Attack on the Sikh religion- A wake up call to Sikhs
Pavit Singh
Wahe Guru ji ka Khalsa!
Wahe Guru ji ki Fateh
Sat Sri Akal!
There are reasons to believe that there are some policy makers in the
govt. of India who are waging a covert war against the Sikh religion.
My intention is not to dwell on "conspiracy theories" but to bring to
the sangat's attention some of the crimes being committed against
Sikhs who either :
a. wear kesri or blue turbans,
b. keep uncut or unrolled beards,
c. are amritdharis
>From "The Sikhs in History" by Dr. Sangat Singh
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The Operation Woodrose was complementary to the Operation Bluestar in
scanning Sikhs
in the countryside. THe army in baat cheet, talking points simply
laid down that an
amritdhari, baptized Sikh was a potnetial terrorist. The baat cheet
unabashedly declared
Guru Gobind Singh to be the fountainhead of Sikh militancy and
virtually declared war on
him... Also, Guru Gobind Singh had been persona non grata to M.K.
Gandhi, later
acclaimed father of "our nation" who had decribed him as 'a misguided
patriot', and had
otherwise till his death carried on a campaign against the Sikhs
maintaining keshas and
keeping kirpan.
During the Operations Bluestar and Woodrose, one wearing kesari
turban was summarily
shot at, while one wearing a blue turban and keeping kirpan could in
certain
circumstances save his life after giving up both. Honour of no Sikh
was safe. It counted
for nothing.
The Sikhs keeping keshas espcially became victim of wide witchhunt for
the armed forces
with youth especially between 15 to 35 years coming for searching
inquistions. The army
combed each and every village and town, and with the help of known
Congressites, BJP
and CPM activists ronded up all the Sikhs active in community services
in local
gurudwaras, besided activists of the Akali Dal. Many were summarily
shot at during
mopping up operations: and a lot of them got indicted because of
generations of old
enemities. In the words of Snajeev Gaur, "The army arrested fewer
terrorists and more
inncoent Sikhs during the mopping up operations. The army
indisriminately raided Sikh
homes in the villages, abused their family members and took into
custody young
people...Said a police officer, 'Sikhs in Punjab villages hate the
army. It really let loose a
reign of terror.' Go to any Punjab village and they have those sad
and tragic stories to
narrate to you."
The authors enquiries in end-1984 revealed that during the first four
to six weeks of
Operation Woodrose about 100,000 youth had been taken into custody and
many of them
were not heard from again...
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Persecuting a specific group of people merely on the basis of how they
dress or on the basis of their spiritual beliefs is a threat to the
fundamentals of any democratic and free society. Anyone who is
interested in a free & democratic India should know that the Punjab
police has embarked upon a policy to persecute Amritdhari Sikhs
(baptized Sikhs who wear the 5k's) and young Sikh men who dress in a
religious manner. Here is some shocking information from "Dead
Silence:The Legacy of Abuses in Punjab" by PHR and HRW (Physicians for
Human Rights and Human Rights Watch) two prominent human rights
organizations
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A policeman we interviewed described the kinds of persons most likely
to be arrested
(some stuff deleted for brevity) The fifty people who were
arrested on suspicion of collaborating with militants consisted
of two basic types
of people--amritdhai (baptized) Sikhs and suspected militant
collaborators. Amritdhari Sikhs are considered suspects by the police
because of their orthodox observance and practice of the Sikh
religion.
Police authorities maintain intelligence on all amritdhari Sikhs
in a
given geographic area. They are routinely characterized as
supporters of
the movement for an independent state known as Khalistan. When
the
police have no suspect for a case or need to arrest someone in
order to
fullfill an arrest quota, amritdhari Sikhs are often the victims.
Once
an amrtidhari Sikh is arrested, it is probable that he will
continue to
be rearrested after release.
Jouranlists have also reported that the police singled out amritdhari
Sikhs. A report in India Today noted:
The police do appear to attach sinister importance to the
partaking of amrit. The State Intelligence Department updates
its dossier on
amritdharis every month. "Such ludicrous actions only add to
resentement," says a police official.
The second group of people targetted are young Sikh men suspected of
collaborating with the militants or of being sympathizers with the
Khalistan movement. A police officer told us:
At the time of Operation Bluestar in 1984 when an armed
confrontation occured between Sikhs and government forces
surrounding the Golden Temple
in Amritsar, a profile was developed of who was considered to be
anti-government and pro-Khalistan. Based on that profile, young SIkh
men
between the ages of eighteen and forty, who have long beards and
wear turbans, are considered to be pro-Khalistan. Whenever the
police recieve
a report from an informant or any other individual that Sikh
militants
have visited the home of a Sikh family, the police are dispatched
to raid
the home of that family. Pursuant to that raid, any Sikh male who
fits
the above profile described above is arrested.
Police persecution in Punjab has driven a large number of Punjabi
Sikhs to seek asylum abroad...
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