NEW YORK, N.Y. — Rich tributes were paid to Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh who were hanged by the Indian government in connection with the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by various Sikh institutions in the tri state area.
A resolution by the Sikh Cultural Society in this connection said, “The hanging of Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh would further strengthen the resolve of the Sikh Nation to free itself from the tyranny and slavery of the Hindu Government, resulting in the creation of an independent Sikh state of Khalistan,
“There is no justice for minorities, particularly the Sikhs, in India. Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh were tried in a Kangaroo court, in high security prisons, without allowing the defense to present its witness and were finally hung. Such is the Justice in the case of Sikhs.
“Whereas the Hindus responsible for the massacre of Sikhs in November, 1984 not only remain unpunished, but their leaders were made ministers in the government. Also the Hindu judges involved in the trial and appeal of Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh were promoted.
“Bhai Kehar Singh was one of the innocent religious Sikhs angered by the desecration of the Golden Temple. He was framed on the basis of circumstantial evidence and hung. This demonstrates the Hindu Government’s zeal to prove a conspiracy, and to convict and hang innocent Sikhs.”
At a divan on January 8 the sangat of the Gurdwara wore Black turbans in symbolic mourning and speakers lambasted the Government of India’s lopsided judicial policies,
Jagjit Singh Mangat the president of the gurdwara told the World Sikh News that the martyrdom of Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh was comparable to those Sikhs who cut the head of Massa Ranghar, It would further galvanize the struggle of the Sikhs for Khalistan, he added.
- Harbhjan Singh Gill, vice-president of World Sikh organization, who also spoke on behalf of the Sikh Youth paid homage to the martyrs and said that there was no justice for the Sikhs in ndia.
He took particular exception to the report published in the New York Times which had said that Bhai Beant Singh the original assassin of Indira Gandhi was killed following a scuffle rather than the well-established fact that he was killed in cold blood by the commandos of the Indo Tibetan Border Police, who also injured Bhai Satwant Singh after they had surrendered to them. None of Bhai Beant Singh and Bhai Satwant Singh’s assailants has been punished so far.
- . Baldev Singh the former Secretary of the Sikh Cultural Society described the courage of Satwant Singh who went to the gallows raising the jaikara ‘Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’ and described at length how Bhai Kehar Singh was framed in the conspiracy on the grounds which would have been rejected in any court. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi he said would, be brought before the people of Khalistan as a war criminal to face these crimes, he said.
A divan was held at the Mid-Hudson Sikh Cultural Society in New York and Labh Singh, the president of the Gurdwara told the World Sikh News that the bogh in the honor of Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh would be held on Sunday, January 15.
Labh Singh said he condemned the murder of justice in India. Even during the time of the British Imperial rulers of India the bodies were given for last rites to the families but in the case of Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh their families were denied even this minimum comfort, he added.
The Garden State Sikh Association in New Jersey in a resolution said, “The Government of India by executing Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh has dealt a severe blow to the psyche of the Sikh community. It further resolves that the justice system of India has been manipulated for the political ends of the ruling dynasty,
“On the one hand the killers of thousands of Sikhs after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in New Delhi and other parts of India have not even been charged with crimes they perpetuated and some of them have even been rewarded with positions in the federal cabinet. On the other hand even the ashes of Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh, have not been handed over to their families.
“We also resolve that the international community exerts their moral and fiseal pressure on the government of India, to bring the mass murderers of 1984 to justice and fully restore the human rights of the Sikh minorities,” it concluded.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 13, 1989
