Wednesday 30 January 2013

SIKHS WORLDWIDE PROTEST INDIAN REPUBLIC DAY: DR.GURMIT SINGH AULAKH

SIKHS WORLDWIDE PROTEST INDIAN REPUBLIC DAY: DR.GURMIT SINGH AULAKH




Republic Day a Celebration of Genocide, Repression

Not a Republic But a Fundamentalist Hindu Majority Tyranny

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 30, 2013 – Sikhs from worldwide protested January 26 on India’s Republic Day, the anniversary of the adoption of India’s Constitution.  More than 25 million Sikhs, as well as other minorities, observe Republic Day as a black day celebrating repression, genocide, and tyranny.  For minorities, India is neither a republic nor a democracy, but a Hindu fundamentalist tyranny.  As U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-Cal.) said, “For the people of Jammu and Punjab and Kashmir, India might as well not be a democracy.  For them, India might as well be Nazi Germany.”  

A republic is rule by law, with protection for the rights of all.  India is not living up to that standard.  What is there to celebrate, then, on Republic Day?  As Narinder Singh, a spokesman for the Golden Temple told America's National Public Radio in 1997, “The Indian government, all the time they boast that they are democratic, that they are secular.  They have nothing to do with a democracy, nothing to do with secularism.  They just kill Sikhs to please the majority.” Not one Sikh representative has ever signed the Indian constitution to this day.

On January 26, 1950, the Indian Constitution was adopted, establishing India as a republic.  According to Sardar Simranjit Singh Mann, a former Member of Parliament, the Indian government has murdered over a million Sikhs since 1982.  Sardar Inderjit Singh Jaijee, author of The Politics of Genocide, and Bibi Baljit Kaur of the Movement Against State Repression (MASR) told Dr. Aulakh that if it were not for the efforts of the Council of Khalistan, that number might be ten times as high.  India has also killed more than 300,000 Christians since 1948 (plus many more throughout the country), over 100,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988 (as well as at least 2,000 to 5,000 in Gujarat), and tens of thousands of Tamils, Assamese, Manipuris, Dalits, Bodos, and others.  The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs "worse than genocide."  The police have abducted more than 50,000 young Sikhs, tortured and murdered them, then their bodies were declared unidentified and cremated. In 2012 alone, there were 131 reported violent incidents against Christians in India.  According to a report by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR), 52,268 Sikhs and tens of thousands of other minorities are being held as political prisoners in India without charge or trial.  Some have been in illegal custody since 1984!  Tens of thousands of other minorities are also being held as political prisoners, according to Amnesty International.

Dalits (the dark-skinned “Untouchables”) still cannot get out of the repression of India's caste system, which is still in force even though it was banned by the Constitution 63 years ago.  A Dalit constable entered a Hindu temple on a rainy day and was stoned to death. A Dalit girl was blinded by her teacher for drinking from the community water pitcher.  To this day, a high-caste Brahmin cannot tolerate the shadow of a Dalit, but Brahmins feel free to have sex with young Dalit girls without getting “contaminated.”

In 1986, Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochal, then Jathedar of the Akal Takht Sahib, who was later killed by the Indian government, held a Sarbat Khalsa on April 29, 1986 at Akal Takht Sahib, which passed a resolution for Khalistan.  Then on October 7, 1987, Jathedar Manochal and the Panthic Committee declared Khalistan independent.  They formed the Council of Khalistan as the government pro tempore and Dr. Aulakh as its president to lead the struggle for independence by gathering support from the Sikh diaspora and the international community.  Since then, the Council of Khalistan has led the effort, working very hard to achieve independence.  There are over 1500 statements by Members of the U.S. Congress in the Congressional Recordon the human rights violations against Sikhs and the independence of Khalistan.  The U.S. Congress has held many hearings on human-rights violations in India.  India has been exposed as a major oppressor of minorities and violator of human rights.  India must recognize the freedom of Khalistan and withdraw its occupying forces.

“We need a free Khalistan,” said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan.  “That is the only way to stop the violence and corruption.  We need leadership in Punjab that is committed freeing Khalistan.  As Professor Darshan Singh said, ‘If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh’,” Dr. Aulakh noted. “It is time for a Shantmai Morcha to free Khalistan.  Every Sikh must do his or her part.”


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