Dear Editor,
The year 1984 has been described as a year of ‘violence’ by the British Prime Minister — Margaret Thatcher with specific reference to Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination and attempts on her own life by the IRA.
It is regrettable, however, that Mrs. Thatcher only touched the ‘effect’ and not the ‘cause’ which is inseparable and _ integral underlying factor of the ‘effect.’
Rational diagnosis of the cause of ‘violence’ is essential for a person committed to decern the necessity, validity, justification and occurrence of violence.
This discussion pertains to ‘class violence’ only as distinct from ‘individual violence’ and we shall take the case of Mrs. Gandhi for its analysis, so affectionately chosen by Mrs. Thatcher.
Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination was condemned as a brutal act by almost all political leaders of the world, more vigorously by Mrs. Thatcher and the Secretary General of the U.N.O. We all share and endorse their view.
Let us now turn to the causes which led to this brutal act. We have abundant, irrefutable and tangible evidence at hand that speaks for itself and is free from any ambiguities whatsoever.
Mrs. Gandhi was guilty of gross misuse and abuse of political power placed in her by the people, in that she ordered more than a hundred thousand regular army troops coupled with an equal number of Para military troops, to crush and annihilate twelve million Sikhs living in Punjab state of India. Their only sin was that they were crusading for their basic socio-cultural and economic entitlements which were deliberately, purposely and persistently denied to these twelve million Sikhs for 37 years post-independence period. Their struggle was perfectly peaceful and democratic, and Mrs. Gandhi stubbornly, adamantly and disdainfully refused even to listen to them. Instead she embarked upon a full fraught open war upon these self-respecting, energetic patriotic and progressive people of the country and killed 50,000 of their innocent men; women and children by inhuman torturing unparalled in human history which even a totalitarian ruler would shirk to do. If anyone challenges these glaring facts as exaggeration, let him tell the government of India to place its cards on the table before the neutral observers to see things for themselves.
If any responsible person pleads that ‘violence’ was committed on Mrs. Gandhi who herself was a great killer of the century, he would not only be deceiving the world but also him or herself.
If the present trend of unilateral condemnation of ‘class violence’ by the rulers of the free world, without removing the valid causes, continues, violence will not only persist but is sure to escalate.
The world today is completely devoid of moral courage and there appears to be no responsible person who is morally strong enough to call the spade, a spade. This state of affairs is fast leading the world towards doom. Bikramjit 233 View mounts Drive Ottawa, Ontario Canada. K2E 6T5
Article extracted from this publication >> January 25, 1985
