Dear Editor,

Punjab reels from the dictatorial rule of its police under K.P.S Gill the force that has violated every human right and broken every law in the name of its anti-terrorist campaign. Policemen in Punjab are the real rulers, accountable to none. The Congress (Indian) government is beholden to them, not they to it. Custodial deaths are frequent, thousands are in detention and hundreds of young men untraceable. Kuldip Nayar (IA02/24/95) former Indian ambassador to United Kingdom, leading Indian journalist and also a Hindu by religion.

If Mr. Nayar, a non-Sikh who is a fiercely loyal Indian call summarize his views of Punjab police in toned down few scary short sentences, imagine what all the victims & suppressed & intimidated Sikh population of India would like to say about the savage rulers of Delhi if they had the liberty to do so. I don’t see a single good reason to support Mr. P.S. Badal ashe suggests. He is a person who is more eager to grab power and forgo the interests of the community like his predecessors Bamala, Zail Singh, Buta Singh etc, who were dumped after India finished using them. Mr. Badal has not once fought for bringing the guilty of ’84 to trial or putting a stop to the government terrorism in Punjab or fighting for their other grievances. Not only the Sikhs have been betrayed by India but also by their leaders, barring a few who are locked up or have been killed.

Fortunately for the Sikhs population living in India there is sizable number of educated Sikh population living in Western world who can expose India’s pogrom wrong doing. Otherwise who knows what the figures of the government sponsored Sikh liquidation the recently completed Amnesty Re- would have been so far. No wonder, port hits India hard (IA 03/10/95). Why worry of Pakistan’s record, they say charity begins at home India should begin the cleanup at homo before it looks or compares itself the Islamic states hardly the most respected model states of the world.

Thanks to Dr. Gurmeet Singh Aulakh who sacrificed his professional career to undertake this daunting task of educating US Congressmen, He has worked tirelessly & selflessly in the halls of the US Congress since 1984, speaking on behalf of the hapless com- munity that is being mercilessly sup- pressed. If his truth was not hurting or embarrassing India,- Indian embassy. IA and other Indian organizations would not spend millions of dollars in counter-lobbying.

The idea of Khalistan is not all empty. It is the conscience of Congressman Dan Burton and his co-signers that is speaking out and not the thousand thousands of dollars that are being poured by Indians into the coffers of non-participants to negate those bills. Several small countries (smaller than many Indian states) in Europe with different languages and cultural back- grounds are doing quite well and have no desire of making Europe into one big melting pot like U.S.

People like Simranjit Singh Mann, Dr. Sohan Singh must be immediately released and should be free to speak their minds. If Bal Thackeray a staunch Hindu leader can come out in the open and define whose allegiance is with India and who’s not, other minority Indian leaders should also enjoy the same freedom. India should not have two sets of rules-one for the majority population and one for the minority population, whose allegiance is always being tested.

Under the current circumstances, US should never sign an extradition treaty with India, which is primarily being designed to suppress the minorities further. Until India proves that no one is above the law and all Indians can truly enjoy the glow of freedom including free practice of religion, language and cultural rights, US should continue to hammer the violations of human rights that are taking place in India. If India cannot perform in this area, then the people will be better off in a decentralized India with autonomy

for all states. Harbir Singh, Paramus, NJ.

Article extracted from this publication >> March 31, 1995