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  1. Gurdwara Sudhar Lehar II launched at Fatehgarh Sahib Fathegarh Sahib- August 4- In a bid to drag the Panthic ground from beneath the feet of Parkash Singh Badal, the major political, social as well as religious bodies representing the voice of the Sikh Nation today launched another Gurdwara Reform Movement after the span of almost one century. The announcement to this effect was made at a Convention held at the historic Gurdwara to mark the 24th anniversary of Dharam Yudh Morcha. The occasion was the bhog ceremony of Akand Path Sahib organized by the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) in lieu of Sewa pronounced by the Five Singh Sahibans on party president Simranjit Singh Mann and five other activists on July 18. Addressing the mammoth gathering Mr Mann announced the constitution of a Panthic Committee, comprising representatives of all groups representing the entire spectrum of Sikh polity, to streamline the working of the movement. The upbeat mood of the organizers was evident as they announced a series of programmes to checkmate Badal on the religious domain. In order to embarrass Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the conglomerate of the Panthic bodies decided to assemble at Akal Takht on a daily basis to impress upon Jathedar Joginder Singh to pursue all pending cases of maryada violation against Badal, his coterie and Rashtriya Singh Sangat. The Jatha of 51 members would go to Akal Takht starting from August 16 and after reciting Gurbani for two hours they would hand over a memo to Jathedar reminding of his role and responsibility in bringing the violators of maryada and traditions to book, said Mr Mann amidst slogans of Bole So Nihal and Raj Karega Khalsa. The first Jatha will comprise of the entire senior leadership of the Panthic Committee and on the first day, the Panthic Committee will place a Black Report Card of all the acts of omission and commission of Badal and Co., said Mr. Mann. To give sleepless nights to the present incumbent of the SGPC, Mr Avtar Singh the organizers declared the formation of a shadow SGPC. Though the SGPC was conceived as the Sikh parliament, it has not been functioning as such said Manjit Singh Calcutta, chairman of the Sikh Mission (International). To set an example of how the SGPC should function, what should be the qualities of an SGPC member and what should be the relationship between the Akal Takht and the SGPC members, a shadow SGPC comprising the present SGPC members of all Panthic groups and other leaders would be made public shortly, said Mr Calcutta. He further said that the body would also work to create a consolidated fund for the smooth, uninterrupted and non-coercive working of the Akal Takht Jathedar and his companion Jathedars. He narrated the audience of the background and basis that led to the launching of First Gurdwara Reform Movement in early nineties and the Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1982. He said the positive outcome of the First Reform Movement was the formation of the SGPC and the creation of the Sikh code of conduct. Launching a frontal attack against Badal, Parmjit Singh Sarna, president of the Akali Dal (Delhi) said the coward and corrupt Badal was sponsoring and furthering petty interests at the cost of the interests of the Sikh Nation. He said at the behest of Badal, Gurdwaras and other Sikh institutions, run by the SGPC have become the stronghold of anti-Sikh forces threatening the fundamentals of the Sikh religion and foisting upon the Sikh people, an alien culture, language, thought, religion and political processes. Addressing the gathering, Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, president of the SAD (Longowal), said the pseudo-Akali leadership was denigrating the status of Akal Takht Sahib by systematically demeaning the institution and undermining the authority of the Jathedar of Akal Takht Sahib and other Jathedars. The Congress-BJP-RSS triumvirate by their constant interference in the Sikh religious affairs was vitiating the religious and political climate of Panjab. Listing the religious, social, and cultural demands for the Sikhs, Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib, president of Dal Khalsa said the present Akali leadership led by Badal bitterly failed to get these demands and issues resolved. He said thousands have suffered ignominy at the hands of the Indian police and security forces which were executing the genocidal policy of the Indian state. Bhai Daljit Singh Bittu, senior vice-president of the SAD (A) said we were the inheritors of the Panthic legacy. He said since last two decades, we have consistently upheld the interests of the Sikh nation and have resisted the onslaught of the Indian state including anti-Sikh forces –Congress, BJP and RSS. In continuance of our commitment, we have decided to start Gurdwara Sudhar Lehar II. Those who addressed the gathering were Prof Jagmohan Singh, Rajinder Singh (Khalsa Panchayat), Kanwar Pal Singh, Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan, Jaswant Singh Mann, Bhai Tarsem Singh, SGPC members Ravinder Pal Singh, Karnail Singh Panjoli and Harcharan Singh Burjhari, Bhai Mohkam Singh, Darshan Singh Issapur. The names which figure on the high profile list of the Panthic Committee include Simranjit Singh Mann, Daljit Singh, Bhai Ram Singh, Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, Hardeep Singh Mohali, Karnail Singh Panjoli, Paramjit Singh Sarna, Singh, Prof. Harminder Singh, Harvinder Singh Sarna, Bhai Tarsem Singh, Ravi Inder Singh, Ranjit Singh Chajjalwaddi, Darshan Singh Issapur, Manjit Singh Calcutta, Justice Ajit Singh Bains, Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib, Jaspal Singh Dhillon, Rajinder Singh, Jarnail Singh Nawan Shahr, Navkiran Singh Advocate, Baba Harnam Singh Dhuma, Bhai Ram Singh, Bhai Mohkam Singh, Rajinder Pal Singh, Dr. Jagjit Singh Chohan, Jaswant Singh Mann , Giani Harinder Singh, Mandhir Singh Narain Singh Amrik Singh Dharmi Fauji, Gurkirpal Singh, Baba Sarobjot Singh Bedi, Sant Baljit Singh Daduwal, Jaswinder Singh, Jagdish Singh (Haryana SGPC member), Dr. Gurcharan Singh Sirsa, J & K Gurdwara Management Committee representative --Sudarshan Singh Wazir, Karnail Singh Pir Mohammed, Nihang Baba Deep Singh and Balwinder Pal Singh Thekedar. http://www.akalidalamritsar.com/Seva_Divas(eng)_04_Aug.html
  2. Punjab is now a defunct and meaningless name: It no longer exists Time to recognize & rename the Sikh homeland as Khalistan Punjab, as everyone who is familiar with some history of the region should know, is a combination of two Persian words (Panj & Aab) and gives the meaning of "Land of 5 Rivers" in reference to the five tributary rivers of the Indus which flow through the region. However, what is not so well known is that it wasn’t actually the Persians who gave the Punjab its name, nor was it the Punjab's indigenous people. It was the Mughals. The Mughals were the first rulers to officially use the term Punjab (or Panjab) as the name for the region that lay between the Indus and the Yamuna. Specifically, it was during the reign of Akbar that the word Punjab was most likely popularized and Akbar's court is also credited with having given the Punjab's various 'Do-Aabs' (Also words of Persian origin) their present names. The Punjab therefore, its definition and identity, is a product and relic of the Mughal empire. This is a fact which surprisingly is not known by many "Punjabis". Or perhaps, these facts are well known but are deliberately overlooked and kept quiet on as they crush the very foundations upon which the chauvinism of "Punjabi pride" and flawed concept of the so-called "Punjabi nation" are built upon. In any case, they are simple facts which cannot be denied by any serious person. So, Punjab is not the name of a nation or of a people but is a name coined by foreign Persian-speaking invaders in reference to the major geographical features of the region, i.e. the rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. Now, fast-forward to the 21st century and this land of five rivers no longer exists as a politically united entity. What’s more, the people who defined and gave this region its name no longer exist either. Actually, they disappeared from the scene hundreds of years back. What then, is the logic behind the continued use of this name "Punjab" as a name for the Sikh homeland? A territory which is not a land of five rivers, does not have a native Persian-speaking population, and in which it’s indigenous and majority Sikh people are not descended from people of Turko-Mongol (Mughal) or Persian stock. The absurdity of continuing to identify the Sikh homeland as "Punjab" presents an interesting contradiction in Sikh collective thought. For the Sikhs, it is clear that they cannot ever depict the Mughals in a positive light as the Mughals had committed heinous crimes and atrocities against them. So why then champion a foreign name given to the Sikhs native homeland by these very same rulers who had not only occupied by force the land which had belonged to the ancestors of the Sikhs but who had also waged war against the Sikhs very own Gurus? There is then the fact that the Sikh majority Punjab state in India is not a land of five rivers. Only three rivers pass through it. So once again what is the purpose of having the territory named as Punjab? Isn’t this not a complete joke? To have a land in which only three rivers pass through it known as a "land of five rivers" by using a word of Persian origin? A phone conversation with a Naga had sparked off this questioning behind the logic of continuing to identify the Sikh homeland as Punjab. Getting confused over references to the "Sikh nation of Punjab" the Naga gentlemen quite rightly asked isn’t the Sikh nation known as Khalistan, and if we could use the word Khalistan so that everyone could be clear on what was actually being discussed. He gave the example of confusions over the name of his own homeland. To the Nagas, their homeland of "Nagalim" is the word used to describe all of the Naga dominated and inhabited areas of their region; or what they call, "the traditional Naga homeland". Then there is the Indian state of "Nagaland" which is nothing but an Indian creation and only a tiny fraction of Nagalim. Not surprisingly, the Nagas reject both the boundaries and the name of Nagaland as these are artificial and have been enforced upon them by the Indians. His insistence that the correct terminology of “Nagalim†and “Khalistan†be used in reference to the Naga and Sikh nations was wholly correct on his part, and for which he is owed a word of thanks. The names of nations and territories should reflect either the identity of its people or of its defining geographical characteristics. But this is not the case with the Sikh homeland. The name Punjab neither reflects the identity of the people nor does it reflect the geographical features of the territory. Some years back after his return to India the long time advocate of Sikh independence, Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan, suggested that the Punjab state be renamed to Khalistan. Although the word Khalistan has become tainted over the years and made almost synonymous with “terrorism†due the propaganda machinery of the Indian government and media, the name Khalistan is in fact a true representation and definition of the Sikh homeland. Much more so than the Mughal name Punjab is as ever since the collapse of the Mughal empire and later with the partition of the Punjab between two new countries, the name Punjab, in relation to the Sikh homeland, is now completely meaningless and defunct. Since the creation of modern India in 1947 there have been numerous examples in which foreign imposed names have been reverted back to their indigenous names or given new identities in the language of the local people. The United Provinces became Uttar Pradesh, Madras became Chennai, Bombay became Mumbai, Calcutta became Kolkata and most recently Assam has been reverted back to Asom. Taking all of these and the many more examples into account isn’t it then high time that the Sikhs also got rid of the now defunct and meaningless name Punjab which was given to the region by foreigners and rename their territory to Khalistan? When Assam can be renamed back to its historical name of Asom after its indigenous Ahom dynasty which had ruled Asom as an independent kingdom for hundreds of years it is then a perfectly legitimate demand for Sikhs to push for the renaming of Punjab to Khalistan; a name and identity which reflects the demographics and aspirations of the Sikh nation and does not continue on an outdated relic left behind by the Sikhs one time nemesis, the Mughal emperors. A. Soni London, UK http://www.panthic.org/news/129/ARTICLE/2497/2006-05-28.html
  3. Fwd: Hypocrisy & State Terror in the Self-styled “World’s largest Democracy†India Denies the Sikhs’ Right to Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Political Expression Sikh Political Leaders Detained while Murderous Punjab Policemen & Criminal “Police Cats†given State Patronage & Protection Sikh Freedom Movement Undeterred London, April 2nd 2006: The United Kingdom based Council of Khalistan condemns in the strongest possible of terms India’s ongoing state repression in the Sikh homeland of Khalistan. This repression represents an open challenge to all those who espouse democratic values and the rule of law. The Sikh Nation declared its independence from India on the 29th April 1986, in the form of a sovereign state of Khalistan in the Sikh homeland of Punjab, pursuant to the resolutions of the historic Sarbat Khalsa (national gathering) held on 26 January 1986 at Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar. The Sikhs had freely determined their future political status and exercised their right to self-determination in accordance with international law. The Indian state has since attempted to justify genocide against the Sikhs on the supposed grounds of tackling an armed insurrection; up to 250,000 Sikhs have been killed. India has now extended its repression by openly intimidating and locking up those who advocate the exclusively peaceful and democratic implementation of Sikh national rights. Violating all democratic norms, on March 8th 2006 Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan, a veteran Sikh advocate of Khalistan who has been peacefully campaigning for the Sikh Nation’s right to self-determination for the past three decades, was picked up from his village home in Hoshiarpur district (Punjab) by the police and detained on charges of “seditionâ€. Dr Chauhan has been a Finance Minister of Punjab and has spent many years in the UK campaigning for Sikh human and political rights. One day later, Sardar Kanwarpal Singh Dhami, another prominent proponent of the liberation of Khalistan by peaceable means was also detained on the same politically motivated charges. Both remain in jail. The arrests were made following the airing of controversial TV documentary “Desh Droh†on a private Hindi satellite channel (ZEE TV) in which Sikhs who had spoken freely about their views on Khalistan during their interviews were depicted as “anti-nationals†and a “threat to national securityâ€. This absurdity of detaining Sikh leaders for having peacefully expressed their political views during an interview to the media is a characteristic typical of Brahmanical India; a highly sensitive and grossly totalitarian state which does not tolerate independent thought outside the box of its own perverse Hindutva beliefs and has sought to systematically silence the voice of the Sikh and other minority nations trapped within modern India since its unnatural birth on August 15, 1947. Charges levelled against Dr Chauhan that apparently amount to his “waging war against the (Indian) state†include not only his public statements on Khalistan that have been expressed legitimately and peacefully, but also include the most pathetic reason of him having hoisted a ‘flag of Khalistan’ on top of his own home. Does the raising of a flag and free expression of political views amount to the serious charge of “sedition†in democratic societies? Under the Amrinder Singh led regime in Punjab many prominent Sikh political leaders have been detained and charged with sedition merely for supporting a democratic struggle for Khalistan by advocating the Sikh Nation’s right to self-determination. Leaders of the Dal Khalsa and Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) had been held on such charges on two occasions in 2005 (all of which charges remain pending with the passports of the Sikh leaders confiscated); now Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan of the Khalsa Raj Party and Sardar Kanwarpal Singh Dhami of the Akal Federation are being held in jail. This harassment and intimidation is aimed at silencing legitimate and peaceable political activity and is a serious breach of human rights and democratic norms. The irony and hypocrisy of this persecution of Khalistan advocates is, however, that the present Punjab Chief Minister, Capt. Amrinder Singh, has himself been a votary to the independence of Khalistan. In 1994 Capt. Amrinder Singh had put his signature on the ‘Amritsar Declaration’ pledging to continue the democratic struggle for an independent and sovereign Sikh state. Surely, if prominent Sikh proponents of Khalistan like Dr Chauhan and S. Kanwarpal Singh Dhami, as well as other Sikh leaders, face charges of “sedition†for supporting the independence of Khalistan, then Capt. Amrinder Singh is also guilty of “sedition†for his endorsement of the ‘Amritsar Declaration’, and should therefore face imprisonment. Afterall are these persecuted Sikh leaders not governed under the same laws by which Capt. Amrinder Singh is also bound by? Clearly, such fraudulent charges of “sedition†are built upon hollow foundations. The hypocrisy, bias and double standards of the puppet Congress-led Punjab government and the politically influenced Hindu-dominated Indian judiciary stand fully exposed. Coincidently, or rather deliberately, the drama created by the media hype over the airing of “Desh Droh†on ZEE TV which prompted the arrests of Sikh political leaders who advocate Khalistan through a democratic struggle has followed and attempted to eclipse the much larger and more serious issue of the recently revealed unlawful activities of the Punjab police who had patronized criminals and so-called ex-Khalistan militants as “Police Cats†during the past two decades. These criminals, dubbed as “Police Catsâ€, were given the task of infiltrating the movement for Khalistan to eliminate its leadership, unity and legitimacy by tarnishing its image by acts of terror carried out in its name. The revelations of just how far the Punjab police (working under the direction of the Indian government) went in using unlawful means to discredit the Sikhs and enforce India’s rule over Khalistan by force and through fear were revealed with the uncovering of one such former “Police Cat†known as ‘Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi’ in February 2006. Following the uncovering of ‘Sukhi’ came the admittance by the Director General of Punjab police (DGP) S.S Virk and former DGP K.P.S Gill of their recruitment of criminals and so-called ex-militants to wage India’s war against the Sikh Nation’s struggle for independence. The admittance of such unlawful and immoral tactics by the current DGP and the former DGP were made during a press conference in Chandigarh on February 19 where it was also revealed that there were as many as 300 more such “Police Cats†within the Punjab state. These “Police Cats†are made up of persons who were ‘officially’ labelled as terrorists and claimed by the police to have been killed during an “encounterâ€. Dead bodies claimed by the Punjab police to belong to these ‘officially’ killed persons were then falsely tagged with the names of the reportedly ‘killed’ “Police Cats†and later cremated, without being identified by relatives or any third parties. The reportedly “dead terrorists†were then given faked identities by the Punjab police and converted into “Police Cats†to carry out their subversive and criminal activities to discredit the movement for Khalistan and to put fear into the people of Punjab against campaigning for their rights. While the Punjab police top brass has now publicly admitted to this outrageous and unlawful programme of having recruited criminals into its fold and provide these “Police Cats†with new identities the question that still remains unanswered is to whom did those dead bodies that were murdered, tagged and cremated by the Punjab police actually belong to if not to these ‘officially’ dead “Police Cats†who had reportedly been killed during an “encounter†with the police? Why has the Punjab police remained silent on this? Who is responsible for this highly illegal programme and why have all those involved not been brought to book? A further outrage and cold slap in the face of the rule of Law, Justice and Democratic vales has surfaced with the announcement of Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singh Singla to the press on March 21, 2006 that the Punjab government is preparing a procedure that will protect the police officers who engaged in illegal activities and schemes to counter the Sikh Nation’s struggle for independence from prosecution. While the Indian security forces already enjoy significant immunity from prosecution for human rights abuses the inhuman announcement by Surinder Singh Singla has rubbed more salt into the bleeding wounds of the Sikh Nation and the Council of Khalistan strongly chastises him for his unjust and blatantly unapologetic remarks towards the organized killings and disappearances of Sikh civilians by the Indian security forces in Punjab. The Council of Khalistan finds all of these recent developments under the present Amrinder Singh led puppet regime in Punjab truly remarkable as they openly challenge the fundamentals of the UN Charter on Human Rights, violate the principles of justice and rule of law and contradict the basic tenets of Sikhism to which Amrinder Singh and many members of his cabinet claim to adhere to. How does the Amrinder Singh led regime in Punjab reconcile their protection of murderous Punjab policemen under this insult of a legal system found in India to their faith in Sikhism, which cherishes the values and principles of justice, equality and the struggle against oppression? The detention of the 85 year old Dr Chauhan has given the Sikh Nation a Nelson Mandela. If Dr Chauhan dies while in police custody, the tyrannical Indian state would have given the Sikh Nation a martyr who died for the independence of the Sikh homeland of Khalistan by waging a peaceful democratic struggle in order to achieve this inevitable end. The Council of Khalistan stands firmly behind Dr Chauhan, S. Kanwarpal Singh Dhami and all other Sikh political prisoners who have campaigned peacefully for the independence of Khalistan. We also reiterate our full support to all those currently engaged in the political struggle for the right to self-determination for Kashmir, Nagalim and Assam. The Council of Khalistan takes note of the serious developments coming out of Punjab, pledges to expose Brahmanical India’s unjust war on its minority peoples and nations, and plans to take the struggle for self-determination and independence of Khalistan to the next stage of its logical development. Amrik Singh Sahota, OBE President Ranjit Singh General Secretary A. Soni Associate Council of Khalistan P.O Box 11034 Birmingham, B20 1WE United Kingdom ENDS
  4. 20th Anniversary of Historic 'Sarbat Khalsa' Sikh Independence remains National Goal 26 January 2006: Twenty years ago Sikhs held an historic Sarbat Khalsa (national gathering) and started to rebuild their supreme seat of Government, the Akal Takht Sahib in Amritsar, destroyed by the Indian Army during the infamous Operation Bluestar nearly two years earlier in which thousands of Sikhs were brutally massacred. Within days of the full withdrawal of the Indian Army from the Golden Temple Complex, more than 100,000 Sikhs had taken part in an extraordinary show of 'people power', not only to rebuild their sacred seat of power but their very destiny as a free Nation. It resolved unequivocally that the Sikh Nation would establish an independent sovereign Sikh state of Khalistan in accordance with their inalienable right of self determination as enshrined in international law. Uniquely, the Sarbat Khalsa of 26th January 1986 has been able to demonstrate in modern times to the world at large that the Khalistan movement was a natural consequence of the unfulfilled collective aspirations of the Sikhs for a sovereign state in their historic homeland of Punjab. By 29 April, 1986 the Panthic Committee constituted by the Sarbat Khalsa was able to issue a 'Declaration of Khalistan' from the Golden Temple Complex. This momentous decision represented a serious political defeat for the Indian state after its murderous army operations Bluestar and Woodrose aimed at annihilating the Sikhs as a Nation. This, the major political achievement of the Sikhs during the Punjab conflict, followed India's humiliation of losing both its political master, Indira Gandhi and Chief of Staff, General Vaidya who were assassinated in 1984 and 1985 respectively, for launching India's undeclared war on the Sikhs. The Sarbat Khalsa's resolutions, being the freely expressed wishes of the Sikh Nation, underlined the legitimacy of the Sikh freedom struggle in terms of both international law and any concept of justice. They left no room for doubting the Sikhs' absolute rejection of India's purported claims to the Sikh homeland (and natural resources) and of the imperialist imposed by New Delhi on it; the Sikhs had spoken on the very day the adoption of that 'Constitution' is annually marked by the Indian state. The outcome of that Sarbat Khalsa also superceded the decade long Akali struggle to implement the Anandpur Sahib Resolution for regional autonomy and consigned the 1985 Rajiv-Longowal Accord to the dust-bin of history; so much so that neither the regional parties nor the Centre have been able to revive these or any other political initiatives since. Having been politically out maneuvered the Indian state abandoned even the pretence of adherence to any norms of civilized conduct; basic human rights, including the right to life, were breached on a massive scale and as many as 250,000 Sikhs were killed in total, tens of thousands of those killings being 'hidden' by a (now exposed) systematic program of secret cremations. Today, India can still not afford to let bona fide international human rights organisations into the Punjab, for fear of them exposing the scale of its human rights violations. Meanwhile it regards local human rights bodies with contempt and has had several of their activists killed for exposing the secret cremations of Sikh youths eliminated in 'counters'. The grotesque human rights violations are now widely acknowledged by all serious observers of the conflict in Punjab, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Bodies such as the recently floated Punjab Rights Forum courageously continue to highlight the continuing repression in Punjab. Alarmingly for those who espouse democratic values and the right to free speech, the Indian state has criminalized even the making of peaceful demands for Sikh freedom and independence. Only last year, on the 19th anniversary of the Sarbat Khalsa of 1986, leaders and activists of the Dal Khalsa and others were imprisoned for calling for Sikh independence by peaceful means in accordance with the right of self determination in international law. Widespread international condemnation of that repression, including the tabling of an Early Day Motion in the UK Parliament, forced India to release those Sikhs but serious charges of sedition against them remain pending in an effort to intimidate the Sikhs in to abandoning their legitimate political and human rights. Let there be no mistake; the Sikhs are a proud and determined nation and we shall never succumb to such tactics. Instead we shall take inspiration from our cherished martyrs and steadfastly take forward the just struggle for our national rights. We are grateful to British parliamentarians, especially John McDonnell MP and Rob Marris MP, Chairmen, respectively, of the Punjabis in Britain and UK Sikhs All-Party Parliamentary Groups, for their timely intervention in promoting Early Day Motions in the UK Parliament condemning the repression of the Sikhs and calling for the release of all Sikh political prisoners. We will continue to express our solidarity with other nations and peoples being subjugated by the Indian state, namely those in Indian-held Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland, all of whom will boycotting India's so-called Republic Day on 26 January. The Sikhs are aware that the violation of their fundamental human rights, their ongoing political, religious and cultural repression, the theft of their capital city, territories and water resources, the desertification and economic bankruptcy of their homeland is a deliberate but futile attempt by the Indian state to annihilate their sovereignty, and will only ultimately result in nothing short of the liberation of the Sikh Homeland. No other outcome will secure and safeguard the Sikh national interest and no other will be acceptable. A JOINT STATEMENT RELEASED BY Council of Khalistan (UK) and Dal Khalsa (International) ENDS
  5. The Orientals and Hells Angels should massacre them all. I hate punjabs and all subcontinent people in general. The only decent punjabs i have met were old men who were religious people and dont give much importance to being a punjab (cant blame em)
  6. DS Gill of the IHRO is from Ludhiana and this is where his organization is based. Some months back he floated a loose platform of a large number of political, human rights, kisan and khalistan groups called the "Punjab Rights Forum". They have been campaigning for years to resolve the outstanding issues but it is the Indian government that refuses to enter into dialogue on the Punjab problem.
  7. Punjab and Sikhs’ just demands remain unresolved Sikh Nation needs support for Sikh Homeland During the struggle for transfer of power in India from the British in 1947, the leading Moslem party, the Moslem League, contended that since India had been seized from the Moslems, they were the natural heirs to the political power after British withdrawal. The Indian National Congress claimed India on behalf of all the communities. The British, as the colonial power, recognised three political groups- the Indian National Congress, the Moslem League and the Sikhs, as having the locus standi to negotiate Indian independence. This reduced the status of the Congress to a party representing the Hindus only. The British had originally set June 1948 as the date for India’s independence. However, because of political manoeuvring by the various parties, communal riots broke out in Punjab, North West India and Bengal as early as in March 1947, causing much loss of life, particularly Sikh life in the Sikh heartland in West Punjab. Upon Indian Viceroy Lord Mountbatten's advice, the British government decided to bring forward the transfer of power to August 1947. In order to induce the Sikhs to side with them, Hindu leaders made all sorts of promises, which resulted in the allocation to India a larger portion of the Indian sub-continent than would have been the case if it was to be a tripartite division. Seduced by Hindu assurances, Sikhs decided to throw in their lot with the Hindus. The Indian authorities, in 1966, divided Punjab into three parts: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the mini-state of Punjab. This came about because the Punjabi Hindus disowned their mother tongue, Punjabi, and instead voted for Hindi, a language a very small minority of the Hindus understand even today. Thus, linguistic aggression was used to undermine the Sikh claim to a united East Punjab. To understand the importance of language as a political factor in the Indian political and democratic tradition, it is significant to note that today Haryana chose Hindi as its first language and Telegu as the second; by like token, Himachal Pradesh boasts of Hindi as its first and Urdu as its second language. Thus, for the Sikh in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, language was used by the Hindu to push him out of his hearth and home. In the numbers game, the Hindu holds all the trump cards. Being swamped by Hindus is a constant fear in Sikh hearts. Long back Mrs. Thatcher, the then Prime Minister of England, expressed fear of 60 million white Britons being 'swamped' by three million coloured people. China has perfected swamping as a political weapon by settling enough Chinese in Tibet to turn the Tibetans into a minority in their own homeland. It is conceivable that given the corruption of Indian politics, Indian authorities can move enough Hindus into Punjab to turn the Sikh majority into a minority. After all a large number of Hindu casual labours from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, do find employment in Punjab during the harvest seasons. But, now, the authorities have started offering to them inducements to put down roots in the Punjab. Sikhs had even articulated their fears of Hindu domination in the Anandpur Sahib Resolution passed at Anandpur Sahib, the birthplace of the Khalsa, in 1973. The initial draft was perfected and finally passed in October 1978. In addition to propagation of the Sikh faith, the resolution called for the "creation of such an environment where Sikh sentiment can find its full expression." It also demanded the transfer of Chandigarh and other neighbouring "Punjabi speaking areas" to Punjab. The resolution also called for self-autonomy whereby Punjab would have effective control over all government departments and all areas of Punjabi life save for the portfolios of defence, foreign affairs, communications and transport and currency. The resolution, in practical terms, seeks a Sikh homeland within India where the Sikhs can be master of their own destiny. Jawaharlal Nehru himself had suggested such a homeland in July 1946. It also seeks that in this region the paramountcy of Sikh interests should be constitutionally recognised. Nehru had given an assurance, endorsed by Mahatma Gandhi, that "the brave Sikhs of Punjab are entitled to special consideration." Hence, in political terms, the resolution breaks no new ground. The second demand is that this autonomous region should include the adjoining Punjabi speaking areas of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan to constitute a complete Punjabi speaking region. This is in accordance with the pre-independence resolutions of the Indian National Congress, which provided that in a free and independent India; Congress will recognise provinces on a linguistic basis. This principle has been implemented in the rest of India, for example Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, just to give two examples. The resolution also seeks to bring the main contiguous Sikh population areas into a single Sikh region within the Union of India. In principle, one can see no objection to Indian rulers allowing Sikhs to converge on such a national or ethnic region if diversity of India and Indians is to be maintained. But alas, the reality is elsewhere, not at the Centre (Delhi). It hardly matters whether Congress or BJP rules the Centre. The attitude towards Sikhs remains the same. Not only that, now the BJP has started claiming that the Chandigarh (UT) should be made a State on the lines of the Delhi UT has been converted into a State. “See, we are very clear that Sikhs need a separate state, which we all call Khalistanâ€, says Bhai Daljit Singh, president of the Shiromani Khalsa Dal (SKD), now in jail, adding, “we have our own identity, our own culture, our own ideology which our past experience have shown, can not co-exist in India. While most of the so-called Sikhs have dumped this agenda for their personal gains, we will turn to the masses for support.†And to boost this Sikh agenda, Shiromani Akali Dal (A), SKD, Dal Khalsa and Khalsa Panchayat, all constituents of the Punjab Rights Forum, are holding parleys these days to get united. They are likely to succeed in their mission of converging on a common platform to achieve their goal. Let us hope for the best. D S Gill Chair IHRO
  8. The Shi'a have a stronger zeal for missionary activity against the Sikhs and for claiming that Guru Nanak was a Muslim than the Sunnis do.
  9. No prob. Anyone care to give feedback to these articles/opinions/letters?
  10. Open Letter: A complaint by Sardar Simranjit Singh Mann http://www.panthic.org/news/115/ARTICLE/1601/2005-07-24.html Hinduism and Sikhism, the same thing? http://www.panthic.org/news/115/ARTICLE/1544/2005-07-17.html Self Determination: The Only Basis for Human Rights in South Asia http://www.panthic.org/news/121/ARTICLE/1619/2005-07-31.html Police Brutality is the ‘law of the land’ in India http://www.panthic.org/news/129/ARTICLE/1620/2005-07-31.html Ban 'Jo Bole So Nihal' http://www.panthic.org/news/129/ARTICLE/1318/2005-05-08.html
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