Human Rights situation in Panjab

[DKI]

Fwd:

Hypocrisy & State Terror in the Self-styled

“World’s largest Democracyâ€

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