As usual, I don't agree with everything he says here, but I do with most of it, and I think this
is a message we all can learn and draw inspiration from.
December 28, 2007
NEW YEAR MESSAGE TO THE KHALSA PANTH
Let 2008 Bring Freedom to the Sikh Nation
May Guru Bless the Khalsa Panth in 2008
With Freedom, Happiness, Unity, and Prosperity
Dedicate New Year to Liberating Khalistan
Dear Khalsa Ji:
WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA, WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH!
The New Year will arrive within a few days. Please let me take this
opportunity to wish a Happy New Year to you and your family and the
Khalsa Panth. May 2008 be your best year ever. I wish you health,
joy, and prosperity.
The flame of freedom continues to burn brightly in the heart of the
Sikh Nation. No force can suppress it. Guru Gobind Singh blessed the
Khalsa Panth, saying 'In grieb Sikhin ko deon Patshahi.' ('I bless the
Sikh nation with sovereignty.') The Sikh Nation must dedicate this
year to working hard to achieve that goal. Self-determination is the
right of all peoples and nations and self-determination is the essence
of democracy.
It has been said that 'without vision the people perish,' but with
vision the people flourish. Without sovereignty, religions perish.
With sovereignty, they flourish. Compare the situation of the Jewish
people in Europe before World War II to their situation now. There is
no reason Sikhs cannot achieve a similar change of fortune.
It is time for the Sikh nation to flourish. Sikhs have suffered too
much already under the yoke of Indian persecution since independence,
especially over the past 25 years. We have seen the attack on the
Golden Temple, over 250,000 Sikhs murdered and over 52,000 held as
political prisoners, the murder of the Akal Takht Jathedar, more than
50,000 Sikh youth tortured, murdered, then declared unidentified and
secretly cremated, their bodies never returned to their families.
Their families continue to suffer. We must help their widows and
orphans. Let us find the vision to throw off this repression. With
that vision, the Sikh Nation will flourish; without it, we will perish
and India's effort to eliminate Sikhism will succeed.
The Indian government has stepped up its efforts to destroy the Sikh
religion and deny Sikhs an environment to flourish. India will not
even allow passage from Gurdaspur to Kartarpur, a distance of just a
couple of miles. The Pakistani government has shown its willingness
to make this connection, but India is unwilling to cooperate in making
this opportunity available for Sikhs to make this passage so they can
go to Kartarpur Sahib, where Guru Nanak made his transition into his
heavenly abode. This road would be good for the people on both sides
of the border. It would help build good relations between India and
Pakistan, particularly between Pakistan and the Sikhs of Punjab.
Pakistan has recognized the Sikh Marriage Act of 1909, but India
refuses to do so. It still issues certificates of marriage under the
Hindu Marriage Act. What a shame! This is another sign that Sikhs
are slaves in India. It is another piece of India's ongoing effort to
destroy the Sikh religion and absorb it into Hinduism. We must
defend the Sikh Marriage Act and demand its adoption so that Sikhism
can be recognized as the independent, distinct religion that it is.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was performing baptisms that are reserved for
the Panj Piaras. He impersonated Guru Gobind Singh and did so in
newspaper advertisements! Yet the Indian government took no action
against him for this serious offense against the Sikh Nation. He
could not have done what he was doing unless he was backed by the
Indian government. Chief Minister Badal, during his election
campaign, even went to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh during the election
campaign and bowed before him. This is a major insult to the Sikh
Nation and the Sikh religion. How can this be tolerated in a state
that is 67 percent Sikh? And how can such an attack on the Sikh
religion be tolerated by the Akali Dal? What has it gotten for its
electoral alliance with the BJP except more humiliation? This shows
that the Akalis are in bed with the oppressors and do not care about
the Sikh Nation or the people of Punjab.
The Indian government has kept Punjabi-speaking areas out of Punjab
while supporting an influx of Hindus into Punjab. As you know, Sikhs
are prohibited from buying land in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and
Uttaranchal Pradesh. Yet there are no restrictions on land ownership
in Punjab by non-Sikhs. People from anywhere can buy land in Punjab,
including people from Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. India is trying
to subvert Khalistan's independence by overrunning Punjab with
non-Sikhs while keeping Sikhs from escaping the brutal repression in
Punjab. We must prevail upon the political leadership in Punjab to
get these Sikh lands back from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. They
rightfully belong to Punjab.
We must stop the diversion of Punjab's water to Rajasthan and Haryana
without compensation. That is a natural resource of Punjab. Sikh
leaders in Punjab must take a strong stand on this issue. The Indian
government squeezes Sikh farmers by all available means. They sell
fertilizer and seeds at very high cost but when it comes time to sell
produce, the government sets the price very low. This leads to
hundreds of farmers committing suicide because of their impossibly
high indebtedness to the Indian government.
On several occasions during the last two years, Sikhs were arrested
for making speeches in support of Khalistan and raising the Khalistani
flag. The Indian regime is clearly worried about the rising tide in
support of Sikh sovereignty. Let us dedicate our energy this year to
achieving the establishment of Khalistan. Any organization that
sincerely supports Khalistan deserves the support of the Sikh Nation.
When Khalistan is free, Sikhs can resolve all issues in a way that
benefits the Khalsa Panth. However, the Sikh Nation needs leadership
that is honest, sincere, consistent, and dedicated to the cause of
Sikh freedom if we are to continue to move the cause of freedom for
Khalistan forward in 2008 as we did in 2007.
Remember the words of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Professor
Darshan Singh: 'If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.'
Khalistan is the only way that Sikhs will be able to live in freedom,
peace, prosperity, and dignity. It is time to start a Shantmai Morcha
to liberate Khalistan from Indian occupation. We must achieve our
freedom by peaceful, democratic, nonviolent means. Let that be the
mission of 2008.
Sikhs will never get any justice from Delhi. Ever since independence,
India has mistreated the Sikh Nation, starting with Patel's memo
labelling Sikhs 'a criminal tribe.' What a shame for Home Minister
Patel and the Indian government to issue this memorandum when the Sikh
Nation gave over 80 percent of the sacrifices to free India. How can
Sikhs continue to live in such a country? There is no place for Sikhs
in supposedly secular, supposedly democratic India.
Let us work to make certain that 2008 is the Sikh Nation's most
blessed year by making sure it is the year that we shake ourselves
loose from the yoke of Indian oppression and liberate our homeland,
Khalistan, so that all Sikhs may live lives of prosperity, freedom,
and dignity. Now it is up to us. Do not waste this opportunity.
May Guru bless the Khalsa Panth.
Sincerely,
Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh
President
Council of Khalistan
--
Some see things as they are and ask, Why?
I dream things that never were and ask, Why not?
Bobby Kennedy
is a message we all can learn and draw inspiration from.
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