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Sikhs in India: Respected citizens or oppressed minority?
In the 1970s, India underwent a "Green Revolution". With help from international scientists including the Nobel Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, Indian farmers turned a nation which had experienced several famines, into a net exporter of food within 20 years. The northwestern state of Punjab ("Five Rivers"), a fertile plain producing wheat and rice, was at the head of this achievement, and quickly became the most prosperous and dynamic of India's 25 states.
Ref.[4] describes Punjab's eventful history and the dynamism of its people today: " Many races of people and religions made up the cultural heritage of the Punjab....the land where spiritual aspirations arose. This heroic land bore numerous invasions, and after all its suffering, did not entirely lose its glory and its strength. Here it was that the gentle Nanak preached his marvellous love for the world. Here it was that his broad heart opened and his arms outstretched to embrace the whole world......about eight centuries before Christ, the Punjab was the most enlightened and the prosperous region in the world..."
The Vedas and the Epics of Hinduism are also believed to have been composed here. Many of the people of Punjab today follow the Sikh religion founded by Guru Nanak, one of many religions born and represented in India. While Sikhs comprise perhaps 2% of India's population, they have played, and continue to play, a larger-than-life role in her history. One President, numerous military General Officers including Chiefs of the Army and Air Force, a large fraction of winners of war honors for heroism in defence of India, and numerous sports heroes, are Sikh; so are numerous Central Cabinet Ministers, high-ranking civil servants, and innumerable businesspeople and professionals. By no stretch of the imagination can Sikhs be considered a repressed minority: the truth is exactly the opposite. They are generally held in awe and respect all over India.
The Rise of Khalistan: Confluence of Personal Ambition, Greed, Bigotry and Wealth
As Punjab became wealthy, the usual resentments against the Central Government, familiar to every American, gained momentum. Over the decades, a large expatriate Sikh population had grown in the farmlands of Canada, the United States and Britain. Though these communities contain many dynamic professionals, a militant fundamentalist wing also appears to have sprung up, with disastrous consequences for their "old country". Born of the ambition for power, fueled by foreign wealth, the "Sikh Nation" or "Khalistan Movement" incited gullible Sikh youths with the premise that Sikhs are too good to be part of India.
Curiously, “Khalistan” means “Nation of the Pure” in Punjabi, the same as “Pakistan” in Urdu. The Babbar Khalsa Movement, considered the worst of the Khalistan terrorists, was founded in Canada
The Khalistan Movement’s Record: Over 20,000 Victims of Terrorism
In the 1980s, as relative peace came to Kashmir after Pakistan's debacle in the 1971 war, Pakistan dictator General Zia Ul Haq sought another avenue for “revenge” against India. Foreign-funded weapons flowed into Punjab across the Pakistan border [6]. The frustrations of living in a poor nation were turned into propaganda about Federal exploitation, though Punjab continued to enjoy industrial and agricultural growth well above most Indian States. Turf battles between fundamentalist gangs [6] diversified into attacks on non-Sikhs in Punjab, then quickly expanded into shootings [7] and bombings [8] of law officers. Elected leaders [6] including the (Sikh) Chief Minister of the State of Punjab, Beant Singh, and thousands of ordinary citizens, were murdered. In the 1970s, Indian policemen were armed with "lathis" (nightsticks); the "Central Armed Police", a rapid reaction force of riot police, were armed with .303 WW-II rifles at best. The terrorists came armed with foreign-origin Kalashnikovs[6].
Tens of thousands of people died in the terrorism. To quote "PunjabTrauma.com", an organization of the people of Punjab dedicated to bringing out the truth about the terror, [9] " the orgy of violence was at its peak between 1986-1993 when more than 20,000 peace- loving Punjab residents were killed by terrorists. The totality of killings and mindlessness in shootouts in trains, railway stations, buses, shopping complexes, parks and other public places were totally stunning and mind boggling. The sufferings by peace-loving Punjab families have no parallel in history anywhere in the world. Everyday newspapers carried details of pointless and purposeless killings by terrorists. The resultant effects of demoralising, silencing and incapacitating the Punjabis at large is fully achieved, if that was the goal. " In 1987, the puppeteers of Khalistan terrorism, from their safe, comfortable quarters in the West, declared "independence", [2] thus officially declaring themselves as secessionists and foreign invaders.
Here is an excerpt from a Rand Corporation study on "religious" fundamentalist terrorism [10] , showing the nature of the "independence struggle" conducted by the Hon. Burton's clients: "Although millenarian and apocalyptic visions are less apparent in Sikh terrorism, the bloodshed currently unfolding in India's Punjab region nonetheless provides further evidence of the relationship between "holy terror" and increased lethality. ... Foremost among the Sikhs' aims is independence from India and the establishment of a revitalized Sikh nation, called Khalistan- literally, "Land of the Pure." In this regard, the group has sought to cleanse the Punjab of "foreign influences" - an aim that led to the murder of 16 executives and technicians at a textile factory partly-owned by the American multi-national company, DuPont, in March 1992. An estimated 20,000 persons have been killed as result of Sikh violence during the past decade. In 1991 alone, a record 4,700 deaths occurred in the Punjab. Although the majority of the fatalities were members of the regions Hindu minority population, fellow Sikhs judged as traitors or apostates have also been targeted.
The Sikh attacks, one observer notes, are almost "entirely indiscriminate nature," with crowded passenger trains a favorite target. One hundred Hindu passengers were killed and 70 injured in two such attacks in 1991-additional attacks on rail traffic have individually claimed the lives of more than 50 persons and wounded upwards of 70 others. [12]"
Inciting Civil War: Sacrilege and Regicide
n 1983, Khalistan terrorists took over the primary shrine of Sikhism: the Golden Temple in Amritsar, turning it into an armory and torture dungeon for kidnap victims including policemen, some of whom were then murdered [6]. To minimize offense to religious sensibilities, Indian law officers were ordered to go in barefoot into the temple to arrest the terrorist leader, J.S. Bhindranwale. The terrorists observed no such niceties: they machine-gunned the law officers, disregarding the innocent civilian worshippers caught in the middle. Over a hundred law enforcement officers and numerous civilians were murdered [6] before the terrorists were flushed out. Khalistan proponents, with characteristic callousness, cite the damage to the temple buildings [2] as evidence of the Indian Government's atrocious intents towards Sikhism, conveniently ignoring the question of why they sacrileged their holiest shrine as a weapons cache and terrorist headquarters and machine-gunned law officers sent to bring them before the Law.
In 1984, they subverted the Sikh bodyguards of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, who had rejected advice to replace them, into machinegunning her to death. This betrayal of a popular leader triggered a horrible backlash which caused the deaths of thousands of innocent Sikh Indian citizens all over North India. Many in the West predicted a quick disintegration for India: the Republic was in its darkest hour.
In the 1970s, India underwent a "Green Revolution". With help from international scientists including the Nobel Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, Indian farmers turned a nation which had experienced several famines, into a net exporter of food within 20 years. The northwestern state of Punjab ("Five Rivers"), a fertile plain producing wheat and rice, was at the head of this achievement, and quickly became the most prosperous and dynamic of India's 25 states.
Ref.[4] describes Punjab's eventful history and the dynamism of its people today: " Many races of people and religions made up the cultural heritage of the Punjab....the land where spiritual aspirations arose. This heroic land bore numerous invasions, and after all its suffering, did not entirely lose its glory and its strength. Here it was that the gentle Nanak preached his marvellous love for the world. Here it was that his broad heart opened and his arms outstretched to embrace the whole world......about eight centuries before Christ, the Punjab was the most enlightened and the prosperous region in the world..."
The Vedas and the Epics of Hinduism are also believed to have been composed here. Many of the people of Punjab today follow the Sikh religion founded by Guru Nanak, one of many religions born and represented in India. While Sikhs comprise perhaps 2% of India's population, they have played, and continue to play, a larger-than-life role in her history. One President, numerous military General Officers including Chiefs of the Army and Air Force, a large fraction of winners of war honors for heroism in defence of India, and numerous sports heroes, are Sikh; so are numerous Central Cabinet Ministers, high-ranking civil servants, and innumerable businesspeople and professionals. By no stretch of the imagination can Sikhs be considered a repressed minority: the truth is exactly the opposite. They are generally held in awe and respect all over India.
The Rise of Khalistan: Confluence of Personal Ambition, Greed, Bigotry and Wealth
As Punjab became wealthy, the usual resentments against the Central Government, familiar to every American, gained momentum. Over the decades, a large expatriate Sikh population had grown in the farmlands of Canada, the United States and Britain. Though these communities contain many dynamic professionals, a militant fundamentalist wing also appears to have sprung up, with disastrous consequences for their "old country". Born of the ambition for power, fueled by foreign wealth, the "Sikh Nation" or "Khalistan Movement" incited gullible Sikh youths with the premise that Sikhs are too good to be part of India.
Curiously, “Khalistan” means “Nation of the Pure” in Punjabi, the same as “Pakistan” in Urdu. The Babbar Khalsa Movement, considered the worst of the Khalistan terrorists, was founded in Canada
The Khalistan Movement’s Record: Over 20,000 Victims of Terrorism
In the 1980s, as relative peace came to Kashmir after Pakistan's debacle in the 1971 war, Pakistan dictator General Zia Ul Haq sought another avenue for “revenge” against India. Foreign-funded weapons flowed into Punjab across the Pakistan border [6]. The frustrations of living in a poor nation were turned into propaganda about Federal exploitation, though Punjab continued to enjoy industrial and agricultural growth well above most Indian States. Turf battles between fundamentalist gangs [6] diversified into attacks on non-Sikhs in Punjab, then quickly expanded into shootings [7] and bombings [8] of law officers. Elected leaders [6] including the (Sikh) Chief Minister of the State of Punjab, Beant Singh, and thousands of ordinary citizens, were murdered. In the 1970s, Indian policemen were armed with "lathis" (nightsticks); the "Central Armed Police", a rapid reaction force of riot police, were armed with .303 WW-II rifles at best. The terrorists came armed with foreign-origin Kalashnikovs[6].
Tens of thousands of people died in the terrorism. To quote "PunjabTrauma.com", an organization of the people of Punjab dedicated to bringing out the truth about the terror, [9] " the orgy of violence was at its peak between 1986-1993 when more than 20,000 peace- loving Punjab residents were killed by terrorists. The totality of killings and mindlessness in shootouts in trains, railway stations, buses, shopping complexes, parks and other public places were totally stunning and mind boggling. The sufferings by peace-loving Punjab families have no parallel in history anywhere in the world. Everyday newspapers carried details of pointless and purposeless killings by terrorists. The resultant effects of demoralising, silencing and incapacitating the Punjabis at large is fully achieved, if that was the goal. " In 1987, the puppeteers of Khalistan terrorism, from their safe, comfortable quarters in the West, declared "independence", [2] thus officially declaring themselves as secessionists and foreign invaders.
Here is an excerpt from a Rand Corporation study on "religious" fundamentalist terrorism [10] , showing the nature of the "independence struggle" conducted by the Hon. Burton's clients: "Although millenarian and apocalyptic visions are less apparent in Sikh terrorism, the bloodshed currently unfolding in India's Punjab region nonetheless provides further evidence of the relationship between "holy terror" and increased lethality. ... Foremost among the Sikhs' aims is independence from India and the establishment of a revitalized Sikh nation, called Khalistan- literally, "Land of the Pure." In this regard, the group has sought to cleanse the Punjab of "foreign influences" - an aim that led to the murder of 16 executives and technicians at a textile factory partly-owned by the American multi-national company, DuPont, in March 1992. An estimated 20,000 persons have been killed as result of Sikh violence during the past decade. In 1991 alone, a record 4,700 deaths occurred in the Punjab. Although the majority of the fatalities were members of the regions Hindu minority population, fellow Sikhs judged as traitors or apostates have also been targeted.
The Sikh attacks, one observer notes, are almost "entirely indiscriminate nature," with crowded passenger trains a favorite target. One hundred Hindu passengers were killed and 70 injured in two such attacks in 1991-additional attacks on rail traffic have individually claimed the lives of more than 50 persons and wounded upwards of 70 others. [12]"
Inciting Civil War: Sacrilege and Regicide
n 1983, Khalistan terrorists took over the primary shrine of Sikhism: the Golden Temple in Amritsar, turning it into an armory and torture dungeon for kidnap victims including policemen, some of whom were then murdered [6]. To minimize offense to religious sensibilities, Indian law officers were ordered to go in barefoot into the temple to arrest the terrorist leader, J.S. Bhindranwale. The terrorists observed no such niceties: they machine-gunned the law officers, disregarding the innocent civilian worshippers caught in the middle. Over a hundred law enforcement officers and numerous civilians were murdered [6] before the terrorists were flushed out. Khalistan proponents, with characteristic callousness, cite the damage to the temple buildings [2] as evidence of the Indian Government's atrocious intents towards Sikhism, conveniently ignoring the question of why they sacrileged their holiest shrine as a weapons cache and terrorist headquarters and machine-gunned law officers sent to bring them before the Law.
In 1984, they subverted the Sikh bodyguards of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, who had rejected advice to replace them, into machinegunning her to death. This betrayal of a popular leader triggered a horrible backlash which caused the deaths of thousands of innocent Sikh Indian citizens all over North India. Many in the West predicted a quick disintegration for India: the Republic was in its darkest hour.
. The Link you accessed belongs to US state department.
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