Should Sikhs protest on Friday 8 July when Manmohan Singh's in the UK OR WILL MORE BE ACHIEVED BY STAYING AT HOME?

Monday 4 July 2005

As many of you will know a protest is taking place regarding the Dastaar and Sikh human rights on Friday 8 July, between 3-5pm outside the Indian High Commission in London. The protest is coinciding with Manmohan Singh's visit to the UK and an ideal opportunity to publicly show our concern regarding two critically important SIKH ISSUES. Many of those that care about these issues are urged to try and make time and take part.

A Sikhs right to wear the Dastaar
The first part of the protest between 3-4pm will highlight the continued problems being experienced by Sikhs, mainly school children in France on their right to wear the Dastaar, the inaction of an Indian Government led by Manmohan Singh for the last thirteen months and India's false propaganda in the media that the problem has been resolved, when it is quite clear many Sikh children are still suffering.

Ask yourself how much of an effort has Manmohan Singh really made in the last year to challenge or persuade the French Government on its law that denies Sikh children and Sikh public employees the right to wear the Sikh turban. The right of Sikhs to wear the Dastaar is not confined to children alone. In France Sikhs with turbans are also being denied IDs wearing their turbans, they are unable to take up "public sector" jobs, such as, lecture at university or become police officers, teachers etc.

The French law is denying Sikh children the right to education and Sikhs across Europe are unable to freely travel to and work in France. The law in France is a clear breach of one of the fundamentals of the 1957 Treaty of Rome that established the freedom of movement of labour. Those that understand the teachings of our great Gurus and the importance of the Sikh identity know religious freedoms and the outward expressions of individual faith is one of the most basic and precious freedoms for a Sikh. Freedom of religious _expression is a fundamental human right enshrined in international law. The blatant religious discrimination in France and other parts of the EU infringes Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights and must be opposed.

As many will know, on 28 April this year some Sikhs from the UK met with Manmohan Singh and discussed with him a five-point Memorandum detailing Sikh concerns. The Memorandum urged him to take this issue up with the French President during his visit to the UK when he attends the G8 summit. The public protest will be a very timely reminder that the Dastaar issue must be resolved as a matter of urgency, with the law in France needing to be reviewed by September 2005. Doing nothing, staying at home, not protesting and leaving it to others is an easy option. This is a one-off opportunity that should not be missed by those that value the Sikh identity.

Stopping the continued abuse of Sikh human rights
Many Sikh political prisoners have been languishing in Indian jails for many years, some for well over a decade without charge or trial, while others have been unfairly sentenced with dubious charges and fabricated evidence to simply stop their political activities. The lives of hundreds of thousands of Sikh families have been shattered, while almost all Sikhs in the UK are fortunate to have the advantage of living fairly free and privileged lives, including most being allowed to travel to India without hindrance. The least we can do is use the freedoms we have and spare a few hours on Friday afternoon and call for the release, without further delay, of all Sikh political prisoners.

The protest is also designed to highlight the deteriorating human rights situation in Panjab. In the last few weeks reports indicate over 700 Sikhs in Panjab have been arrested, illegally detained and tortured. Similarly, pro-Sikh independence protagonists, such as Kanwarpal Singh Bittu, Sarbjit Singh Ghuman and Simranjit Singh Mann have been arrested and charged with sedition for a peaceful public display of support for an independent sovereign Sikh state. Dal Khalsa activists have been charged for carrying Nishan Sahibs, pictures of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the greatest Sikh of the 20th Century and photographs of the Akal Takht that was destroyed in the Indian army assault in June 1984. The protest on Friday is a chance for you to try and force India to stop arbitrary arrests and torture, oppression of free speech and legitimate political activity.

There also remains the vital question of justice since 1984 for the tens of thousands of innocent Sikhs that have been killed. Since 1984 all calls for freedom and independence by Sikhs in India have been suppressed by the Indian authorities, who have unleashed a rein of terror through gross violation of human rights. Virtually none of those responsible for these human rights violations - including torture, deaths in custody, extra-judicial executions and "disappearances" of Sikhs have been brought to justice.

It is a damning indictment that the Indian Government continues to this day to deny justice for the government-sponsored anti-Sikh pogroms of November 1984, the most ruthless and bloody chapter in modern day Sikh history. Manmohan Singh should know from his own personal experience that the anti-Sikh pogroms were quite possibly the worst atrocities Sikhs have suffered since Indian independence in 1947. The state sponsored terrorism revealed the true face of Indian “freedom, democracy and secularism.”

The world watched on as the Indian Government supported gangs and mobs burned thousands of Sikh’s alive, Sikh homes were destroyed, Sikh women were raped, and Gurdwara Sahibs and sacred scriptures of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji were burned. All this went on not just under the watchful eyes, but with the full blessing of some of the highest seats in Indian authority. The in-house invasions and public killing sprees went on for days, and the injustices were not stopped by police because the mobs involved in the violence were closely associated to the government. Somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 affidavits were made as a result of the pogroms, but how many arrests and convictions have resulted?

Today, the injustices continue. Two Congress party politicians, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler have both been implicated by eyewitnesses – to this day neither have ever been successfully tried or prosecuted. To the contrary, since the events of 1984, Sikhs have witnessed the re-election of the said MPs and Congress party officials. The inclusion of Jagdish Tytler in the Congress government led by Manmohan Singh was insensitive and a slap in the face of Sikhs. How many Sikhs appreciate this and will be prepared to protest on Friday and give a voice to the survivors? They now only really have us as a voice, we must make sure they are heard or history will eclipse their narratives and the silence of impunity will prevail.

For over two decades high-ranking members of the Congress party have enjoyed political impunity for this violence. One of the key reasons for protesting on Friday is to remember those mothers and fathers who lost their sons and daughters, those sisters who lost their brothers, husbands and fathers and to seek justice on their behalf. For every day, and every year which passes without a conviction, injustice is still being served to the broken, shattered homes of those mothers and fathers.

Some may be of the mistaken view that this is an anti-Manmohan Singh protest. This is not the case, this is a protest about fundamental Sikh rights that has been deliberately planned to coincide with Manmohan Singh's presence inside the Indian High Commission. This will guarantee wider media coverage for these vitally important issues. It will highlight to the wider public the problems being faced by Sikhs and the failings of the Indian Government.

In the last few weeks some have suggested that it may not be appropriate for Sikhs to protest as Manmohan Singh is a Sikh and his "image" has been positive for Sikhs and he may be working behind the scenes to resolve Sikh difficulties. If we were to assume this were correct, although there is little evidence to suggest this is the case, will a protest strengthen or weaken Manmohan Singh's position to secure something for Sikhs? Doing nothing is not an option.

There is plenty of evidence to show, that since the appointment of Manmohan Singh the "image" of the Sikhs may have changed, but the overall position of Sikhs has actually deteriorated. A properly organised and well attended protest is taking positive action against injustice according to the teaching of our Gurus and the democratic freedoms we have in the UK. Staying at home is ignoring those teachings and will be a missed opportunity that you may only realise when Manmohan Singh is eventually replaced by a right wing Hindu fanatic or another from the Gandhi dynasty. Sikhs must learn to think for themselves about what is right and wrong and be guided by our Gurus who taught us to fight injustices.