STOCKTON, CA: Justice Ajit Singh Bains, Chairman Punjab Human Rights Organization, made a fervent appeal to Sikhs to defend the Panth which was under a murderous attack by the Indian state. The attack was aimed at destroying Sikhs physically and culturally. Already more than half of the Sikh reference library containing priceless historic documents since the time of the Gurus had been destroyed deliberately by the fascist government of India, he said, Justice Bains who headed the Punjab and Haryana High Court till a few years ago spoke at length about the horrible human rights situation in Punjab and Kashmir. He said Sikh youth in the 1335 year age group were particularly targeted by the Indian government for elimination. Rape of Sikh women and torture and illegal detention were the rule rather than the exception.

Justice Bains gave a moving account of the bhog ceremony of Bhai Jugjraj Singh who at the tender age of 19 years became a martyr and a folk hero, over half a million people gathered to pay homage to this noble Sikh youth from a poor peasant family. The only son with four sisters, Bhai Jugraj Singh fought valiantly against tyranny and oppression. Justice Bains said he was loved and respected by Hindus and Sikhs alike. At the bhog Rs 3.5 million was collected for the family, but the father of Bhai Jugraj Singh refused to accept it saying I am proud to have given a braves on to the Sikh cause and I do not wish to sell his martyrdom. At this point, many in the audience were visibly moved.

Justice Bains then spoke of government pressure to stop people from attending bhog ceremonies of slain Sikh youth,

Justice Bains said India has fooled the world with its disguise of the largest democracy. A democracy he said, does not lock up 15,000 people without charge. And if in rare cases Sikhs are tried they are not “innocent until proven guilty” as in any country which has rule of law but the other way round. There is no security of life or property in Kashmir or Punjab today, he said, State terrorism was taking a heavy toll and the people had nowhere to tum to for help, he said.

The soft spoken judge gave examples of how commissions of enquiry into govt excesses were a mere eyewash. He had himself been part of such inquiries. No action was ever taken on the findings he said. The Bannerji commission looking into the anti-Sikh riots in Nov. 1984 is a case in point.

Justice Bains said his group had given a list of 50 police officers against whom people had complained of savage highhandedness. Mukharji had begun looking into it. But as soon as he suspended one of them, KPS Gill rushed to Delhi with a charge that there was interference in his work. Governor Mukharji quit in disgust.

Bains felt that the genuine aspirations of the people cannot be suppressed with bullets for long. The Sikhs were totally subjugated and enslaved. Their struggle was just and would surely succeed he said.

Before coming to the US he spoke at the United Nations Human Rights Center in Geneva. He also submitted his commissions report. He also attended a human rights meeting in Bradford, England. Justice Bains spoke at Stanford UCLA, UC Berkeley, MIT, University of Texas and several gurdwaras on both coasts.

Justice Bains said no trip to America could be complete without a visit to Stockton from where the Ghadar movement started. He urged Sikhs abroad to emulate the example of the Ghadari Babas and speak up against the state oppression in Punjab.

Being a silent spectator to a crime, makes one an accomplice to the criminal. The need of the hour was to protest strongly against the injustice being done to Sikhs. He urged Sikhs to peacefully demonstrate at least four times a year, August 15, June 6, November 1, and Jan 26 to bring to the notice of the world the plight of our people.

Justice Bains said the Mughals were not as oppressive as the present regime. There was rule of law during the British period. Excesses like the Jallianwala Bagh were admitted as such and the victims adequately compensated.

On elections to the Punjab Assembly, Bains said given the present situation, elections were not the answer.

Earlier Dr. Gurinder Singh Grewal introducing Justice Bains to the sangat said, “This is more than an ordinary human being, this is a Sikh institution.”

The WSO chief Dr. Gurcharan Singh Dhillon asked Justice Bains to convey to the Panthic committee and the nationalist organizations in Punjab that the Sikhs in America were behind them.

Article extracted from this publication >> September 7, 1990