil war and eventual disintegration if India continues to apply old recipes.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 27, 1993
