As you may be aware, Indian intelligence penetrated Canada four years prior to the Indian Government’s well hatched and executed 1984 plot, code named “Operation Bluestar.” (Kashmiri, Z. MacAndrew B 1988. Soft Target, Lorimer Press, Toronto),  so as to silence the Sikhs” voice for independence and sovereignty which dates back to the demands of Dr.  Vir Singh Bhatti (1940). The operation was carried out with full military preparations in which the contingent of Indian Armed forces, paramilitary, civil and military intelligence, particularly Russian trained KGB personnel and Russian advisors were deployed following the suspension of all means of communication, in order to eradicate innocent Sikh children, youths and elderly, and hence, one of the world’s most visible minorities.

One year after the brutal operation, the Indian government successfully executed a subsequent plot to defame, malign, slander and terrorize the global Sikh community focusing on those in North America and the United Kingdom. One result was the downing of the ill-fated ‘Air India Flight 182, which took off from Canadian soil, taking the lives of 329 innocent Sikh and non-Sikh Canadians. For a while, the Indian government, its foreign missions and its state-controlled news media succeeded in their venomous campaign to brand the Sikhs as ‘terrorists. It is not well-concealed today that civil liberties remain suspended in the Sikh nation with: the application of their Draconian law known as Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Areas or more commonly known as TADA. TADA was constructed to eliminate the non-Hindus minorities in India. Any Sikh, of Indian citizenship or a foreign national visiting his/her dear ones, can be interrogated and incarcerated for one year without any formal registration of criminal case. Allegedly the world’s largest democracy, India, is notorious for the denial of hearing in a court of law. Some examples of the Indian administration’s statement to Sikh Canadians like Balker Singh, Daljit Singh Sekhon, Maninder Singh Gill and Harpal Singh Gosal. In some cases, Canadian law makers and Canadian missions have had to work extremely hard for their rescue. It is not surprising that  India ranks 107th among 119 countries in terms of the human rights abuses and violations, whereas Canada can be proud of its record and defense of human rights, The Canadian government concluded an extradition treaty with India in October 1994. It is understandable that treaties and trade relations among nations are mutually beneficial. In the Canadian-Indian treaty, I humbly request you, Prime Minister, that either this treaty not be ratified, if possible, or a clause be added that no Canadian, Canadian resident nor any person sought by the Indian administration for alleged terrorist activities, or awaiting a hearing for refugee status in Canada and being of Indian descent, by default or otherwise, not be extradited or handed over to India authorities, particularly with reference to those individuals from Kashmir, Punjab, Nagaland, Karnatak, and Andhra Pradesh who have been struggling for their sovereignty and independence. If they are extradited, their ultimate fate will be persecution; their legs will be stabbed, ribs broken, lungs and other deep organs damaged, nails pulled by pliers, they may be given electrical shocks by Indian police and intelligence agencies while in captivity. This type of treatment is accorded to these who exercise free speech and raise their voices against excesses of the Indian administration. The prime examples include Sardar Simranjit Singh Marm, a former Inspector General of Police and a Member of Parliament, President of Shromani Akali Dal (Sikhs’ political party), Dr. Sohan Singh, a retired medical professional, a staunch advocate of sovereign and independent Sikh nation, and Chief of the Panthic Committee, Retired Justice Ajit Singh Bains, Col Pratap Singh Gill, Chairman. Khalsa Raj Party and the author of the title Khalistan, Sardar Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, leader of the Farmers’ Union of Punjab, Recently, Sardar Mann has been in captivity for the crime of addressing a Sikh gathering of 50,000 in Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab. He spoke against the excesses

committed by the Punjabi administration under the direction of New Delhi, On Jan.12, 1995, 26-members of the United

States Congress protested in writing on the treatment accorded to Sardar Mann by the Indian Prime Minister Rao’ssment. He was presented hand-cuffed before a magistrate and was not allowed to over eat anything until the judicial formality was complete. Over the last several years. Sardar Mann’s request for a passport has repeatedly been denied, to prevent him

 Meeting with the leaders of democratic countries so that the world leaders would not be apprised of the true story of Punjab.

International Operations and Human At a hearing of the Sub-commit on Feb.2, 1995, the Hon Peter

Rights on

King, Member of the Congress and Vice

Chairman of the subcommittee, criticized the treaty, calling for the United States to make certain that those seeking political asylum from Indian tyranny are not re- turned. “We can’t be the policeman of the world, but we can be the conscience of the world,” the Hon King said. The Hon Dan Burton, Member of Congress, said that “since 1984, India has killed over 115,000 Sikhs. India has also killed over 150,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947,43,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands of Assamese. He called for an end to U.S. economic aid to India. He pointed out that when Commerce Secretary Brown and Defense Secretary Perry were in India, “there was no mention of human rights.” The chairman of the sub- committee, the Hon Christopher Smith charged that “human rights have taken a back seat” to business concerns, citing “extrajudicial executions, torture and reprisal killings by repressive regimes.”The Hon Chairman said that our government’s response has been inadequate or nonexistent.””We will not do business as usual,” said the Hon Tom Lantos, M.C. Ranking Minority Member of the subcommittee, “when a country is violating human rights.” And the Hon John Shattuck, Assistant Secretary of State for human rights, insisted that human rights remains a central element of the administration’s foreign policy.

I would like to invite your attention on few of quotes of a non-Sikh, V.T. Rajshekar, of Bangalore, India, the writer of Foreword (1st July, 1986) of the famous title “Why Godse Killed Gandhi? Second Edition, published by the Dalit Sahitya Academy, India. “Those who read this book said this was the first time they were getting a truthful picture of Gandhi and Nathuram Godse, the killer of the Mahatma. All these prove that people are hungering for facts which are hidden by the rulers of India. This ruling class takes avow everyday saying Satyamewa  jayate (truth shall triumph) but in action it does everything to murder the truth and finish anybody speaking the truth. At the time of writing this, I am facing a sedition charge. for speaking the truth perhaps the first person in the State of Karnataka, India, to face this charge. Gandhi is India’s most revered figure; anybody criticizing him is considered a bloody fool. Those blind admirers of Gandhi must know that Mao Tsetung is held in greater esteem in China than Gandhi is here. But the Chinese had the moral courage to publicly criticize Mao and reassess his contributions. Forward looking values of China have made it a world power whereas India is languishing. If the Hindu rulers of India had so much love for Gandhi, why did they reject the best of Gandhism and hugged only the worst part of it? It is all hypocrisy. If his name is mentioned by a speaker in any city convent where fashionable girls study, it will evoke derisive laughter. Rajsheker writes further that “we call the Ganga as the holiest river- a dip in which would purify us of all our sins. But we have given the contract to purify the Ganga water stinking with dead bodies and sew- age to a French firm. Nowhere in the world is the word “peace,” “non-violence,” “tolerance” and “brotherhood” are repeated so many times in the day as is’nt India. But nowhere in the world so much blood is shed. Perhaps more people were killed in India after the “independence” than in the two World Wars. We talk of “democracy,” “equality before law” but keep a third of India’s 800 million (now it may be over a billion in 1995) people as Untouchables, un sense able, unapproachable- able and un thinkable. Our courts have one set of law for the poor and another for rich. A poor starving man if he steals a fowl, he is called a thief, hand-cuffed and beaten up in the police station. But a business magnate who evades tax for years gets a national award. Our police are called the law and order enforcing agency but in many places they have become the single biggest threat to law and order. It is no longer Hindu-Muslim riots now but Hindu police-Muslim (or Hindu police-Sikhs or Hindu police-non-Hindu minorities) riots. The elections are a farce.

According to Rajesker (1986), when a people are oppressed, it is the need for freedom that produces a longing which in turn produces a leader. That means a leader is the product of a collective necessity. The people will never be free until they produce such a leader with vision to create the revolution and see it through its logical end. So the condition for such a revolution is oppression. India has reached that stage of oppression. And we have a doubt if the whole sub-continent of India will be subjected to such an oppression The Sikhs and Nagas are undergoing oppression. But the Dalits have not reached that stage. The country as a whole may not see such a single revolution. This is because a vast  majority of this country are victims not of violence but non-violence. The slaves all over the world are fighting against violence inflicted upon them by their respective ruling class. But in India, there is no fight let alone an armed

Struggle because they are killed not by violence but by non-violence. India is the only example of its kind in the whole world and Gandhi’s contribution to this state of affairs is not small.

“But see the contrast. When Indira Gandhi, who never held any place in the heart of an Indian, was murdered (1984) allegedly by a Sikh, the very Hindus went on a killing spree in Delhi and many parts of North India. In Delhi alone over 5,000 Sikhs were massacred. For these Hindus, Gandhi’s life was not important because he was no Brahmin. But Mrs. Gandhi was a Brahmin-a Kashmiri Brahmin. “According to these interpreters of Hinduism, their religion never abhorred violence. Every Hindu God practiced violence. Look at their photos or images posing with all types of deadly arms. So Godse was right and Gandhi wrong.  When the Hindu army marched into the Golden. Temple (1984, Darbar Sahib Complex) and killed over 10,000 Sikhs including children and women, no Hindu leader protested and no Hindu leader has so far criticized the mass killing of Muslims.

According to an Indian newspaper, the Hitavada of November 6, 1994, the Union Government…made available Rupees 4,500 crore (US$1.5 billion) to the Punjab Governor, Surendra Nath (killed in a helicopter crash), to prop up terrorism in Punjab and Kashmir (1984-1994). Under this state-sponsored terrorism, the Hindu Indian democracy committed terrorist acts against innocent people, family members of Punjab police, teachers, doctors, engineers, news media men and public personalities, in an effort to label Sikhs as terrorist and justify its occupation of Punjab, Khalistan.

Based on the excerpts presented above as well as the campaigns of India’s predominantly Hindu administration, and their missions abroad, and in view of Sir Winston Churchill’s assessment of the “Hindu naked man,” or Gandhi and Gandhism, I sincerely hope that the Canadian government and our law makers will protect the Sikh-Canadians in particular, Sikhs and other non-Hindu minorities from Indian administration’s persecution. Awatar Singh Sekhon, Ph.D. The Sikh Educational Trust Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Article extracted from this publication >> March 17, 1995