Once more the “defenders” came from India as a delegation to the international meeting to “defend” their record involving destruction of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives by Indian security forces within less than a decade. Dr. Manmohan Singh, visibly distinguished by his beard and turban as a Sikh and holding the rank of finance minister in the federal government of Congress party, marched in as its leader. He had no Suitable credentials for this specific purpose, other than being a trained economist. Perception being a substitute for reality, his status as a leader was expected to create favorable impression of treatment of the minorities in India by the establishment at the very least. If his leadership could also help dispel misgivings of the nonbelievers, that would be an added advantage. Hence his selection. Behind him lined up the “big wigs” of the majority community in large number (28 in all) bearing their own “stripes. “ Their Obvious aim was to deflect condemnation of India* s widespread butchery, euphemisucally called human right violations.
Expectedly Dr.Singh echoed, solo and in chorus, what he and his “followers” were coached. There are “built in safeguards in the Indian constitution” and India is like an “open book” said the learned Doctor, probably never realizing the absurdities of such assertions. His logic would put the Bntish, with no written constitution, at the top of the list for human right violations (although their Government is not entirely innocent). The Constitution of the erstwhile Soviet Union which had incorporated in it the most idealistic human rights provisions would make its most formidable force KGB look like a bunch of Sunday school teachers. Yet its leaders, particularly during the Stalin era, murdered the dissidents most brutally. Only in the late seventies did they relent somewhat, Dr.Singh, inadvertently perhaps, does have a point! The Soviet Union, until its collapse, has been India’s role model, particularly in economics development, intelligence gathering and a few other areas besides being a partner in a defense act. Using the constitution as a fig leaf, as the Soviets did for external consumption, Indian regime revealed its true color.
Guided tours for the foreign delegations or correspondents to the areas in Punjab and Kashmir area Soviet style exercise falling far short of “open book” concept of freedom the outsiders need to ‘browse. “Neither are the political leaders from different lands with their own axe to grind, seriously interested in human rights when they visit a different country. For example, Prime Minister Mr. Major from Britain and Chancellor Helmut Cole from Germany, show little action to control “skinheads” attacking nonwhites in their own countries. They could care less about Indians in India. They came to India as merchants to help their depressed economics. If India has nothing to hide, then why the fuss over International Organizations’ visit. They never insisted on visiting the weapon producing facilities; only the victims Muslims, Sikhs, and the most wretchedly poor, the “Untouchable”. Indian rulers, indeed, have much to hide just as the Nazis, Fascists, Communists, and other authoritarian regimes have. It is not a question of aberration here or there, It would take volumes to describe the gory vents.
India of today has sunk too deep to be rescued. It keeps sliding down, What started as a democracy with Congress party at its helm, turned into a kleptocracy after two decades under the stewardship of prime minister Indira Gandhi, “We acquired the status to royal family, she proclaimed and made it her family’s vast political business until 1991, Corruption ran rampant. Right in the prime minister’s office, state secrets began to be sold for the price of a whiskey boule. India became the “world’s biggest network of corruption” shredding the society’s moral fibre to pieces. The successors’ opportunism is equally unbounded.
Operating in a system submerged under corruption, the government as an institution, particularly at the center which has preempted the states’ functions, is the source of power as well as wealth. To hold on to it, the Congress party in nexus with the criminals leaves no stone unturned. Setting one community against the other on the basis of anything that comes in handy, be it religion, caste, class Or tribe, it goes on rampage and watches the consuiwencies become bloodied by their goons, In cases of uncertainty, it bribes, subverts the opposition government, stuffs ballot boxes, captures polling booths, creates street violence, manipulates the constitution, and debars the elections, When everything else fails, it unleashes its security forces, wailing in the wings for their share of loot. The rival parties did not have much “luck” at getting there as yet Except for the BJP which recently made some strides; It too aped the Congress party’s strategy with some modifications equally brutal. In this endemic process, thousands of people get slaughtered every year.
It is no wonder that the Congress and the BJ party joined together in “defense” of their actions relating to human rights violations. They either denied them or blamed it on their favorite enemy Pakistan, but never failing for moment to flash the badge of sovereignty as the unrestricted license to “protect national security”, With the finance minister as a front, they spread as much misinformation as they possibly could.
But their “sins” being indelible won’t wash away. Compare it to what a distinguished retired civil servant, a Hindu Brahmin and a cousin of prime minister J.L.Nehru, who held top echelon posts in the Indian establishment, has to say as recently as January 12,1992. Delivering S. Raga Nathan Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, B.K Nehru, said: “The law is replaced by the will of the Chief Minister, and indeed, by the will of the individual MLAs. . . The Minister . . . says that if the murder has been communities by his henchmen, the case has either not to be registered at all or investigated improperly or the postmortem report has to be cooked up or other steps taken to ensure that guilty party gels away scot-free. . There have been well known instances where the Chief Minister has used the police force as his own private army, virtually converting it into a gang of outlaws committing murder and raping. To collect money for his own private purse through the agency of police force is something that unfortunately is by no means not unknown… We have got to a point at which many parts of the country and I do not refer to Assam, Punjab or Kashmir has no law and order. The only person whose life and property can be regarded as safe are only those who are the political bosses connected with the party in power at the moment or those who are fortunate enough to enjoy their favors.”
Nehru is not given to overstatements. State terrorism in raw form is being perpetrated on the weak by the privileged to amass wealth and power, The upper two castes in the traditional caste system seem to have modified their roles. The Brahmins have taken to ruling, swindling, and bribery, while the Kashatryas” in uniform have become killers, bandits, rapist, and extortionists preying upon the other two lower classes and non-Hindus in the name of protecting the “national integrity”. Could it be that it was always like this in the mythical “golden age”? (Sarjit Singh, Ph.D. Professor of Economics (Retired) Clarion University of PA, Clarion, PA ).
Article extracted from this publication >> August 6, 1993
