What if INDIA grabs UN PERMANENT SEAT??? now WHEN

To:  Honorable Barack Obama, President, United States of America

            through His Excellency Timothy J. Roemer, US Ambassador to India

From:  Babu Singh Dukhiya

            President, National 1984 Victims Justice and Welfare Society

            Karnail Singh Peermohammad

            President, All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF)

            Gurpatwant Singh Pannun,

            Legal advisor to Sikhs for Justice (SFJ)

Re:   Genocidal Events of November 1984 in India.

Sub:  Intervene On Behalf 30,000 Sikhs Murdered In November 1984 By  Congress Party Of India.

 
Date:  November 8^th, 2010.

National 1984 Victims Justice and Welfare Society is a group consisting of widows, victims and survivors of November 1984 Sikh Genocide working to achieve justice.

All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) is a registered organization committed to work for the betterment of Sikh community, promoting the values of Sikhism and to raise voice on the issues concerning the Sikh community.

Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is a US based non-profit, human rights organization, striving to disseminate true and correct information, statistics, figures and data regarding the Genocide of Sikhs (1984-1998) that took place in India with particular emphasis on the genocidal events of November 1984. SFJ with the help of Sikh Gurudwaras (Temples) of North America is working to bring international community, International Human Organizations and Governments to on a common platform to recognize the Sikh Genocide (1984-1998).

We the abovementioned, on behalf of widows, victims, and survivors of November 1984 Sikh Genocide urge you to raise the issue of “denial of justice” to the thousands of innocent Sikhs who were ruthlessly murdered in the street of Delhi and other cities of India in November 1984. The systematic killing of Sikhs during November 1984 was organized and orchestrated by leaders of Indian National Congress which was in power back then and which is now again in power under the premiership of Manmohan Singh.

Mr. President as you pledged in your January 19, 2008 statement that you will be a President who will “respond forcefully to all genocides”, we thus urge you to take up the issue of Sikh Genocide of November 1984 during your current visit to India.

Additionally, Article 1 of U.N Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) also requires the United States to take all actions necessary to prevent and punish acts of genocide. Thus, raising issue of denial of justice to victims of November 1984 Genocide will be in complete conformity with the obligations of United States under the Genocide Convention. The obligation, Mr. President, to act on the issue of Genocide, is neither absolved because of the economic status of the country where a Genocide is committed (India) nor is it mitigated by the number and status of victims (Sikhs).

Mr. President Sikhs, a religious minority in India are targeted and abused by the Indian government BECAUSE of:

Religious Identity–Sikhism is a separate religion and is acknowledged as such throughout the world, EXCEPT in Indian legal system. Article 25 of the Constitution of India has amalgamated Sikhism into Hindu religion. Sikhs across the world object to this undermining of their religious identity and demand restoration of separate identity and status of their religion-Sikhism.

Political Rights—Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) which provides that “All peoples have the right of self-determination”, is equally applicable to Sikhs living in India. However, Sikhs in India have not only been denied this

right but also the Indian Government retaliated by attacking Golden Temple Amritsar and destroying Shri Akal Takht Sahib, the highest temporal seat of Sikhism (the Vatican of Sikh religion) in June 1984. During this attack on Golden Temple by Indian Army, thousands of Sikh civilian pilgrims were murdered. A large number of those murdered pilgrims consisted of women and children who were first caged and then shot at point blank by the Indian Army during the June 1984 attack on Golden Temple. That when and how the systematic killing of Sikhs started and was carried on for more than a decade during which:

• • More than 30,000 thousands Sikhs were systematically killed throughout India in first three days of November 1984. In Delhi alone the capital of India, more than 7000 Sikhs were killed in those three days.

• • June 1984 attack on Golden Temple was followed by military operations Wood Rose, Black Thunder I, II, Operation Shanti and many others in which more than 50,000 Sikhs were killed by the Indian Security Forces.

• • Another 50,000 were killed by Indian Security Forces in Punjab from 1984 to 1998 in fake encounters and extra judicial killings by Indian Security Forces headed by one K.P.S Gill.

Economic Exploitation—The Indian government divided the state of Punjab weakening the numerical strength of Sikhs and taking away control over the irrigation water resources leaving the Sikhs in a impoverished condition which is growing day by day. As a result, more than 58,000 farmers in Punjab have been forced to commit suicide.

The aftermath is even worse than the genocide itself. Successive Indian Governments have failed to prosecute the guilty and continue to shield them. One of the many Congress (I) leaders who organized the killing of Sikhs during November 1984 is India’s Minister for Transport Kamal Nath who will be in presence during your speech to the Parliament. Nath has been summoned by United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY 10-cv-2490 “Sikhs for Justice v. Kamal Nath”) for leading a mob that killed Sikhs and attacked Gurudwara Rakab Ganj in November 1984.

India’s record on human rights has constantly been deteriorating and its response to the human rights problem has been of apathy. Since 1984 India has continuously denied International Human Rights organizations’ access to Punjab. Most recently members of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCRIF) who wanted to visit India to assess the state of affairs vis`-a-vis´ religious minorities of India, were denied visas by the Indian Government. In April 2009 Amnesty International was forced to close its office in New Delhi, making India the only democracy of world without the presence of a single international human rights organization.

Till today Indian Government does not recognize separate status of Sikh religion and continue to usurp religious, political and economic rights of Sikhs. Therefore, we urge you to raise the following demands of Sikhs with the Indian Government:

1. As per Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), India should fulfill its obligation by providing opportunity to exercise and realize right of Self Determination to Sikh people of India.

2. Article 25 of the Constitution of India should be amended to restore the status of Sikhism as a separate religion.

3. Systematic killing of Sikhs (1984-98) in India should be recognized as “Genocide” under Article 2 of the UN Convention on Genocide.

4. India must stop practicing impunity towards human rights violators and punish the perpetrators of Sikh Genocide (1984-98).

5. International Human Rights Organization should be allowed to enter and work in India, particularly in the state of Punjab.