One area in which the Indian Government seems to be really good at is the duplicity and contradictions it shows in its actions, Diplomacy is one thing but calculated misrepresentation of the actions and stands taken by the Indian Government exhibit stark duplicity.

* India accuses Pakistan of harboring Sikh militants, yet openly hosts Tamil militants, Most Tamil guerrilla leaders live in Southern India and most of their statements are issued to the press and media from Madras, in India.

* India accuses Pakistan of training and supplying arms to Sikh militants, On the other hand, it is well known fact that India trained and armed the Mukhti Bahini prior to the Bangladesh war. General ‘Suhbeg Singh was decorated for leading and doing an exemplary job. There are now verified reports of Tamil guerrillas being trained and supplied in southern India Where do you think the antiaircraft guns used by the Tamil guerrillas against Sri Lankan air force come from? According to a report in the Washington Times the “Tamil terrorist factions are being supported by three countries with close ties to the Soviet Union — North Korea, Libya and India”.

* India has always harped on the US presence in Vietnam, yet it refuses to condemn the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

* India condemns the South African government for not allowing free press in South Africa, yet thinks nothing of banning free reporting from the state of Punjab where government is ruthlessly trying to suppress the Sikhs.

* India actively supports a homeland for the Palestinian people, yet charges with sedition (punishable by death) any Sikh who even talks about a Sikh homeland,

* India accuses Pakistan of trying to build a nuclear bomb, yet it itself openly carried out an underground nuclear explosion over a decade ago. The Indian politicians have the gaul to talk about a preemptive strike against Pakistan’s nuclear facilities.

* India accuses the US, Canadian and UK governments of not curbing the activities of its law a biding Sikh citizens, yet it has many of its ‘own agents operating freely in these countries.

India has been projected as the “land of nonviolence”, yet its ‘government uses most brutal methods in dealing with various minority groups. Many of the same Indians, who advocated nonviolence when they themselves are in power, now resort to brute force when they themselves are in power. Many have referred to the caste system as a hidden but exaggerated form of apartheid.

* The Indian Government spent a significant amount of resources in trying to sue Union Carbide for the industrial accident at Bhopal, yet refuses to bring any of those responsible for the November 1984 ‘Sikh massacres to justice. Instead it cleverly changed some clauses in the constitution to bury the Mishra Inquiry report (even though the hearings were prejudiced to suppress any evidence against those responsible for thousands of deaths),

* Rajiv Gandhi and other Indian leaders had the audacity to condemn the reporting of the Pan Am hijacking at Karachi. They labeled it as “controlled” by the Pakistani Government. Consider the fact that there was filing of independent reports from Karachi, to the ban on foreign journalists from Punjab (for over TWO YEARS) and the hypocrisy of these leaders becomes amply evident.

The gullible Sikh leadership ‘was duped into believing that they would be better off within a “united” India. Ironically, many ‘Sikhs still do not see the writing on the wall and wish that the problems facing their community in India would just go away. While ‘we all can cite examples of a few good, decent Hindu friends, the Hindu community as a whole is basically very hypocritical and, as history has shown, cannot be trusted, It is about time that all Sikhs get involved in understanding the issues affecting the future of their children, grandchildren, and their future generations. It is the surest way to avoid getting duped yet again.

Article extracted from this publication >> October 3, 1986