‘As a Sikh Lam grieved to learn: about the latest invasion of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Again India’s police and security forces have violated the sanctity of Sikh is m’s holiest shrine on the pretext of removing terrorists and extremists from within, Yet it seems that no offensive weapons or criminals were found to have been harbored there, Can we really believe that India’s internal intelligence system is so poor as to have misrepresented the perceived terrorism operating in the Golden ‘Temple? Or that the government has so little regard for the lives of ‘Sikh’s that Killing a few here and there on the basis of very slim or nonexistent evidence is just a lark. To them?

This second invasion of the temple within 2 years is apparently part of some governmental design to strike at the roots of our religion and destroy the sanctity of our holy places. What this plan has accomplished so far is this it has managed to destroy the faith of the Sikhs in the government that they chose so many years ago. It has delivered a clear and hateful message to the Sikhs that they are not guaranteed equal civil rights -they ‘cannot express their legitimate dissent with the policies of India’s central government. What we are seeing in the Punjab is tantamount to a policy of apartheid on religious grounds; a person’s freedom of expression is now predicated upon his faith and is conditional on his agreeing with the official policy.

These recent actions of the government have alienated all Sikhs and forced them to call for a nation where they can be free to practice their faith and say whatever they feel like. It is apparent to most Sikhs that this nation is not ever going to be India, and regretfully we have called for a country of our ‘own. The voices calling for Khalistan were only heard after operation Blue Star before that most Sikhs were willing to forgive and forget as we have always done in the past. Now it is clear that we forgave too often and forgot the atrocities committed against our faith in the past. Have gone unprotested the demand for Khalistan on April 13th ‘and its declaration on the 29th of April have also gone unnoticed. By curtailing the activities of Sikhs abroad, the Indian government has tacitly encouraged the Hindu militants outside Punjab to harass and intimidate the Sikhs.

The perfidy of branding all Sikhs as terrorists has exposed the ill-concealed hatred of Hindus for other faiths; India leads the world n state-sponsored terrorism, bringing thoughts of the Nazi Holocaust. In World War II to mind. In the past few years, the events in Assam, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Delhi have clearly demonstrated the intents of the government. India is currently supporting the terrorist freedom movement by Tamils in Ceylon and by doing so is breaking all international standards of decency. Perhaps the most damning evidence of India’s ‘cavalier attitude towards terrorism is its support of Muammar Khadafy of Libya. In open defiance of responsible international concern about increasing terrorist activity. ‘Worldwide, India has chosen to support Libya and condemn the United States for the recent U.S. Air strike against Libya. One of the tragedies of the recent struggles in India has been the communal violence inspired by the actions of the police. They have managed to draw a line in Punjab, forcing Hindus to fight against their Sikh neighbors. The creation of Shiv Sena, the Hindu militant organization in Punjab, is clearly the product of Delhi’s Hindu leaders trying to read further strife in Punjab and rally all Hindus behind their policies of hate. Unfortunately this plan of theirs has succeeded and they have turned the fight between the government and the Sikhs into a full scale battle between all Hindu and Sikhs. The hatred of India’s leaders for all religious minorities Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians has been apparent for a long time. Perhaps this feeling was latent in the Hindu majority; at any rate, it has been called out full force now, and al of India’s minorities is feeling the brunt of Hindu intolerance.

The Indian government has blamed Sikhs overseas for the demand for Khalistan. The bolster this claim, the government has used its leverage in Canada, England, and other countries to release anti-Sikh propaganda in these countries. As a result of this, the freedom of Sikhs in these countries has been threatened, and Sikhs can be arrested there solely upon the request of the Indian government. Because of this propaganda the horrors being committed in Punjab over the last year or so have not made their way into the press of those countries. The oppression of Sikh youth leaders and their murders by agents of the Brnals government Khalistan is now the top priority for Sikhs worldwide, After 39 years of suppression, discrimination, and silent suffering, Sikhs have been forced this drastic demand out of necessity. Sikhs would rather be a part of a small territory they can be free in than the larger country of India where they are prisoners. The Sikhs have ruled Punjab before and they will rule it again, During the Sikh rule of the Punjab, all religions were free to practice as they wished, and the history of Sikhs’ protection of the Hindus from Mughal oppression is well known to all. Even now minorities in the Punjab need not be afraid for their rights in Khalistan, The Khalsa are bound to protect the rights of everyone, as they have demonstrated time and again.

While I fully support the struggle of by brothers and sisters in Punjab for their freedom, I cannot. condone the bloodshed of innocents, no matter what their faith, These killings have been inspired by the Indian security forces, and misguide individuals have answered the call of the government to create divisiveness in Punjab by engaging in communal violence, The fight in Punjab did not start ‘out as a fight between Hindus and Sikhs, but that is what it has become. The government’s authorship is clear in this matter; they have started fights between Muslims and Hindus as well, and it is only a matter of time before the Christians in India become targets also. Luckily truth is on our side and with tolerance and patience we can above this tide of slander and devote more of our energies to eons ‘The Sikhs in the United States have to learn about what is going in the Punjab. The outpouring of outrage that occurred after Operation Blue Star was encouraging, but it has ceased. The Indian government’s war on the Sikhs has not ceased, though, and Rajiv Gandhi ‘must be taking heart at what seems like Sikh indifference to his policies of hate, Because of the propaganda war being waged by his government, it has become more difficult to learn about what is going on in India, but there are ‘ways to find out and to act upon this knowledge. We can work through the normal political channels in this country to alert our lawmakers of our plight. We need to utilize our financial and intellectual skills to affect ourselves, and campaign of support that was started almost two years ago. We need to expose the traitorous elements that have been exported from India to foul up our leadership here we all know of the problems that that have inexplicably plagued our freedom organizations.

I hope that the lack of action I am witnessing in this country is not really apathy or indifference, We cannot afford these vices as Sikhs today. Our very survival as a religion depends upon our unflagging devotion to our brothers! Struggle for dignity and freedom in Punjab. To kill a tree one must only stifle the roots, and surely our Toots are in danger of being smothered in Punjab. If we allow ourselves to drift into selfish ignorance of the problems in Punjab, we will pay dearly. We will have forgotten our noble traditions, we will have dishonored our ancestors, and we will have lost the right to call ourselves Sikhs. Although many of us now live abroad and have lost our ties to Punjab, it is our motherland and we should never, ever forget where we came from.

Sincerely,

Harmeet K. Dhillon

Article extracted from this publication >> May 30, 1986