WHAT CAN I DO FOR INDIA?

I was going to let Indian Independence Day pass without comment this year; I have been quite ill and didn't really feel I had anything new to say this year. Then, in good ol' IHRO (International Human Rights Organisation), I read this challenge:

Respected Friends,
On this wonderful occassion of 15 August, let us all contemplate
on one question.

"What can I do for India?"

And, then let us start action on those steps.

Continous contemplation on this question, and action, is perhaps
the only way to pay real respect to the soldiers who sacrificed their
families and lives, for us.


Best Wishes
and signed by the author, whose name I am not using, as he probably wouldn't be pleased to see his name here.

I am not one to let a challenge pass unanswered, so here is the answer I posted today on IHRO. (BTW, the last time I posted a letter expressing similar ideas and opinions, it was suggested that I be kidnapped, transported to Mata Bharata and put on trial for treason against the Republic of India, the idea being that I should be awarded capital punishment. Only problem with that is that I have never been a citizen of India, nor have I ever pledged any support for that country. But if that's what it takes...)

Here is my answer:

WHAT CAN I DO FOR INDIA?

I am afraid that Mai is about to jump up on her soapbox and tell the
truth as she sees it.

First, I must make it clear that I speak only for myself. I do not
speak for any group or organisation. These are my own ideas and
opinions. Second, I currently reside in the United States of
America. The ideas I express are perfectly legal, protected speech
here. I am advocating nothing illegal.

I am not an Indian. My family is not Indian. My father was a
Punjabi; never once in his 97 years on this planet did he call
himself or think of himself as an India. To him - and to me - India
is an artificial construct invented by the British for their own
convenience.

I am a Sikh - partially of Punjabi extraction. This country India
has been less than kind to me and my sisters and brothers. As a
group, we agreed to support the Nehru-MK Gandhi Axis in return for an
autonomous or at least semi-autonomous region in Punjab, only to find
that when independence came, we were told that 'the situation has
changed.' We were betrayed both by the Indian government and by our
own 'leadership.' Not only did we not get freedom, our home - our
Punjab - was divided between two warring countries amid
inconceivable bloodshed. Later, of course, our Punjab was further
divided in a futile attempt to weaken and silence our self-
determination movement. This tactic didn't work.

For all the years since then, we have lived under the harsh thumb of
the majority group of this country. When we made a move to regain
what is rightfully ours, circa 1984, the full force of the Nehru-
Gandhi family (different Gandhi, though) was thrust upon us. Each of
us has our own story to tell about this period, mine involves a short
detention and torture during the Bluestar Massacre and then the
murder of my entire immediate family in the Delhi Pogrom following
the execution of Mrs. Gandhi.

Since that time, I have become a bit radicalised - stumbling over the
dead bodies of husband, son, brothers, can have that effect. I have
not returned to 'India.' I will return for only one of two reasons:
to watch the executions of Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and their
cohorts - or to see the flag of Khalistan raised over our beloved
Punjab.

India is not and has never been one country. It is a ragtag
conglomeration of different states, different cultures, different
languages, different values. Like the Soviet Union and the Balkans
before it, it must and it will fall apart by its own weight.

So what can I do for India? I can sit here, half a world away,
unafraid, freely expressing my views, waiting. Waiting...

Chardi kala!

Mai Harinder Kaur

INDIA INDEPENDENCE DAY PROTEST RALLY - LONDON

...A good video trailer for the upcoming UK Sikh Protest Rally to take place on 15th August 2007 [London, UK]...forwarded to the Sangat by the Sikh Youth of Southall [UK]...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgZgoE8ODQA


SIKH PROTEST RALLY 15TH AUGUST 2007 LONDON

On India's 60th Independence Day Sikhs Will Protest Agianst India's Continued Human Rights Abuses Agianst SikhsORGANISED BY FEDERATION OF SIKH ORGANISATIONS- SIKH FEDERATION UK - DAL KHALSA UKPLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO FRIENDS FAMILY AND OTHER GROUPSATTEND THE RALLY OUTSIDE THE INDIAN EMBASSY ON 15TH AUGUST 2007 FROM 2PM - 4PM

...Please forward to your contacts, websites and blogs...

Why Sikhs Shouldn't Celebrate Indian Independence Day

I came across this article in The Gurbani Learning Zone, a Yahoo group. We found it very interesting, stating a lot of facts we have seen in different places, all in one article. We trust that people reading a blog called The Road To Khalistan will not find it too very controversial. We hope you find it interesting and informative:

WHY SIKHS SHOULDN'T CELEBRATE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY

15 August marks India's Independence Day and prolongs the suffering of the Sikhs. We are clear about our nationhood, but it is denied by the Indian State and the Indian political class which are not prepared to allow us basic rights.

Sikh sacrifices for freedom

Prior to independence Sikhs were less than 1.5% of the population, but their contribution to the freedom struggle was immense. 77% of those sent to the gallows were Sikh as were 81% of those sentenced to life imprisonment. During the Quit India Movement many indiscriminate arrests were made and Sikhs contributed 70% of the total Punjabis arrested. More than 60% of the 20,000 who joined the Indian National Army were Sikhs.

100-150 million refugees resulted from partition in August 1947 with 40% of all Sikhs becoming refugees. Partition resulted in up to 2 million people being murdered and another 10-50 million being injured.

Sikhs betrayed and promises broken

India's founding fathers gave numerous solemn promises that the Sikhs freedom and dignity would be safeguarded. Jawaharlal Nehru said that "the brave Sikhs of Punjab are entitled to special consideration. I see nothing wrong in an area set up in the north of India wherein the Sikhs can also experience the glow of freedom". These promises were conveniently forgotten after independence and the Sikhs were dismissively told by the same Nehru that the "circumstances had now changed".

Sikhs have rejected India's Constitution

Mahatma [Mai's note: Can we call him 'Mohandas,' his name, and drop this spurious title?] Gandhi and Nehru gave the Sikhs assurances that after India achieves political freedom no Constitution shall be framed by the majority community unless it is freely acceptable to the Sikhs. This promise was repeated throughout the period up to independence. When the Constitution was produced in 1950 it failed to deliver any safeguards or political rights for the Sikhs as a people or nation. The Sikhs therefore refused to sign the Constitution and have never accepted it. Article 25 even denies Sikhism, the fifth largest faith in the world, separate recognition as a religion – an affront that is widely seen as a deliberate act of suppression of the Sikhs.

Demands for greater autonomy were dismissed

The Indian authorities have systematically discriminated against the Sikhs since 1947 and subverted or suppressed all legitimate political demands for greater autonomy. The Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1973 set out the basis on which the Sikhs were prepared to accept a political union within India, as a federal state. This demand for internal self-determination was pursued through decades of peaceful protest and attempts at negotiation with the central government. The demands were never seriously considered and given the history of the conflict between the Sikhs and India since 1984, this would now be too little too late.

Gross violation of Sikh human rights

In the last 30 years the Indian authorities have unleashed a rein of terror through gross violation of human rights of Sikhs in an attempt to extinguish the calls for freedom and Sikh independence.
In June 1984 the Indian army attacked the Golden Temple Complex and 125 other Sikh Gurdwaras in Punjab and massacred tens of thousands of innocent Sikh pilgrims. This laid the foundation stone for an independent sovereign Sikh State, Khalistan.

In November 1984 tens of thousands of innocent Sikhs were massacred in Delhi and over 130 other cities throughout India by well-orchestrated mobs under the direct supervision of senior Indian politicians and officials.

Over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered and disappeared since 1984. Many Sikh political prisoners still languish in Indian jails without charge or trial and others have been falsely charged and sentenced to death by hanging. Illegal detention and torture of Sikhs is common place and well documented by independent human rights organisations.

Sikh nationhood and independence

Sikhs first secured political power in the form of an independent state in 1710, after suffering centuries of foreign invasions and alien domination. The larger sovereign Sikh state was established in 1799 and was recognised by all the world powers. The Sikhs, after the two Anglo-Sikh wars, lost their kingdom and the Punjab came under British rule in 1849. However, in giving up power Sikhs were party to several Treaties with the British.

Gurjeet Singh
Sikh Federation (UK)

Reprinted with permission

--
WHY TRY TO FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT?