Dal Khalsa Alliance
Suite 303 1700 Schttuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
USA
Parmjit Singh Sekhon
President
MEMORANDUM
The Hon N. Pillay
High Commissioner
United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council
Palais des Nations, CH 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
12th March, 2010
Your Excellency Mrs Pillay,
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND GENOCIDE IN PARTICULAR OF SIKHS IN THEIR HOLY AND HISTORICAL LAND, PUNJAB, AND THE NON-HINDU MINORITIES I IN GENERAL IN PREDOMINANTLY HINDU INDIA
We, the Sikhs of Switzerland, European countries and North America, would like to apprise you, your Excellency, of human rights abuses of the Sikhs and other non-Hindu minorities in India which have taken place since 15th August, 1947. This was the day when the British India authorities transferred political power to the ‘unelected’ Hindu leadership and left the non-Hindu minorities, especially the Sikhs, at the mercy of the majority, the Hindus. Since receiving political power from the British Empire, despite the protest of the Sikhs at large and their leadership for not returning their first sovereign and independent Sikh Raj of South Asia, of their forefathers and monarch, Ranjit Singh (1799-1849). The predominantly Hindu India has exterminated more than 1.4 to 2.3 million Sikhs, more than one million in the decade of 1981-91 (Singh S 1995 The Sikhs in History ISBN 0-96475555-0-5; Dilgeer HS and Sekhon AS 1992 The Sikhs’ Struggle for Sovereignty An Historical Perspective (ed) A T Kerr ISBN 0-9695964-1-3 University of Alberta P O, Edmonton, AB T6G 2S5, Canada; Sekhon AS Dilgeer HS 1999 A White Paper On Khalistan (A True Story) The Sikh Nation (ed) AT Kerr ISBN 0-9695964-8-0; Sekhon AS Dilgeer HS 2002 India Kills the Sikhs, 3rd Ed, ISBN 0-9695964-9-9; Sekhon AS 2005 India’s Genocides of Sikhs, 1981-1991: History Revisited Int J Sikh Affairs 15(2), 28, 2005 (Chief Guest Editor: AT Kerr) ISSN 1481-5435). Since the brutal military “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984, more than 260,000 Sikh infants, children, youth, male and female folks have been slaughtered [Int J Sikh Affairs 10(2): 27-29, 2000 ISSN 1481-5435; Sekhon AS 2000 Proc 8th Sikh Edu Conf, Toronto, ON, Sept 23; Walia AS Sudan TS 2001 Genesis of State Terrorism in Punjab. Released by Justice A S Bains, ihrf@yahoogroups.com; July 14, 2001; Kumar RN et al.2003 Reduced To Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab ISBN 99933-53-57-4 <www.safhr.org <mailto:ihrf@yahoogroups.com; www.safhr.org> ; Sekhon AS 2005 in Authentic Voices of South Asia India’s Broken Promises & Suppression of Dalits (ed) U Khalid ISBN 0-9548929-0-9]. Likewise, Hindu India has systematically killed other non-Hindu minorities (more than 500,000 Muslims; over 110,000 Kashmiri Muslims of the Internationally Disputed Areas of Jammu and Kashmir since 1988; more than 312,500 Christians; hundreds of thousands of Dalits, adivaasis (aboriginals or Moolnivasi of India), in numerous genocides, pogroms, massacres and staged encounters (25 Years After 1984 Assault on Durbar Sahib Laying Foundation of Khalistan (ed) Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon, June 2009, ISBN 0-9548929-4-1, a publication of London Institute of South Asia). The most recent examples of state sponsored pogroms are the killings of Sikhs in Chitisinghpora in Kashmir in February, 2000; killings of 6 Sikhs in Kashmir in February, 2001; beheading of a Sikh in Kashmir in March, 2001; destruction of 6 Mosques in Kanpur, U P, and Bhilwara (Asind), Rajasthan (http://www.indianexpress.com <http://www.indianexpress.com/>; 2001; The Hon Edolphus Towns, Member of Congress (MC). Indian Government Found Responsible for Burning Sikh Homes and Temple in Kashmir. The US House of Representatives, June 27, 2001; The Hon Dan Burton, MC and Chairman, US House Government Committee. Indian Duplicity and Hypocrisy Exposed, House of Representatives, 31st July, 2001; The Hon Edolphus Towns, MC Indian Minorities Seeking Their Own States. The US House of Representatives, 107th Congress, July 11, 2001; The Hon Cynthia A McKinney, MC Self-Determination For Sikh Homeland Discussed on Capitol Hill, The US House of Representatives, June 28, 2001); slaughtering of 16 Muslims by the police; burning of the Muslim holy scripture, The Quran Shariff, in New Delhi, Patiala, and Amritsar, Punjab (March 24, 2000 <post #4279 & 4314, (www.yahoogroups.com/group/sikhyouth <http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/sikhyouth>. Addressing the House of Representatives, Congress of the United States, the Hon Edolphus Towns, Member of Congress, said on 28th March, 2006 “Sikh activists Kanwarpal Singh Dhami and Dr. Jagjit Singh Chohan (now deceased) were arrested by the Indian Government on charges of sedition. Their crime was to speak in support of a sovereign Khalistan . Dr. Chohan also flur the Khalistan’s flag from his residence. When did free speech become a crime in a democracy? The Sikh homeland of Khalistan declared itself independent from India on October 7, 1987.” On 21st March, 2006, in a press release, Dr Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, Washington Dc, said, “What kind of democracy watches people for demanding freedom? Why don't they watch the Black Cats who have killed thousands of Sikhs under the protection of the Indian government?'' Additionally, the excesses of the Indian forces can be summarized as follows:
On 5th November, 1978, the Hindu India police of Delhi fired at a Sikh procession and killed four Sikhs, including the president of the Delhi Akali Party [Sekhon AS and Dilgeer HS 1999, 2006 A White Paper On Khalistan (A True Story) The Sikh Nation (ed) A T Kerr ISBN 0-9695964-8-0]. Acting Mukh-Sewadar, or Chief of Akal Takht Sahib, the Supreme Seat of the Sikh Polity, Amritsar, Singh Sahib Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke, was abducted on 20th December 1993, tortured, killed and his body dumped in a canal on 3rd January 1994.
On October 27, 1995, the Human Rights activist of the Akali Dal (Badal), Sardar Jaswant Singh Khalra, was killed at the Chhabal police station, Amritsar. His body was thrown into the Harike Canal. A police officer, A. S. Sandhu (supposedly committed suicide), abducted a Sikh religious leader, Charan Singh, tortured him and was made to dispose of his body. Earlier, the same police officer had abducted Charan Singh’s brother and his driver. The latter was killed by tying his legs to two jeeps, which were driven off in opposite directions.
A former Punjab administration headed by a corrupt Sikh, Prakash Sinh Badal, attacked the Darbar Sahib Complex (mistakenly known as the Golden Temple Complex) on 7th February, 1998, desecrated its sanctity and deposed, using his state powers, the democratically elected president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee. Shortly thereafter, Badal forcibly removed the Supreme Minister or Custodian of Akal Takht Sahib, the Supreme Seat of the Sikh Polity, Bhai Ranjit Singh. The administration of Prakash Sinh Badal, has spent more than 20 million rupees for legal fees to protect the police officers who participated in the genocide of the Sikhs. Voted, under the Constitution of India, which has been ‘rejected by the Sikhs repeatedly’, out of the Punjab’s administration, for his maneuvering, his collision (Badal and associates’) with a Hindu militant and fundamentalist party, the Brahtiya Janata Party (BJP), is back as the Chief of the Punjab administration. Prakash Badal, is an agent of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW; Gurtej Singh 2000 Chakarvyuh: Web of Indian Secularism ISBN 81-85815-14-3) and a staunch turbaned Hindu in ‘The Sikh Identity’. Prakash Badal has kept his lips ‘sealed’ when the Punjab Legislative Assembly debated the ‘Freedom of Press, news media and the free speech recently (www.rozanaspokesman.com <http://www.rozanaspokesman.com>, 8th-13th March, 2008). The freedom of speech and expression, the fundamental human rights in any democracy. This is the clear reflection for the democratic or ‘autocratic’ nature of Mr Badal is.
His administration and police personnel are abusing the Indian Penal Code Article 188, against Dr Sukhpreet Singh Udhoke of Amritsar. These are a few examples of the democracy of the New Delhi administration blessed administration of Prakash Badal and his Akalis with the BJP, in the Sikhs’ holy and historic Homeland of Sikhs, Punjab.
On February 6, 2000, the death of a Dalit youth in police custody in Morinda, Ludhiana, was horrifying. He was killed in cold blood because he objected to police’s drinking session at a public place. This incidence revived memories of the dark period in the history of Punjab when countless innocent young men were killed in false encounters, but police records turned them into ruthless terrorists.
A mother of six sons, Bibi Jaswant Kaur, lost her husband in 1987. Three of her six sons succumbed to tuberculosis. The other three were abducted and killed by Punjab police. One of the three sons, Pragat Singh, 23-yrs-old, was arrested in 1987, kept in captivity for 14 months. After his release police raided his home on 9th September 1988, and shot him dead. The eldest son, Jagir Singh, 25-yrs-old, working as a volunteer in a Taran Taran Gurdwara, was taken by the police and did not return. The youngest son, Mohinder Singh (20-yrs-old) was with the religious man, Baba Charan Singh (see above). He was abducted by the police on 14th June 1991 and died in police custody. Jaswant Kaur has tried all possible avenues to get justice, but has had no luck (jkaurgrewal@yahoo.com; March 20, 2001; post #4181; http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/sikhyouth <http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/sikhyouth>). Even outside India, Sikhs continue to be harassed by the Indian government and its allies, according to the Hon Edolphus Towns, MC (Extensions of Remarks - February 27, 2001). Miscreants stormed a church and ransacked the premises while a spiritual meeting and prayers were in progress in Hyderabad, A P (www.burningpunjab.com; 24th March, 2001).
A group of men killed their rape victim, a mother of seven, in the village of Singana and then gouged out the eyes of two witnesses in India's lawless eastern state of Bihar, the Press Trust of India reported Thursday (February 8, 2001; AFP). The rapists then used the woman's sickle to hack her to death. They then attacked four labourers who witnessed the crime.
Since 1998, Christian missionaries including one from Australia (Father Graham Stains), his 8- & 10-yr-old sons, and Roman Catholic nuns, have been killed, burnt alive or raped by the Hindu fundamentalists. The burning, destruction and demolishing of the Houses of God of the non-Hindu minorities, the Sikh Gurdwaras, Churches and Mosques, looting and desecrating of the holy and historical places of the non-Hindu minorities are the modus operandi of successive Indian administrations and state-sponsored hoodlums (Hon John T Doolittle, MC India Coalition Partner Threaten To Engulf Country In Violence, House of Representatives, July 27, 2000, The US Congress; Hon Edolphus Towns, MC July 27, 2000. Christian Persecution in India, House of Representatives, The US Congress).
A train carrying Sikh pilgrims and the Sikh Holy scriptures, Guru Granth Sahib, was attacked in June, 2001, by militant Hindu hoodlums in Uttarpara, West Bengal. The Hindu hoodlums stoned the Sikh pilgrims, burned the Holy Scriptures, and tried to set fire to the train (Press Release: Council of Khalistan. Train Attack Is Wake-Up Call for Sikh Nation, June 27, 2001<cok@khalistan.com>).
In an affidavit filed on 28th August, 2000, by Mr Sartaj Singh, resident of Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir (under the occupation of Indian administration), Internationally Disputed areas by the United Nations, stated that he was tortured and received painful psychological harassment by the Indian police. The police personnel wanted him to confess for the things which he never did. The police personnel also wanted him to tell the whereabouts of Neeta alias Ranjit Singh, a freedom fighter, Harbhajan Singh, Gian Singh and Joginder Singh, who are at large. The police personnel wanted him to make a false confession that ‘we all know one another’.
Miss Manorama of Manipur was gang raped by the men of the Assam Rifles and was thrown out of the headquarters after mutilating her private parts in July, 2004. More recently (9th February, 2005), a 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a constable of the force in central Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, triggering protests from women’s organizations
In a blatant violation of human rights, the district police today tortured a Dalit youth to death after he refused to accept his involvement in a theft case (Jalandhar, February 6’ tibruneindia.com).
The above are only a few of the hundreds of thousands of cases we would like to bring to your kind attention, your Excellency. We hereby request you to dispatch a fact finding mission to India to assess in depth the crimes committed against humanity by armed and law-enforcing agencies in ‘uniforms’ and bring the criminals before the International Court of Justice in the same way as the U N has done to punish the criminals of the Rwanda and Serbia massacres in 2000; S. Milosevic of Serbia in July 2001; the former Serb police chief, Steven Todorovic, who pleaded guilty for torturing, murdering and sexually assaulting Muslims and Croats (National Post, 1st August, 2001, p A11); and Radislav Krstic for the Srebrenica genocide of Muslims in 1995 (National Post, August 3, 2001, p A3). The UN tribunal has taken a landmark decision recently to include “sex torture as a war crime” (National Post, February, 23, 2001). Also, the UN’s Secretary-General (former), His Excellency Kofi Annan’s interview (Time, 4th September, 2000) will be welcomed by the justice-loving peoples of our civilized world that “those who commit crimes and those who watch as bystanders are equally responsible for the crime taking place.” What we have brought to your attention, your Excellency, is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of human rights abuses, religious persecution(s), rapes, humiliation, dehumanization and crimes committed by the state-sanctioned armed personnel of what our civilized world terms as the “largest democracy” in the world, India. A leading magazine has pointed out “India is ruled by rascals.” “Many Indians silently witness their country’s unlawful events. Several members of the ruling party’s youth wing have in the past been charged with rapes and kidnapping. Officials respond that all parties have their thugs. Politicians use thugs to capture polling booths and stuff ballot boxes (The Economist, 15th July, 1995, p. 26).” According to the Hon Dana Rohrabacher, for the Sikhs, Kashmiri Muslims, and other minorities “India might as well be Nazi Germany” (Press Release: Council of Khalistan, Washington DC; June 27, 2001 <khalistan@khalistan.com>). Another Sikh, Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, is about to be put to death in India for a crime even India admitted he didn't commit (Hon Edolphus Towns, MC. Proc House of Representatives, Washington DC, 18th March, 2003).
Manmohan Singh, the present Chief, Council of Ministers and not an elected ‘Member of Parliament’ of India, supposed to be an honest and clean person delivered his state address before the “World Conference on Human Rights Delegates in Vienna, Austria, on 24th June (14 to 25th June), 1993. He, then Finance Minister of the PV Rao administration, said that “ he being Sikh finds no abuses of Human Rights of Sikhs much less any minorities in India.” Another person. Shahabuddin, Manmohan Singh’s colleague of the Islamic faith, said the same of Muslims of India. Abuses of Human Rights in the Sikhs’ holy and historic Homeland, Punjab, Khalistan (under the Brahmins (elite) autocracy’s occupation, have been taking place, since 15th August, 1947). Manmohan Singh’s statement was ‘refuted’ in the strongest possible words by the human rights and peace loving citizens (delegates) of North America and elsewhere.
Your Excellency, following the execution of “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984 (An undeclared war on the Sikh Nation, Punjab by the Indian armed forces, according to Sekhon (2009 ISBN 0-9548929-4-1), “Operation Bluestar, June 1984”. according to reliable sources, every village of the Sikhs’ holy and historic homeland, Punjab, was turned into “Concentration Camp.” ’ Open air’ jails were established outside every village of Punjab. These jails were covered by the barbed wires, in the heat of June – August months, when the usual temperatures in Punjab are 47 C or more, had been under the supervision of the Indian armed personnel, were no less than the concentration camps of Adolf Hitler’s times in the Nazi Germany. These ‘open air’ barbed wire concentration camps/jails were used to prison the Sikhs indiscriminately regardless or gender and age. Sanitary facilities were virtually not-existent. This reflects the treatment of Indira Gandhi and her administration of the Brahmins autocracy to the Sikhs,”
Bibi Manjit Kaur Dakha (1992): Manjit Kaur Dakha and her husband sought political asylum in the United States after being tortured by the Indian armed personnel. Mrs. Dakha, her father, and her 6-mo-old daughter (Bhaghel Kaur) were tortured mercilessly, given repeated death threats, and her child was made to sit on a colony of ants by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The daughter and father were made to beat each other with clubs.
Sardar Surinder Singh Fauji (a retired army personnel), of Fatehabad, Tehsil: Khadur Sahib of Amritsar district of Punjab, has been physically, mentally and psychologically tortured by Punjab police since May 27, 1986. Valuable household articles stolen by the police personnel from his residence have not been returned. Despite his writing to the Prime Minister (PV Rao), Home Minister of India (SB Chawan), Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India, Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High court, and the Senior Session Judge, Amritsar, there was no relief from the police excesses.
More than 35 Sikh youth, including Kanwarpal Singh Bittu and Sarbjit Singh Ghuman of the Dal Khalsa, in police custody. Similarly, Jagtaar Singh Hawara, his wife and other family members are humiliated (by putting cigarettes and tobacco in his mouth), tortured and harassed by the Punjab and Delhi police (www.panthic.org <http://www.panthic.org/> <http://www.panthic.org/> , 17th July, 2005). Another Sikh leader, Daljit Singh Bittu, President, Panch Pradhani, and thousand of Sikh youth are in the jails, without trials and crimes. A human rights lawyer and prominent Sikh nationalist Harpal Singh Cheema, after spending eight years in a California jail, whom Judge Dana Keener determined Singh did not pose a threat to national security. The Hon judge stopped short of granting him full asylum, but forbade the then-INS from deporting the couple. Indeed, she noted that Singh “is widely perceived as a moderate and a voice for reason (Camille T Tairara, Editor, New America Media, News Feature, Aug 07, 2006). To escape atrocities and persecution during custody of the Indian law-enforcing personnel until 1992, Mr Cheema and his wife sought asylum in the United Statesin1993.
(www.news.ncmonline.com/news/views_article.htmal?
In the mid 2007, Sardar Simranjit Singh Mann, President, Shromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Sardar Daljit Singh Bittu, the then Vice President, SAD-Amritsar, and Dr Sukhpreet Singh Udhoke were arrested, tortured and harassed by the Punjab police personnel and charged for the ‘treason against the Indian union’ for their peaceful demonstrations and free expression against the heavy handedness of the state personnel. In the alleged Indian democracy, the basic rights of citizens, i. e., free speech, are violated. Dr Udhoke’s publication was ceased and he was arrested.
Recently, in the second week of February, 2010, the Punjab police killed 13 youth in Ludhina district of Punjab, while they were participating in the Birthday celebrations of Shaheed-Bilas Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa, Punjab’s political and religious leader of the 20th century (www.rozananaspokesman.com).
We also request that you bring to justice the deceased or living politicians of Indian administrations (Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Chandershekhar, P Chindambaram (now Home Minister of India). V P Sinh, Dev Gowda, P V Rao, A B Vajpayee and their cabinet colleagues, including Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues responsible for the Gujarat Massacre of Muslims (February to November, 2002), and/or appointees like HKL Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler, Arun Nehru, SD Sharma, SS Ray, Boota Singh, LK Advani, GL Nanda, Surjit Barnala, Balwant Singh, Beant Singh, PD Singh, JS Chohan, Surender Nath, Prakash Sinh Badal, GS Tohra, HS Longowal, Lalit Makan, to cite but a few; police officers JF Rebeiro, KPS Gill (the Butcher of Punjab), Sarbjit Singh, Sumedh Saini (Senior Superintendent Police), DR Bhatti for the killings of Professor (Dr) Rajinder Pal Singh Gill (Bulara), Dr Gurnam Singh Buttar, Bhai Gurbhej Singh of the Jalandhar district and others, Swarn Ghotna, Gobind Ram, AS Sandhu (declared deceased by the Indian administration) and associates. However, he is living under fake identity in Halifax, NS, Canada, as reported by <http://www.rozanaspokesman.com/> ; published from Chandigarh, Punjab in May 2007), RS Bhullar, Joginder Singh, Raghbir Singh, SS Virk; armed forces personnel like K Sunderji, AS Vaidya, KS Brar, RS Dayal, JS Bhullar, Arjan Singh, JS Jamwal, Tarlok Singh, Shamsher Singh, Gurdial Singh, and their subordinates (Report To The Nation: Oppression in Punjab. Library of Congress Card No. 86-60058, January, 1986; Gurtej Singh 2000 Chakarvyuh: Web of Indian Secularism ISBN 81-85815-14-3; Int J Sikh Affairs Vol 9, No. 1, 1999 ISSN 1481-5435; Sikh Shahadat, June 2005, p. 12-17).
We look forward to hearing from you and hope for your prompt action on all crimes committed against humanity.
With warmest regards and best wishes.
Respectfully submitted,
Parmjit Singh Sekhon,* President
Dal Khalsa Alliance
<psdakha@gmail.com>
Signed by: Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon
Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon
Managing Editor and Acting Editor in Chief
International Journal of Sikh Affairs ISSN 1481-5435
EDMONTON, AB T5T 2B8
CANADA <assekhon@shaw.ca>
Advisor (Foreign Affairs), Dal Khalsa Alliance
Sikh Federation Swiss
Signed by: Amarjit Singh Khalsa*
<sikhfederationswiss@yahoo.com>
Signed by: Gaganjit Singh*
Ram Singh*
President, American Gurdwara Council Ph: 1.408.667-3116
Karnail Singh Khalsa*
President, Gurmat Chetna Lahar of the United States of America
1.510.557-9168
Harmindar Singh*
President, Khalsa Jagriti Lahar of the United States of America
E-mail: hpaulsingh@sbcglobal.net
Bhanjan Singh Bhinder, Director for Public Policy, The Sikh Information Centre
Sukhwinder Singh, President, Sikh Sahit Sabha 510.277-7560
Baljinder Singh, President, Sikh Sabhachar Committee 510.774-5909
* Denotes signed with the permission
*****
