DESPITE spending tremendous amount of time money and energy, the Sikhs in the West (i.e. the US. and Canada) have not developed the favorable climate necessary for the exposure and clarification of the political suppression of Sikhs in India. If Sikhs are to expend serious efforts to regain their honour and liberty in India and elsewhere, they must solve this problem; nothing less than their survival is at stake. Public opinion today is extremely sensitive; a small event can create a ripple effect which is felt all over the world. Amplified by the media, character images are easily set and not so easily dislodged. To turn the tide of world opinion in favor of the Sikhs is not the work of amateurs. The importance of W.S.O. in these efforts is so essential that it may not be an exaggeration to say that it is a matter of life and death in the political life of the Sikhs. No other organization outside of Punjab is capable of doing the job. However, there are problems today with our efforts; everyone doing everything is tantamount to doing nothing but that is where we, Sikhs, find ourselves today. This is indeed a pathetic scenario which must I am sure, nauseate most thoughtful Sikhs, Indeed, it is a non-sense on a grand scale.
Let us turn our attention to the scene back in Punjab. The Akalis seem to be totally oblivious to the future of the Sikh community. The present sufferings of the Sikhs on all fronts are increasing day by day. The Akali leadership shows no political astuteness or effective strategy which could pull the Sikh community out of the gory morass in which it finds itself in Rajiv’s India. To compound matters we are anguished to see that the brave youth of Punjab is being shot in the open every day. Julius Ribeiro has been granted total dictatorial powers to eliminate any voice of freedom in Punjab. The Akalis, sleepwalking as usual through Punjab’s current hour of need, keep demanding more arms and manpower in order to wipe out more of their own people, What greater misfortune can there be than this spectacle of Akali non-leadership? ‘The mind boggles at the very nature of it.
Here in the West, the efforts of the Sikhs at an organized approach to influence world opinion is at such a low ebb that one has to entertain serious doubts as the ability of Sikhs to do anything, especially anything effective for their own good. American politicians have yet to be convinced that Sikh liberty is in severe jeopardy in India. The task for the Sikh leadership is clearly cut out for them, but how few there are who perceive the actual challenge cut out for them. The internal structure of W.S.O. has not shown any spark, and is being papered over by those who have yet to journey beyond mutual self-congratulations. Petty in-group politics serves only to obscure the panoramic view of the battle. The effectiveness of W.S.O. suffers when a few individuals hover over it as it was their own personal property, hence preventing its growth. The vigor of W.S. O. is lacking because the average Sikh has yet to involve him with it. Without enough grassroots support, W.S.0 lacks Vitality. Without this grassroots support it cannot be developed into an effective political body. This p not is over-emphasized; the lifeline of W.S.O is its constituents. If W.S.O leadership is unaware of this, then they are clearly off the track. It is imperative that Sikhs as a community progress to preserve themselves. The time is NOW: the future is determined by what we do today.
The power of the media is an indispensible tool. Are we able to present our best image 10 the media? Can we make an effective case for the Sikhs? We must seek out the best talents in the community to present the best. It is the job of W.S.O, to organize the community’s resources for the political work that is at hand. No one can do this for them: Sikhs must think collectively (ego under check) in order to be forceful in their politics; otherwise, they will keep losing again and again. No ‘one is sophisticated enough to explain away the gory mess of the last two years. In that, the Sikhs face a most difficult task. What are they going to do? Are they willing to leave anything to Fate? Since the Sikh community has such a distinct identity, they cannot escape from this condition, and are blamed and praised as Sikhs, whether one or all. As the French existential philosopher Jean Paul Sartre has said, “An individual has no exit from the condition of being an individual”, It is a state given to each of us by virtue of our birth, ‘Therefore while we are alive. We must choose one way or the other. We cannot decide not to choose because that would be a contradiction, Similarly, a Sikh cannot be “un-Sikh”, neither can he choose to be “un-Sikh”, nor deny being a Sikh, No Sikh can “exist” separate from his/her Sikh identity which is a part of each of us. Therefore, what is happening to the Sikhs is happening to each of us. Indira’s attack on the Sikhs is an attack on each and every one of us. In all this, if the Sikh community does not realize this, then they do not realize the seriousness of the problem. Duties inherent in that “Sikhness” must be discharged appropriately. This mandates the cultivation of a strong civic sense. We must work together to protect ourselves, since all of us are thrown into this arena of messy politics. By virtue of being victims of India’s messy politics. Sikhs cannot effort NOT to be political. ‘The situation brings polities home: the Sikhs had better learn to deal with this politics if they are to survive. India’s suppression will reduce Sikhs to degradation; their religious freedom, cultural and economic growth, as well as lives and liberties, will be eroded away.
It took the Jews 2000 years to finally find the solution. How long, is it going to take the Sikhs? Whether overseas or in Punjab, unless or until Sikhs Team the mode of civic behavior patterns and show a substantive output, they are going to suffer heavy losses, both in lives and in resources. A civic sense commands loyalty to democratic methods (common good over individual good) and managing our own destiny. Dictatorship and oligarchy have ‘been proven failures in World history. Unless the true democratic process is followed, Sikhs will continue to end up with the opportunities, tribal types of leaders, power groups, and if nothing else the religious fanatics who would lead everyone to the gallows if not into the sea. Messiahs are many, and they come out of the woodwork often, but their race is a short turn, If such non-sense is allowed to continue, the Sikh national dreams will elude us, until they disappear into oblivion. Surely, many more Shah Mohammads will cry out, seeing the fate of the “Khalsa”,
Article extracted from this publication >> December 5, 1986
