Editor’s note: The following email was sent to Sikh24 in response to Bhai Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa recent fast to highlight Sikh political prisoners still in jail having served sentences passed down by courts.
Dear Bhai Gurbaksh Singh jee,This is a small, humble message to you for your monumental sacrifice for the Sikh Panth.“The love of power, is the love of onself. The love of liberty is the love of others.” William HazlettLike you, the souls of many Sikh patriots, have continuously risen up and taken a public stand against the state of INDIA. Their saint-soldier conscience has driven and empowered them to break the mental shackles of fear, silence and opportunism which the vast majority of human society (in Panjaab, across India, in the UK and the world) remain stuck in. Ignorance and apathy is bliss.In contrast, to the pathetic Indian soldiers and politicians, mired in their corruption, misrule, tyranny and torture; the small Sikh nation has a wonderous and endless array of unsuppressable patriots like you. Our history is decorated with shaheeds like you. We exist and breath, because of these inspiring and unifying sacrifices, not in spite of them. Sacrifice is the nourishment and water of the Sikhs. That, is what makes us such a unique and unconquerable people.From the: Akaali shaheeds in the 1960s Panjaabi Suba morcha; to the Baba Nihaal Singh (Tarna Dal) and fellow Nihang singh encounter with the Indian police and mahants at Patna Sahib in 1964 (11 Nihangs were fired upon by the Indian police and killed, their bodies disposed of without any information or trace); to Darshan Singh Pheruman’s 74-day hunger strike to death in 1969; to the 1978 Amritsar Massacre; to the torturous murder of Sikhs like Amarjeet Singh Babbar in the early 1980s; to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the Singhs who fearlessly confronted the Indian state’s military and genocidal onslaught on the most sovereign and most supremely important Sikh national shrine in June 1984 (the equivalent of 9-11 three times in severity); to the subsequent, enduring struggle and multiple shaheeds like Babbar Anork Singh, Jaswant Singh Kalra, Sukhwinder Singh Patti, Harpal Singh (Gurdaspur), Manbir Singh Chaheroo, Paramjeet Singh Pamma, Paramjeet Singh Panjwar, Gurbachan Singh Manochaal and many more.You have shown to the Indian state – its draconian government, its dirty criminal politicians, its lackeys like Badal and co, to the servile, cowardly and unprincipled ‘jathedars’ like Gurbachan and his clique (e.g. Jasbir Rode, Harnam Dhuma, Makkar); that there is a nation which is infused with fearless desire for justice for itself and justice for all. That nation is the most bravest of the brave, and will fight, struggle, agitate, starve, suffer for the sake of goodness and justice. That nation is not willing to suffer as a servile, secondary tenant under a dominant, bullying landlord like India. That nation, through its history has fought for its natural right to freedom, concretised in an independent governance of its affairs.“The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.” John Stuart Mill
That nation has tasted that very freedom, and seeks to restore and return to that unsubstitutable, secure and solid self-empowerment and self-government, again; like all natural nations of the world. No true lion will give up its den. No true bird will give up its nest. No true fox will give up its lair. Why should the Khaalsa civilisation accept abject domination, discrimination and subjugation to a criminal, corrupt, murderous and completely dysfunctional state like INDIA. India is unable to feed over 300 million of its civilians. It has the highest official level of slavery in the world – 14 million. It rapes women every 20 minutes. It kills 4-civilians every day in its torturous police cells. It rejects and refuses to sign the international treaties on ‘crimes against humanity’. The Khaalsa cannot and must not be associated with this monstrosity called INDIA. We degrade ourselves by calling ourselves INDIAN, and by being part of this ungodly structure of oppression and tyranny.The Khaalsa nation was attacked and stripped of its independent power and territory in 1849, by the expansionist British imperialist elite (not the ordinary people of Britain, who were used as a foot soldiers then and are still being used now to fight the wars for the greedy royals, aristocrats and upper echeleons like Cameron, Osborne, Blair and their ilk – when did a royal ever die for Britain!). Since that year of subjugation and disempowerment, the Panjaab has been ground down. Its people misled and misinformed. Its institutions degraded and broken down (the Akaal Takht – the bastion of Sikh sovereignty and national vision and activism, turned into a mere ‘temple of worship’). Its language suppressed and banned. Its people territorially carved up and dissected into into two separated Indian and Pakistani sides. Its people mass murdered. Its territories and waters contaminated with poisonous chemicals. Its vulnerable people left exposed to unemployment, drugs, alcohol and other such destructive vices. It’s people held in fear and check by a brutal, unprofessional, criminal police force.Today you and your fellow shaheeds have kept the flag of Khaalsa sovereignty, the yearning for full-fledged freedom and independence alive.Every small and big battle for justice by the grassroot Khaalsa, is a battle for Khaalsa life, recognition and sovereignty. The Khaalsa was not created to be a submissive, subject, secondary player in any political, religious or social superstructure. The Khaalsa was enshrined with a special vision of ethical action, of creating a free and independent ethical society, of being guardians, administrators and nurturers of such a society; as proven during the first and second Khaalsa states of 1710-1716 (Banda Singh Bahadur) and 1780-1849 (Ranjeet Singh ‘Maharaja’).We cannot and do not bow to the miserable INDIAN state, with its mix of corruption, murder, criminality, poverty, maladministration, rich over the mass poor, its dehumanising caste system. The KHAALSA is invariably from the times of Guru Nanak to the present, a threat, a danger and a powerhouse of ideas and action against the likes of the INDIAN state.“People crushed by law have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to law; and those who have much to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous.” Edmund Burke
The very term ‘INDIA’ is a European-colonialist term of derogation. It is an overarching term constructed in the 1400s for all non-white peoples of the world, intended for subjugation by the European white elitist powers. You will have heard of the Red Indians, the West Indians, the South American Indians. Our Panjaab has an independent name of its own. It is a name of beauty and glorious expression of the natural condition of this ‘land of five rivers’.Panjaab is not INDIA. It has never wanted to be INDIA. It has only become part of an INDIA superstate by force, invasion, annexation and subjugation and by randomly drawing lines on a map. Not by consent, by referendum or otherwise. India and Pakistan was created in a room between three colluding individuals – Jinnah, Nehru and Mountbatten. This morally criminal trio condemned tens of millions to genocide and ethnic cleansing, to carve out their new empires from the womb of the outgoing British Indian empire.Every struggle for Panjaab – its language, its territory, its economy, its natural resources, its rivers, its culture, its people, its farmers, its political prisoners – has been a struggle for Panjaabi national existence. The Panjaabi struggle mirrors the struggle of all natural, small nations across the world. Each represents an impulse for change. A freer world, of small communities, peoples, nations and small states.No nation can exist and progress, except when it is in control of its own affairs in a secure, independent state, with its own parliament, its own constitution, its own laws, its own police, its own army. Panjaabi history is clear evidence of this. So is the history of some many other true, natural nations of the world. Panjaab is part of a global struggle for freedom, human rights, justice, self-determination for small nations. New nations are emerging from the ongoing, historic mire and subjugation of superstates – Bangladesh, Kosovo, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, East Timor. People versus states. The process of freedom continues – Scotland, Wales, Chechenya, Baluchistan, Sind, Manipur, Nagaland, Kashmir, Tamil Ealam, Tamilnadu, Tibet, Kurdistan, Palestine, Riff – NATIONS WITHOUT STATES.Your tremendous role, is an inspiration to us all. Your personal drive, bravery and principled stance, has proven once again, to us all that there are shining, steadfast, PRINCIPLED ARROWS OF LIFE, despite the smog, confusion and silence being created by Badal Brahmin, Makkar Dogra, Gurbachan Mahant, Jasbir Rode Sharma, Dhuma Gangoo. This morally criminal clique, is like a snake around the neck of the progressive, vibrant Sikh nation. This devious, scheming gang, is seeking to hold our land and people, in check and in shackles. Every time the Sikh nation seeks to move forward with its aspirations, these individuals block, obstruct and divide and confuse. The false, undemocractic, unprincipled ‘hukamana’ issued against you in the last few days, is a prime example of this.The Akaal Takht is not the property of Gurbachan Mahant nor that of the so-called ‘Panj Singh Sahibaan’. This Mahant is flamboyantly disguised as ‘Singh Sahib Gyani Gurbachan Singh jee’. On numerous occassions, he has committed injustices against the Sikh people. He has betrayed their freedom struggle on multiple occassions, including now. He and his Badal directed clique, have now issued a ‘hukamnama’ against you, insisting that you give up your hunger strike. This mahant in the position of ‘jathedar’, has absolutely no moral nor formal authority and mandate from the Khaalsa Panth. He has been superimposed upon us through the cliquish, convoluted and scheming unknowns of the infamous SGPC. He does not speak for us. He does not represent us. He refuses to appear before the global sarbat khalsa. He refuses to engage in direct dialogue with grassroot Sikhs. How then, does he qualify as ‘jathedar’? There are various others like him, who will defend him and each other. It is this ‘jathedar’ who declared that Badal was ‘Panth Rattan’.The aforesaid invalid ‘hukamnama’, has been produced behind closed doors.Since losing our statehood in 1849, both the ensuing British and Indian powers, have superimposed these compliant, conformist ‘jathedars’. In the 1880s’ there was jathedars who issued hukamnanas against Bhai Maharaj Singh, the Namdharis, against Maharaja Duleep Singh. In the 1920s, hukamanamas were issued against the Babbar Akaales and Akaali Morchas. Hukamnamas were issued condoning the actions of General Dwyer and co, the perpetrators of the Jalianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. Today, these same undemocractic, unprincipled hukamnamas are being issued by these characterless, cowardly Indian collaborators, disguised as Sikhs. Unlike, Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke, Jathedar Gurbachan Singh Manochaal, Jathedaar Ranjeet Singh, Jathedaar Darshan Singh Ragi, who have stood up for the highest ideals of Sikh ethics and independence; the above unqualified, superimposed individuals have collaborated with the Indian state.We reject these crooks, loudly and clearly. We as a nation issue a HUKAMNAMA of no confidence, no authority, no mandate against this crooked gang. Get out of the Akaal Takht, and take up residence in Dheli, the enduring capital of oppression throughout the centuries. Your kind, belong there. Vacate the Akaal Takht, or the Sikh nation will do so by force of numbers, just as it physically demolished India’s superimposed ‘Akaal Takht’ building at the historic 500,000 strong SARBAT KHAALSA of 26th January 1986.Struggle and sacrifice is never easy. It is damn hard, fighting such a monstrous power like India, just like the Mughals and British before them. Success is never quick. It is excruciatingly slow and uncertain. However, the Khaalsa spirit has struggle, justice and independence in its DNA. We cannot help opposing India. We and India are incompatible. By being Indian, we give up our KHAALSA purpose and character. We helped actively to bring down the Mughal and British states. We will do the same with the current criminal, undemocratic, draconian INDIAN state.The Sikh nation through its ordinary, grassroot shaheeds fights and struggles on. We are ‘sava lakh’. One of us is much more alive, than a hundred thousand ignorant, compliant, confused, greedy, materialistic human bodies – the living dead according to the Guru Granth Sahib jee.“Courage is the best gift of all. Courage stands before everything. It is what preserves our liberty, safety, life, and our homes and parents, our country and children. Courage comprises all things: a man with courage has every blessing.” PlautusOne Khaalsa will stand, defend, fight and die for good. Ten thousand Indians stuck and consumed in bollywood mania, watching their self-degrading ‘Big Boss’, will run and scatter. The tens of thousands embroiled in Brahman superstitions and Brahmin gods and holy men. It was Sikh soldiers who liberated Bangladesh. It was Sikh soldiers who fought off Pakistani invasions into India. It was Indians who surrendered before the Chinese in their humiliating defeat in 1962.When a Brahmin’s daughter was taken by the invading Ahmed Shah Abdali armies, it was to the Khaalsa that this Brahmin father came at Akaal Takht to rescue her. 20,000 Nihangs marched into Afghanistan, to rescue this one female. Over 10,000 Nihangs died in the process. It was to Guru Tegh Bahadur that the Brahmins turned for the supreme sacrifice he made for their right to exist, when the Mughal state declared wholesale war on the Hindus. It was to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale that Hindu families turned when the police and criminal gangs, harassed their families, took their young girls, etc. None of India’s politicians, film-stars, sport-stars, living in their extremely rich mansions and millionaire lifestyles, are ready to struggle and die for India’s grassroot hundreds of millions as they starve, remain homeless, suffer persecution, police torture, government corruption.Glory to Bhai Gurbaksh Singh, who has shown again to Badal, Makkar, Mahant Gurbachan, Rode and Dhuma, and their Dheli masters; we will not be subdued by you. We will fight on, in every which way. Small actions, big actions. We find life and energy in struggle, as against the slumber and greed of mass apathy and conformity. History remembers the few who dare to fight the state. The david versus the goliath. Bhai Gurbaksh Singh, who have made your mark and the mark of the Khaalsa on history! Through you, we remember all the shaheeds before and the shaheeds to come!!! May we too be blessed with that abundant and infinite shaheed spirit, and join your journey!!!“You can imprison our bodies, but you cannot imprison our minds” – Sukha and Jinda“I do not fear physical death. True death occurs when the inner conscience dies. I will die when my conscience dies.” – Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale“The future still belongs to us.” Daljeet Singh Bittoojagdeesh singhKESRI LEHAR activist in the UKNATIONS WITHOUT STATES, co-founder and Committee Member1984 GENOCIDE COALITION, Co-ordinator
