By Rashmin Kaur Chhokar

Once again Sikh University students got together to discuss the issues concerning the Punjab crisis. This Panel discussion took place at San Jose State University on April 26, 1993 organized by the Sikh Students Association on campus. The three speakers ranged from Gurman Singh, graduated from U.C. Berkely, Jagdip Singh Sekhon, law student from U.C.Dayis, and Amarpal Kaur Dhaliwal, P.H.D, Candidate at ULC, Berkely.

The Majority of the audience consisted of university students from San Jose state University, U.C.Davis, U.C. Berkely, and Stanford. The discussion lasted two hours, and was comprised of the many aspects of the Punjab crisis and how it affects the Sikh community. There was a natural coherence between the different ideas discussed by the three speakers, which included the history of the Punjab problem, causes and effects of this crisis on the Sikh community, and different stereotypes formed by other communities about Sikhism. Before the speakers started their presentation, a documentary of the Blue Star Operation of 1984 (when the Indian military went in the Golden Temple of Amritsar and massacred the people there) was shown.

Gurman Singh, the first speaker, based his presentation on this documentary. He discussed the roots of’ Hindu Nationalism planted by British colonialism. He also talked about how Punjab was never given fair treatment by the Central government of India after independence in 1947, Loyalty of the Sikhs towards the nation of India has obviously never been rewarded. On the other hand, 41 Sikh temples have been destroyed since 1981 under the stated reason of terrorism, another issue that was brought to light in the discussion. Jagdip Singh Sekhon talked about the government’s economic treatment of Punjab and how the state is never given a fair share of government spending, and the frustration caused by this in Punjab, Amarpal Kaur talked about the stereotypes other communities have about Sikhs. She also discussed the effects of terrorism, on the image of Sikhs who are seen as excessively violent, uncultured, and impulsive people.

Overall the whole discussion brought light to new issues and the impact of the Punjab problem on our community.

Article extracted from this publication >>  May 7, 1993