INDIAN ARMY EXPOSED BY SHIRMONI AKALI DAL

Shiromani Akali Dal, President Simranjit Singh Mann said that Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir are an ‘occupying force’ and Akalis support the demand for right of self- determination in Kashmir. Addressing a press conference, Mann said that Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute after New Delhi took the issue to United Nations and the same later passed number of resolution for its resolution and after the then Prime Minister Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru promised plebiscite for Kashmir. He said that Kashmir issue is not a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, as is claimed by New Delhi. The Akali leader showed his willingness for resolving the Kashmir issue as per the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir.

He also held security forces responsible for the Chatisinghpora killings of Sikhs in 2000. He said that people belonging to minority community were targeted selectively to defame the genuine freedom movement of Kashmiris. “We are demanding a high level independent probe of the incident so that the real killers of the incident would get exposed and punished as per the law,” he said. Mann also said that Kashmiri have lost faith in Indian democratic system. There is a general impression among the masses that governments are been made by people in Delhi and there is no weight in their vote.

The Akali leader cited that there is a need of military rule in Jammu and Kashmir and Chief Minister has no powers to stop the growing human right violations. He said that Article 370 which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir has been eroded and New Delhi has imposed its own laws in Kashmir. Lashing out at High Court and Supreme Court Judges for maintaining their silence on the grave human rights violation here, he said they have no more right to get huge salaries and not protecting the right to life and liberty of people (Article 21). “It is unethical to hide the grave human rights violations in Kashmir,” he said.

Curbing Indian Atrocities on Sikhs by Stepping Towards Khalistan

I have started this writing based on no assumption. Before I can convince even myself that we Sikhs need independent nation, I need some answers of my own questions. I have tried to get the answers on my own by searching the information from the internet.

WHAT IS AN INDEPENDENT SIKH NATION?

As a simple common Sikh man, I understand that the independent Sikh nation is primarily meant to be nation where majority of the Sikhs resides and can progress on social, economic & religious emotions in good democratic manner based on Sikh philosophy. Also Punjabi Hindus & Muslims in malerkotla can live peacefully in this nation.

DID THE PRESENT SECULAR STATE OF INDIA PREVENT SIKHS FROM PROGRESSING ON SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, RELIGIOUS & EMOTIONAL FRONT?

As a naïve Sikh man, I initially thought in general, it seems no body stops us from making progress on economic front. Also religion wise, no body stop us to make gurduwara and worship wahaguru However I did make search to understand how far our Punjab have make progress after independence in 1947 by being part of INDIA?

I will try to put following points to point out, we would have been better of with independent land locked KhaIistan.

1) Despite giving so much to India in terms of foodgrains, pricing of the grains are not in our control. No canal system is in proper place for the land cultivation. Most of the water taken is out of ground that is going down very fast now & is toxic in nature! It may not remain for more than 10-15 years. An economic problem will even start on greater foot on our land & people.

Govt. of India never allowed our Punjab farmers to sell crops at highest value. No concrete infrastructure is in place to help farmers. Most of the time it is Hindu middle men whose mercy our Sikh farmer brothers depend on.

2) Neighboring states of Punjab are allowed to get most of the water for free. As an independent nation we can sell this water. History shows all water rich countries make lot of economic benefit from this (ex Argentina).

3) In a long run, for any region to sustain and grow faster in fast changing world, education is the key. It is the service industry that makes countries rich. Example: Japan, Israel & most of the western world. No money is being spent on education and relevant industrial because our area is near to Pakistan. No major MNC come to Punjab to set up high technology industry. Had we had our independent nation, this would not be the case. Make normal relationship among neighborhood with respect. Any company that wants to take advantage of retailing in Khalistan can be forced to setup R&D centers. But we cannot force this opening of R&D center in Punjab as most of the industry then tends to go close to Delhi and further south. With 13 MPs, Punjab is hardly in position to make such negotiations.

4) And what is our youth doing in the absence of no concrete service and manufacture industry? Well, going for drugs. Why? That’s what congress & other corrupt political parties give them to take votes. When elections come (local, state, national), it is drugs, liquor etc in free flow. Khalistan will never allow drugs. Many countries like Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand have death sentence for such usage. Guess what, they have successfully controlled the potent death habit among their youths. But our secular India will never allow such rule to place in Punjab. So merry goes on. In fact congress pseudo Hindus would like our race to die. After all, that’s what national Hindu leader Mr. Balram Jahaar says ' To preserve the unity of India, if we have to eradicate 2-kror [ 20 million ] Sikhs, we will do so. (Balram Jhakhar, a colleague of P.V. Narsimharao, the former Indian Prime Minister, now Governor of Madhya Pardesh)

5) Recently, all universities in Punjab request for fund allocation. UGC is not giving enough funds to Punjab’s universities despite Punjab contributing too much in center tax revenue and food grain contribution. Check such news in local Tribune newspapers

So in brief, a water rich fertile land nation with good business skill can easily be self-sufficient economically. Any gas pipelines royalties are extra money. Money spent on education to make service oriented industry is what will make Khalistan a truly developed nation. With 10% Sikhs (20lakh) living abroad in already developed world, business contacts in moving forward along developed world is not an issue. We are indeed better off as landlocked small country than being part of India. (I welcome people to prove me wrong on my points above listed on economic, social front)

HOW TO GAIN INDEPENDENCE FOR SIKH NATION

The trillion dollar question is as how to get independence. Let’s study new countries that have gained independence in last 2 decades. Why only last 2 decades? Because world is keep changing fast. And we should learn how a nation creation is possible in current global political setup.

BIG NATIONS BREAKUP (PASSIVE POLICY)

Since 1990, 32 new countries have been created. Majority of them are created by break down of USSR & Yugoslavia. Certainly, the way these countries gain independence is not by individual effort but because of the collective failure of big nations as a whole. For us to follow this model means: We have to wait the day India breaks down.

1) May be because of Hindu-Muslim tensions.

2)  May be because of social disorder (naxalites), reservation problems (gujjers).

3) Or may be because of north –south divide in economic disparity.

The FIRST reason does not seem will work. Muslims who do not want to live in India have already moved out & whatever remains need not have strong race strength. Also they are not in majority except in Kashmir valley. Just a pocket of Hyderabad and UP (meerut etc) are no real danger for breaking India. Kashmir seems to have tamed with no much external support coming. Also Muslims got bad name worldwide.

The SECOND reason of naxalites also may not be good reason to believe. Since these people do not have international recognition. Beside they are against the idea of capitalism. South America in recent times has nations who get what we say left people win via democratic means. They come close to what I am trying to saying but again with little international support & no clear defined boundaries. The disturbance by such people will do just social riots. In our context of creating Khalistan, this still may not come handy. (Except Indian security forces resources are being used to handle/contain them)

The THIRD thought of north-south divide should be the most promising of the three options. As of now, all south states (AP, Karnatka, Tamil naidu) doing great in economic power. While Bihar, UP, Madhya Pardesh) are doing very poor.

The only north region which is giving any fighting chance is DELHI AREA against the south. So in long run of 15-20 years if this trend continues, the Southern states will be more assertive of their independent authority. The most promising one is the Tamil Nadu with anti-Hindi Dravidian parties like DMK MDMK etc. Their assertiveness also defined by LTTE success in sri lanka.

Until a Tamil state is not created in Sri Lanka,. Their own self confidence may be low about getting Tamil ELEAM in India as of now.

Note: Just a note to sangat, you can see how strong LTTE with is own aircrafts and committed squads of naval & army. Still they are not able to gain independence despite having northern controlled areas. REASON? NO major world power is ready to recognize it, including India & permanent members of the Security Council. So it is very important that we gain acceptance from Security Council, a moral support of our cause. Thus, not only recognition from the world will come but also the peacekeeping forces come handy from UN to start the national building process when our dream comes true.

So in brief the above discussed approach talked about, following a Wait & Watch policy. I am not sure how many people would like this approach. But this is certainly one of the passive possibilities. Let’s discuss other model of way nations gain independence by active struggle in recent times.

SMALLER PART GETTING INDEPENDENCE FROM BIGGER PART (PROACTIVE POLICY):

Of all the recent nations gaining independence from bigger or majority, East Timor gaining independence from Indonesia is the most prompt that I could search. In East Timor case, UN from the beginning never recognized the Indonesia brutal occupation on East Timor area. Thus when the time came of plebiscite, Timor people voted for independence. Taking same argument in our case. A non-official plebiscite of giving hardliner (Simranjeet Singh Maan) a power in Punjab elections will give sufficient indication to UN that people of Punjab do want independence. A UN understanding is must. Luckily India is not permanent member of Security Council. That still gives us possibility to break easily under this model of proactive.

New nation (East Timor), however, did pay a price of independence from Indonesia with destruction of its infrastructure. So, a word of caution to Sikh brothers. We may have to pay a similar price if not play our cards carefully.

BUT, a proactive policy comes with revolution. As we have seen in recent events in Punjab, people are not ready for revolution. There is no point in blaming in badal govt. Badal govt have people support. It is only last 10 years before they have seen the bad days of terrorism or Sikh fight as our brothers will like to call. That moment got directionless with no strong leadership. And also Ak-47 or swords are good for nothing against Indian army. So what to do? Give up arms and cry like baby with no clear cut solution in sight? No brothers, there is always is solution of every problem. It is question of how we will understand and act upon it.

One should understand the psychology of people in general. Everyone in this world fears from revolution. Since revolution brings changes and people in general do not like changes in their ambient area. In recent times during French elections, the present president talked about cuts in subsidy & doing more work. Many or majority of people voted against him because of the fear rather than optimism of opposite candidate. In our case, revolution will come only when our water level in Punjab goes down so much so that it becomes nearly impossible for people to survive. I hope it comes earlier lest it is too late.

With no proper channels in place, letting all water flow to neighboring Hindu dominated Haryana and Rajisthan, our Punjab will soon be dry land in next 15 years if similar situation remains. That will be too late. So, what to do? We need to start evolution approach to gain independence rather than a straight revolution approach. Of course, independence will only come with revolution. But to get into stage of revolution we need to do our homework proper by means of evolution.

WHAT IS THE MEANING of EVOLUTION? WHAT WE CAN DO TO MAKE IT WORK

I will try best to answer this question with example in technology area. Take the example of Finance package system in banks. Anyone in IT industry knows many components make a package as usable package. If one day we decide oh common all system is crap. It is not delivering what we want. Make changes in design and code all together. What will happen? It will fail. People dealing with package will cry & system as a whole will fail.

Same thing happens with revolution approach done for independence in early 80s. Sant Bhindranwale Ji did initiate and make point across Sikh community that there is need to have independent state for Sikhs. Nobody disputes that since under present system, Sikhs were losing their social, economic and financial fronts.

When the flash point came in 1984 to make decisions, there was no clear game plan. The moment army attacked golden temple, Sikh peasants simply made emotional run towards Amritsar. Result, army simply shot our unarmed Sikh brothers just like killing sitting ducks. The Hindu soldiers enjoy this killing. So what should we do? Just get angry. NO. Anger makes no result. We should learn the lessons. An unarmed crowd is good for nothing.

1)  EVOLUTION POINT 1: Our Sikh peasants should get armed with govt. licensed guns; and even unauthorized guns if that be the case but no need to use or show them. Keep for your own safely. Whatever reasons, have arms and be ready.

2) EVOLUTION POINT 2: Ex-servicemen should be ready to command the village army. DO this practice now only. Times may come in 5 or 10 years. We have to be patient and wait for right time.

All the Sikhs living outside of Punjab in India should make point to have contact in Punjab either by having second home purchase or business link setup. Or job of one of the family members in Punjab. It is important to make run towards Punjab when situation demands. What happened when 1984 massacre occurred? Many Sikhs became refugees in Punjab. It did not help them in any way.

3) EVOLUTION POINT 3: Sikh peasants should put pressure on Akali political leaders to make strong case for more canal systems in Punjab. Ground water should be last AND not the first option when looking for water in fields, drinking and other usage. So much water is flowing to neighboring state. Water is still state subject. The government cannot force us to send our water outside. So we can legally fight our case to stop sending water outside. There is concept of river based distribution across region. This is the smart Hindu move that results in too much water going out of Punjab. A strong legal team & brains are required to start reducing our outflow of water. A positive move is also required in our community to help restore ground water level. Try restoring the present forest land with trees. How small they be. Also ground water level restore systems can be installed using govt. subsidy approach.

4) EVOLUTION POINT 4: Now this evolution point goes to every Sikh, no matter whatever profession they are in. DEMAND our separate Sikh civil code for marriages & property distribution. This is very important to let international community know that we are different from Hindus. Khalistan can never become a reality if we do not have a separate identity. With time our future generations will get again diluted with UP/BHIAR Hindus in future. We need to be separate now. Let civil code be one of ways to do it.

5) EVOLUTION POINT 5: The casteism in Sikhism is regrettable especially when our Guru Ji teaches us to treat all equally. But I am not here to give lecture on what we should do to erode it. That we can discuss someday later. It is important that in Punjab our Sikh brothers who are low on economic and social scale should get reservation status much more than low level Hindus. Simple, we want our Sikhs to succeed. Every state in India makes reservation as per its local interest. We should use this tool to our advantage. Also this will help us to get away from DERA attacks on our panth. Let Hindu Muslim be parts of any DERA. We don’t care. Also, it is not our problem. So make political demand of more reservations for Sikhs.

6) EVOLUTION POINT 6: The Sikhs living outside of India can play a very important role in making the Sikh independent state a reality. I can see in news various organization are playing a very active role by putting point across UNO, EU & other organization. A win of Hillary Clinton as president of USA will be good for Sikhs with Clinton’s close friendship with Chatwals. I am sure people abroad are very active. The same momentum keeps going is all required.

7) EVOLUTION POINT 7: Our Sikhs brothers should be part of Sikh regiment. They are to play major role when revolution comes.

Well so far my evolution points are up to common people level. Now how my point will reach to masses.

8) EVOLUTION POINT 8: All computer nerds that are reading this article (Sikhs I mean) make point to spread this word across our brothers to do what is needful as per their situation as defined in the list above.

Also Sikh media is must have for our words to spread across. Stations like Akash radio should try putting more reach by moving towards air wave on Punjab soil.

If people propagate the above points on evolution the Sikh Nation will become a reality. The list for revolution points is not complete. There are many things that can be done while living under law & keep pushing before making final push. Just making Badal govt. to demand water & more reservation to economic less Sikhs in Punjab will ensure our slow & right movement towards our goal. BOTH WATER & RESERVATION are state power subjects.

EVOLUTION TO REVOLUTION

This depends upon how soon we are successful in getting our evolution points across. Time keeps passing by. The HARDLINE in Akalis should able to gain power in next general election i.e. in 4 year time. If that becomes possible the revolution stage can come early.

WHAT REVOLUTION ARE YOU TALKING? DID you SINCERELY THINK SIKHS can beat Indian army & police?

It will be better if India breaks from within. That will make efforts of our Sikh brothers easier. But good military general experience leading a break away Sikh regiment army can help us in fighting. Make point to use non-conventional warfare i.e. biological weapons. Put such weapons spread on all roads leading to Punjab. NOTE: Use such weapons only against fighting force NOT against population. Otherwise the WORLD will turn against us. Since such weapons are not allowed to be used. I am not talking about nuclear weapon. First, such weapon is out of our reach. Second, using such weapon can back fire. What will small state like Punjab do if our enemy uses the similar weapon? So the path is long and hard. But with international support and evolution approach we can move on to revolution stage.

Atrocities On Sikh Children

There were other victims of Operation Bluestar little children, some only two years old, who got rounded up when the army swept through the Punjab countryside throwing over 18,000 suspected terrorists into jail. Since then, 39 children have been languishing in two Ludhiana jails.

There is four-year old Rinku whose father died during the army operation and whose mother has been missing since then. Like the rest of the ‘infant terrorists’, Rinku had to go through a gruelling interrogation. When asked where his mother was. he replied, “I do know”.Asked where his father was, he said, “Killed with a gun”. Why his stomach was so big; “Because I eat clay”. Then there is the earnest 12 year old Bablu who calls Bhindranwale his chacha. He insists that he be included among the terrorists and tried. There is Zaida Khatoon, a Bangladeshi woman who stopped to get food for her five children at the Golden Temple and ended in jail.

Their ordeal began in early June when they were picked up around the Temple and packed into camps in Amritsar and Jalandhar. Initially the army did not know what to do with the children. Some of the lucky ones were locked up with their parents, but they all faced the same charge: breach of peace under section 107 and arrest to prevent commission of cognisable offence under Section 107 and 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). They were finally sent to Ludhiana.

And then the nightmare began. Two central agencies, the Central Bureau of lnvestigation (CBI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) began their questioning. There were long, intimidating sessions. The children cried and begged to be sent home. But it went on for days. Their little finger prints were taken and IB sleuths set about verifying their bonafides. One interrogating officer admitted that not many officials were moved by the children’s cries.

The children continued to be locked up in a dingy old jail in the sprawling industrial city. Some were moved to a newer maximum security prison outside the city. Of the 39 children, 10 were with their parents, mostly their mothers. Another 15 were students of the Damdami Taksal, an institution founded by Guru Gobind Singh to train children in music and Gurbani, which was last headed by the Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. These students, all of them ardent Sikhs, had been camping in the Golden T cmple complex and some had learnt to use arms. Three of them have now been classified as ‘dangerous terrorists’.

Sadly enough, in their interrogations, the CBI and IB have shown little regard to any civil liberties or laws protecting young children. All the children have been booked for violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 or Section 107/151. It is a fact that they were picked up from the Golden Temple or at best are said to have surrendered. But these offences are bailable and in fact these sections are merely prohibitory, used by law enforcing agencies to stop processions and strikes. The authorities have paid no heed to the Children Act 1960 or the East Punjab Children Act, 1976.

The long, agonising inquisition apart, the children have been clubbed with known terrorists, criminals and anti-social elements. Under the law, children younger than 16 years old in the case of males and 18 in the case of females cannot be detained either at a police station or in a regular jail, and the lofty laws that protect and respect the child have all been violated. Children are supposed to be kept in special institutions or reform schools but the Punjab Government has hardly been bothered, as the central agencies continued with their gruelling, and often callous investigations. Confessed a CBI officer: “These are all fine ideas for newspapers and preachers. We had on our hands suspected terrorists and would be terrorists”.

Last fortnight, some relief seemed to be on the way at last. Kamladevi Chattopadhyay, the well-known social worker, petitioned the Supreme Court to help the children. A division bench consisting of Chinappa Reddy, A. P. Sen and E.S. Venkataramiah directed the Ludhiana district judge to remove the children from the jails and lodge them in a better place, at the cost of the state. The Punjab Government was also directed to trace their relatives and file particulars to the court. Ironically enough, the same day these orders were issued, a Ludhiana magistrate remanded four children arrested from the Temple on June 6 to judicial custody, till further orders. The youngest of these children, Jasbir Kaur, is only two years old, her sister Charanjit Kaur is four, and her brothers, Harinder and Balwinder, are six and twelve. These children are charged with disobeying the prohibitory order under Section 144 of the CrPC.

On August 1, eleven senior opposition leaders had demanded that the detained kids be either released or at least segregated. But it was only after the Supreme Court directive that the authorities began acting. Within five days the parents of six children were located from districts as far away as Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh, Hissar in Haryana and Nainital in Uttar Pradesh. They had gone to the Golden Temple to pray when they were caught in the army crossfire. District Magistrate K.R. Lakhanpal had had earlier sought the governor’s approval to release the children but had not met with any success. Said he: “We were alive to the human problem but somehow in this charged atmosphere quick release could not take place. The children had to be cleared first by the intelligence agencies”.

Most critically placed are those children whose parents face various charges. While District Judge Jai Singh Sekhon is for total segregation, the administration has not yet agreed. “They have to be with their parents only and since the parents cannot be kept out of jail, they remain where they are”,said Lakhanpal. Their fate, as well as the fate of those in Category C, the most dangerous, depends upon the Supreme Court, which takes up the case this fortnight. Meanwhile 39 little beings continue to pray for freedom every day.