When innocent people are set free by Governments we rejoice with those who have been freed. For us it is matter of increased joy if the innocent people so released are Sikhs. We welcome the release of 152 ‘Sikh youths from incarceration in Indian prisons,
The situation raises an important question. “What were these 152 people doing in the prisons in the first place?” Only Rajiv Gandhi can answer that question. And while he is doing that he might also tell us just how many other such persons are languishing in his prisons. He could also educate the world at large about the methods he and his administration uses to determine the price of a Sikh life at the sum of Rs 20.000/+ (approximately $1,500).
His actions will, as they must, appear magnanimous to the blind. Those who have sight however will not fail to see the underlying attempt at creating further disruption within the Sikh rank and file, sow seeds of more violence in Punjab, discredit internationally the Sikhs living in and out of India and thus postpone the solution to Punjab glibly offered by the Indian Prime Minister when he ascended the throne. He must surely know that attempts to buy time will only help to increase the explosiveness of the situation. The long history of similar efforts by his mother, Indira Gandhi does teach us some fundamental truths about the situation and it would be foolish to disregard it.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 13, 1990
