I am writing to you on behalf of myself and my fellow Indians who are incarecratcd in detention facilities throughout California. We are all members of the Sikh religion. Prior to entering the United States we all lived in the Punjab region of India. This area is located in the extreme North, and is bordered by Pakistan on the West and China on the North and East. Sikh people comprise approximately 2% of the population of India. We strongly follow the teachings of our religion, which includes wearing turbans and not cutting our hair. We believe in a strong work ethic, which can be observed in our part of the country by our agricultural production that feeds approximately 60% of the people of India. I mention this to qualify ourselves as enterprising people who are not looking for a handout we have all come to America seeking the high ideals the United States promises to suffering people. The promises of the freedom to believe in God, and the right to raise our families without fear of persecution I use the word persecution because this is exactly what is going on in India. All Sikhs, since 1947 when India won its independence from Bnitain, have been subject to illegal searches, torture, imprisonment and death. All of these things at the hands of the Government armies and police. Every one of us has family and friends who have suffered these injustices, our private lives are completely destroyed. The police take our women and rape them; they imprison our elders and extract thousands of dollars in extortion money for their release. The future of all Sikhs in India appears grim as long as the govt. promotes the ongoing persecution of our people. _ The Indian Government is Hindu, and this religion comprises about 6568% of the people. They verbally state that they honor and respect secularism for all people. The remainder of the country is about 20% Chastain, and 11% Muslim. As the world saw in December 1992, a Muslim temple in the state of Utar Pradesh was attacked and destroyed by Hindu fanatics. Over one thousand people were killed throughout India during the attack and during subsequent raids by religious fanatics. Government officials openly stated their disagreement with the Hindu actions, however, they performed no outward actions to waylay the activities of the Hindu fanatics. In fact, it had been noted by many news agencies throughout the world, that army/police members allowed the temple destruction without taking steps to thwart the movement. Sikh people recognized these actions as the ongoing suppressive program of the Hindu government to control all religious entities in India who are not Hindu.
In 1984, the world first saw the persecution and destruction of Sikh people, when the Indian govt. raided the Golden Temple in Amritsar and killed many Sikh men and women. These killings included the deaths of the elderly and children. They qualified their actions by claiming the temple was harboring militant activists. If this is true, what reason could they have for the senseless murders of innocent people? The Government controls all media sources, so the world does not hear the truth of the persecution occurring in India.
From 1984 to the present, Sikhs have had to either fight for their lies or flee the country [0 survive. A long held belief by all Sikhs has been that America was a country which was founded by people who suffered persecution. America was a country which provided the freedom to worship as one chose without fear of torture or death, or the raping of their wives and Sisters. For these beliefs, Sikhs have endured many hardships to escape to America.
I am writing to you now to ask for that freedom. Many Indian men have been held in detention facilities for over 17 months. It is a great hardship on our families and ourselves to remain in jail for so long a time. We respectfully request a review of our situations and provide an expedient answer. I would greatly alleviate the overall wellbeing of all Indian men and their families if we could hear a decision on our request for political asylum.
Karnail Singh & Others
Kern County Jail
Bakersfield, CA.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 15, 1993
