Sir,
The murder of Manchanda the manager of a radio station in Punjab (June 5) was particularly heinous with his body recovered in one town and his head dumped in another There is no excuse for such killings A Sikh group claimed responsibility. The report deserves wider and critical comment. If a political cause is noble it is all the more important that the methods used for its fulfillment be equally admirable. Sikhs have fought desperate battles for survival in the past but never have any brutalized or killed innocents; even their enemies concede that.
I also recognize that the Sikhs are often wrongfully blamed for killing innocents when the police army or government agents are responsible. Anyone can call in and claim responsibility for the killings in the name of a Sikh militant group. Nevertheless such crimes as the killing of Manchanda are not defensible and must be forthrightly repudiated.
No matter what the provocation or how tempting the alternative only those ends are worth the struggle and only those methods deserve our respect which are consistent with the teachings of Sikhism. There is never any reason to depart from those principles otherwise the goal however worthy will not be worth the attaining.
I.J.Singh
NY.NY
Article extracted from this publication >> July 3, 1992
