I have received your June 21, 1991 invitation for the annual picnic on July 27, 1991 at Gardener Lake in Salem. Coincidentally, I have also received the record of your vote on Congressman Dan Burton’s amendment to the Foreign Aid package designed to eliminate assistance to India due to human rights abuses in Khalistan and Kashmir. Enclosed please find a copy of the June 14,1991 edition of Northern India’s most read English daily The Tribune stating “Army deployed all over Punjab.” How can I, in good conscience, and many other Connecticut Sikhs join you at your picnic when their kith and kin are subject to the most humiliating and shameful treatment at the hands of India’s security forces in their homeland. In the civilized societies army is utilized for preserving the territorial integrity of the free and sovereign countries. But in India it is used as a tool to subjugate and suppress the genuine aspirations of its minorities. After Punjab, Kashmir, Assam, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, it will now be the state of Uttar Pradesh which will see the most violence.
How I wish we can all join you in Gardener Lake, Salem for a fun afternoon, but my heart is bleeding not only on reading what is happening to my people in India but also how representatives of a once wronged community are turning a deaf ear to the cries of 20+million people in South Asia. Looking forward to hearing from you or meeting you in person at your convenience.
Amarjit Singh Buttar
WSO member
National Executive
Article extracted from this publication >> July 12, 1991
