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Contemporary Non-Sikh Reports About 1984 Which Named and Shamed Those Behind the Scenes

  • Hindu-Sikh Conflict in Punjab Causes & Cure (15.12.1983, Transatlantic India Times) Dead Men Tell No Tales (Surya September 1984 issue) Who Are The Guilty? (November 1984, People&rsquos Union for Democratic Rights People&rsquos Union for Civil Liberties.).

Hindu Sikh conflict in Punjab started soon after 1947 when gullible Panjabi Hindus, brainwashed by right wing Hindutva politics in Punjab, disowned their mother tongue, the Panjabi language. According to late S. Tohra, it was a misrepresentation of colossal magnitude in Indian history!

They also opposed just Sikh aspirations as a historically distinct theo-cultural people, otherwise, the most patriotic citizens. An investigative report of December 1983, by concerned non-Sikhs, makes that clear. The other two reports mentioned above, also by non-Sikhs, named and shamed the agencies and individuals behind the scenes who did not allow the seed of peace to germinate in Punjab. That is my response to ex-MP and former Indian Minorities Commissioner, S. Tarlochan Singh, who had asked in a Panjabi article heading, ਕਿਸ ਨੇ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਵਿਚ ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਦਾ ਬੀਜ ਪੁੰਗਰਨ  ਨਾ ਦਿੱਤਾ?

The record must be set straight: demand for Khalistan was the result and not the cause of 1984 army invasion of Panjab and Darbar Sahib. The Indian army was used to invade a state in the Indian Union and own people for political objectives (ref Surya report by Rajeev K Bajaj)

Up to 1984, the Sikh case was in the nature of grievances presented through the Anandpur Sahib Resolution (1973) drafted by Sirdar Kapur Singh. The Resolution was a direct reminder of broken pre-partition promises by Congress leaders why Sikh case was a running sore in the Republic of India and, also an indirect reminder to the Brahmanic-Hindutva that the Sikhs chose to be with secular India and the people of India as a distinct theo-political people by their own free will. Once again, the farmers protest led by the Sikh farmers of Panjab has demonstrated to the whole world that the Sikhs are with the people of India and against totalitarian rule. Support from diaspora Sikhs for the Indian farmers cause, was massive.

Sikhs have much to learn from the post-World War II history of the Jewish people. As is generally known, since the end of WWII, Jewish agencies have kept records of crimes against own people, investigated and brought to justice those who were guilty. They have relentlessly and successfully pursued and prosecuted Nazi war criminals.

Of course, unlike the Jews, the Sikhs have no state of their own. However, as Surya editor of the report, Dead Men Tell No Tales, wrote that it was an incredible story based on exclusive information provided by patriotic officers of RAW []] Research and Analysis Wing]. There are many concerned patriotic Indian intellectuals and investigative journalists today, keen to know who did not allow the seed of peace to germinate in Punjab.

At the very least, the true story should be researched and recorded by Sikhs and concerned patriotic Indians (ref. Surya) for next generations as part of the history of the Sikh Qaum. Central Sikh institutions do not lack the resources to be able to employ the best Sikh and non-Sikh Indian investigators monitored by a panel of respected Sikh intellectuals.

The process itself should promote Sikh unity and advance the Sikh case and cause.

Gurmukh Singh OBE

Principal Civil Servant Retd, UK