Current Events
A Conspiracy of Silence in Punjab
by KIRANJOT KAUR
The first saabat soorat Sikh French citizen of Indian origin, S. Pal Singh, is in the custody of Punjab Police and there is complete silence on the issue by all political parties that claim to watch out for Sikh interests and all religio-social organisations claiming to be thekedars of Sikhi.
The silence is deafening !
This is the same Pal Singh on whose suggestion SGPC announced it would send a delegation to France on the issue of the turban ban in French schools.
It is the same Pal Singh who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after a thorough security check by central agencies to plead taking up the turban issue with the French Prime Minister Sarcozy .
Why is he being ditched by the community ? Where is the voice of Sikhs in Punjab?
According to media sources, Pal Singh was picked up by the Punjab Police on 17 July and let off the next day. On 22 July, he was again picked up by Punjab police and taken to an unknown place. His Canada-based daughter wrote to the French Embassy on 24 July informing them about her missing father. On 26 July, a habeas corpus petition was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High court and the following day the Punjab police admitted to arresting Pal Singh under pressure.
On 28 July, Punjab police went to Pal Singh's house in village Dhadowal (30 km from Shahpur in Jalandhar district) taking him along, had a sumptuous dinner there and came back with the story of having recovered 15 kg RDX and some dangerous arms and ammunition from his house on information provided by him!
Villagers are eye-witness to the fact that not even an inch of the ground was dug nor were any weapons recovered by the police. The police story is totally fabricated.
In another incident, SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police) Patiala claimed that the militancy has roots in Malaysia but this claim was rejected by the Malaysian government. This deliberate branding of Sikhs living in Malaysia as terrorists too has gone unnoticed by the Sikh political parties and organisations.
One SSP claims that the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi in October are on the target of Sikh militants and the DGP (Director General Police) of the Punjab police gave a contrary statement claiming there is no danger to the Commonwealth Games.
What action is taken against these erring police officers and why is there again a complete silence on this issue ?
If even the SGPC and the Jathedar of the Akal Takht are silent on accusations that are maligning the community and in particular middle-aged Sikhs like Pal Singh who are spending time in sikhi parchar and social work, then who will speak for the community?
It does not augur well for the future of the Sikhs in Punjab.
August 6, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: N. Singh (Canada), August 06, 2010, 11:02 AM.
I have read about this over the last few days and I must say it is really disturbing. The Sikhs really need to get their act together and oust the SGPC and Jathedar quislings and claim back Sikhi, our rights and self respect. I fear that the Hindu government and its Sikh puppets have succeeded in demoralizing the Sikhs of the Punjab.
2: Manjit Singh (Canada), August 06, 2010, 11:47 AM.
An Indian newspaper, "The Times of India", has reported that one of the men taken into police custody along with Pal Singh has been tortured. Below is the news at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Cops-torture-suspected-terrorist/articleshow/6264106.cms: AMRITSAR: One of the five alleged terrorists caught with weapons and RDX, and accused of planning strikes in Punjab, has been hospitalized with grievous injuries. Doctors said the victim sustained injuries as he was subjected to electric shocks. Dr Saurabh Dhanda of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) said the alleged terrorist, Kulwant Singh, was brought with injuries, which could have led to renal failure. "There were electric shock injuries on his ear and private parts. Kulwant's stomach also had injuries owing to severe beating with batons," he said. Dhanda said his condition was still critical and there were no signs of recovery. He went on to state there was a need to put him on dialysis.
3: Mohan Singh (Toronto, Canada.), August 06, 2010, 1:25 PM.
On July 23rd, the main page of The Tribune, Chandigarh said: "Sikh ultras may target Delhi Games". The news further said that "foreign-based Sikh militants were planning to return to the state to engage in sabotage activities with the help of their local conduits". This is just the beginning; Sikh travelers to India during the games may face harassment.
4: Vikram Singh (New York, U.S.A.), August 06, 2010, 9:02 PM.
The first time I heard about Pal singh was through a video made in the sikhnet short-film festival. It is hard to believe that a person with such thinking could involve himself in terrorist activities. These allegations are nothing other then a conspiracy by the police/ state/ government to suppress the Sikhs and make them feel like third class citizens in their own nation. Let's wait and watch how this case is handled. http://www.sikhnet.com/filmfestival/2009/razza/ One conspiracy involved Rjvir of the Delhi police (he is dead now, due to his own deeds; he was shot dead by his own friend/ business partner). I trust these so called "Sikh terrorists" more than India's police and government. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOlaaPGobVY&feature=related
5: Gurteg Singh (New York, U.S.A.), August 06, 2010, 11:32 PM.
This is a systematic and planned attempt on the part of Indian agencies to defame and destabilize the Sikhs. Almost regularly for the last so many years, one keeps hearing from Indian propaganda machines about some Sikh being arrested on a police checkpoint, purportedly with the usual AK47 RDX powder and a few cartridges. How come these Sikhs with "dangerous arms" are simply caught without putting up any resistance? Although Punjab is run by so called Panthic Akalis, the real rulers are the Indian Government, para military forces and right-wing Hindu controlled intelligence agencies who routinely arrest, torture and kill innocent Sikhs through their mercenary arm - the Punjab police. Although it is usually a Sikh Punjab police officer on the front line(most of them have sold their souls for their jobs, promotion or posting) the real power is being wielded by a select group of Hindu I.P.S. and I.A.S. officers who in fact are hard core Hindu fanatics and members of RAW, IB, CBI, etc., specially trained against Sikhs. The specter of terrorism justifies thousands of jobs and feeds the corrupt police. Hundreds of Sikhs are still being held in Indian dungeons on trumped up charges and the Sikhs, including all international bodies, are silent! Naive and gullible Sikhs do not understand that we are slaves in India and that the day is not far when the Sikh genocide of 1984 will be repeated again at a much larger scale.
6: Manpreet Singh (Mumbai, India), August 07, 2010, 12:57 AM.
It is shocking but then this is a fact that no Sikh organization, S.G.P.C., etc. does anything to address this. We at YSL http://www.youngsikhleaders.org try to do something for the upliftment of Sikh youth in terms of education, but when I want to Punjab for 15 days a few weeks ago, I was being tracked for 4 days by CID and suggestions came that I must cancel all plans and go back or I could be arrested! This because we are a Gursikh website. They are very fearful of a resurgence of a Sant Bhindranwale. So they want to crush any one who has any integrity.
7: Harpreet (Texas, U.S.A.), August 07, 2010, 1:18 AM.
Another Indian first class citizen treatment to Sikhs in Italy - the Indian Embassy in Italy denies entry to Amritdhaari Sikhs. Here's the PTC news link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zC9oCOCqaY
8: Taran (London, United Kingdom), August 07, 2010, 1:37 PM.
Avtar Singh Makkar and the so-called Giani at the Akal Takht are just puppets of the Badal gang. These pakhandis are busy filling their pockets with the golak money from gurdwaras. They have nothing to do with the Sikh religion. They are in disguise, they merely look Sikh on the outside. The fact is that there is hardly any true Gursikhs left at that level as most who you would see are 'daakoo's' in the bana of a Sikh. True Sikhs are similarly eliminated in one way or the other by the Indian authorities.
9: N. Singh (Canada), August 07, 2010, 2:13 PM.
Several months ago, I inadvertently happened to come across a website obviously viewed by Pakistanis ... it was through a link in the newspaper, the New York Times, I believe, on the Mumbai shootings. Anyway, they were talking about India and its policies, and happened to mention the fact that every time there was an issue, the Indians would 'bring out their hunting dogs, the Sikhs'. At the time I was really upset and offended, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that there was a 'ring of truth' to this. Originally conceived to be the defenders of the Faith and of the vunerable, the Sikhs over the centuries have allowed themselves to be the 'muscle' for the masters of the day, whether the British or now the Hindus. Most of the brutality in the Punjab has been committed by Sikhs upon other Sikhs. The farmers, with their brawn, have allowed themselves to be degraded into these 'hunting dogs' whether in the armed forces or the police, or just as mercenaries. The rest of the Sikhs have used their 'intellectual' abilities to 'hunt down' and 'destroy' the Sikhs at the behest of their masters. It is a disgusting picture to watch as a race turns upon itself to destroy its very being, all in the hopes of pleasing its masters. I often wonder what Guru Gobind Singh would be thinking now!
10: Gur Singh (Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.), August 07, 2010, 2:47 PM.
I believe personal enmity is the most common reason behind such stupid acts in India due to the complicated design of its ineffectual judicial system. Can any insider please elaborate on that? Since he is a French citizen, I do have hope that justice can be expected.
11: Pritpal Singh Saini (Hyderabad, India), August 07, 2010, 11:44 PM.
It's very shameful that the very person who fought the war against the turban ban in France is arrested by Punjab Police ... and this has happened when the ruling party in Punjab is the Akali Dal!
12: Gurteg Singh (New York, U.S.A.), August 11, 2010, 12:00 AM.
Here is the latest news about one of the Sikhs who was arrested on trumped up charges by Indian Government. "Innocent Sikh youth faces torture in the hands of Punjab Police - Posted on August 10, 2010 under Amritsar, Punjab: One of the five innocent Sikh youth caught by Punjab Police on fake charges of keeping weapons has been hospitalized with grievous injuries. Doctors said the victim sustained injuries as he was subjected to electric shocks. Dr Saurabh Dhanda of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) said that Kulwant Singh was brought with injuries which could have led to renal failure. 'There were electric shock injuries on his ear and private parts. Kulwant's stomach also had injuries owing to severe beating with batons,' he said. Dhanda said his condition was still critical and there were no signs of recovery. He went on to state there was a need to put him on dialysis."
13: Gurinder Kaur (Melbourne, Australia), August 12, 2010, 9:30 PM.
Well, Bhai Pal Singh ji is of my father's age. This is all so disgusting on the part of the Indian Govt. when the prime minister of India and the chief minister of Punjab are so-called Sikhs. I would suggest everyone to do at least one Japji Sahib paatth with ardaas for the well-being and chardi kalaa of these gursikhs. Guru Maharaj kirpaa karan.