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WSO
ਦੇਗ
ਤੇਗ਼ ਫ਼ਤਿਹ ਪੰਥ ਕੀ
ਜੀਤ
A Newsletter of the World
Sikh Organization
Remebering June 1984
48 years after Indian independence ,
and 11 years after the
attack on the Darbar Sahib ,
Sikhs in India are still
waiting to
experience the " glow of freedom " .
As always in the first week of June , the
Sikh community throughout the world
looks back with tremendous sadness on
the events that transpired now
elèven
years ago . In June of 1984 , the Indian
army launched a deadly assault on the
Harminder Sahib ( the Golden
Temple )
that was to leave tens of thousands of
Sikhs dead and forever change the
atti-
tudes and loyalties of Sikhs in India and
abroad . Now , eleven years after
that
fateful event , Sikhs continue to
be per-
secuted in India , despite claims by
that
government that ' normalcy ' has re-
turned , and Sikhs continue to
struggle
for freedom and an
independent state .
Few people understand the origins of
this struggle for freedom . Forty nine
years ago , in the last days of the British
Raj , many within the Sikh community
watched a tide of
communalism sweep
across British India and understood im-
mediately that this would pose a real
danger to Sikhs in post - independence
INSID
E
Canadian Affairs
Canada's new head tax on
immigrants - capitulating to
the right wing ... A debate on
Legion head gear in Parlia-
ment .
UN Activities
***
Page 2
NGO Working Group Con-
sultations in New York and
other UN related news .
***
Page 4
India . As a result , the Panthic Akali Dal ,
representing the interests of Sikhs in
those days , adopted a resolution in
March 1946 to pursue the goal of
an
independent state in Punjab .
What followed may well be consid-
ered the greatest error in judgement by
the Sikhs in the
twentieth century . The
leaders of post - independence India , al-
ready becoming adept at the art of sub-
terfuge , went to great lengths to con-
vince the Sikhs to remain within India .
Jawaharlal Nehru assured the Sikhs that
no constitution would be framed in In-
dia unless it was acceptable to the Sikhs ,.
He also reiterated a
commitment to set-
ting up an autonomous state within In-
dia where " the Sikhs can
also experi-
ence the glow of freedom . " Accepting
these bold promises at face value , the
Sikhs acceded and passed a
resolution
to join India .
However , this resolution was not
continued on page 3
...
India : Another Shrine
Destroyed
The Indian Army's role in the
destruction in the village
of
Charar - e - Sharief alienates In-
dia's Muslim
community .
Page 6
***
Evaluations
Recent Events : The WSO's
nod of approval /
disapproval
for the people involved .
Page 7
in
touch
June 1995 No. 5
India : TADA
repealed ?
In place of TADA , India is introduc-
ing a new bill that critics say is " old
wine in old bottles with a new label . "
India's Terrorist and Disruptive Areas
Act ( TADA ) , introduced in 1984 in
Punjab and later extended to other
states , was widely criticized for the
virtual impunity it granted the
police
and army in their use of
torture , rape ,
and summary executions in these
states . Now , after
increasing pressure
by the international
community and by
human rights groups , India has finally
obliged and decided to scrap TADA ...
Or has it ?
In place of TADA , the Indian
gov-
ernment is proposing a new anti - in-
surgency bill . However , critics of this
new bill say that , like TADA , it may
be used arbitrarily against
political op-
ponents , union activists , as well as
common criminals . Lawmakers and
human rights activists alike have al-
ready expressed anger and frustration
that this new law retains all of the
harshest features of TADA .
Many
have called it a
cosmetic cover - up of
TADA . Opposition members say it is
" old wine in old bottles
with a new
label . " Rupinder Sodhi , a Barrister of
the Supreme Court of India , stated that
the government had effected nothing
more than a change of name for
TADA .
Under TADA , over 70 thousand
people have been arrested and held
without charge . Fewer than
one per-
cent of these people have been
con-
victed of any crime , and thousands of
continued on page 3 ...
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