WASHINGTON DC, USA—During Modi’s address to the US Congress on June 8, hundreds rallied at Capitol Hill to highlight the continuous persecution of Sikhs, a religious minority in India.
The demonstration was aimed to raise awareness among US Congress Members about the denial of separate religious identity, right to self determination and three decades of genocidal violence against Sikhs in India.
Sikh protestors carrying placards “Modi-face of Indian terrorism” demanded an independence referendum in the state of Punjab to create separate Sikh country “Khalistan”.
“With the coming to power of Narendra Modi, a known Hindu supremacist, already marginalized Sikh community is experiencing a sharp increase in all forms of state oppression”, stated attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to “Sikhs For Justice” (SFJ) a US based human rights group.
“Numbering barely 2% of the population of India, the Sikh community has been at the receiving end of state ruthlessness since the past several decades — whenever it has raised its voice for its political and religious rights – separate religious identity and right to self determination – and against violation of those rights”, added attorney Pannun.
“What lies at the bottom of the controversy between the disgruntled Sikhs and the Indian Government is Article 25 of the Constitution of India which labels “Sikhs” and “Hindus” stated Amardeep Singh, SFJ’s Director International Policy.
“Offended by this constitutional assault on separate Sikh identity, what initially started as movement for separate religious identity, ultimately culminated in demand for a separate country for Sikhs in Punjab”, added Amardeep Singh.
The violent persecution of Sikhs in India started in the 1980s when the community raised its voice for its political and religious rights. In June 1984, the Indian army attacked and invaded the Golden Temple in an operation codenamed “Blue Star”, which resulted in the killing of several thousand unarmed and innocent pilgrims. In November 1984, Sikhs were subjected to genocidal violence throughout India in the aftermath of Prime Minister Gandhi’s assassination. From 1984 till 1998, over 100,000 Sikhs were extra judicially killed by the Indian security forces in the name of “counter insurgency operations”.
SFJ which organized the Sikh protest at Capitol Hill, is spearheading an international campaign for Independence Referendum 2020 in the state of Punjab currently under India rule.
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It is time for Unification and Globalization like Germany ,Europe and USA have done.
We must not have further break ups as it leads to lot of hardships for ordinary citizens.
Also we have a big universe with so many Galaxies where new Punjabs can come up.
The Indian and Earthian Punjab is going to burn up in 4 billion years from now.
So we don’t have much time left and we need to evolve ourselces nto Space faring people .
You don’t instil a sense of unification in disparate peoples by insisting they give up their rights to practise their religion and culture and brutally repressing them if they refuse to give up their distinct identity. The States that make up the US are largely autonomous and have their own State laws and the vanilla one size fits all approach that you are espousing is also rejected in Europe where the UK is so appalled by centralisation and homogenisation that they are having a referendum to stay or leave. Even the other countries in the EU are facing demands form their respective populations to respect the sovereignty of each country and not just surrender everything over to some notion of a super state – so much so that their electorates are turning to both far right wing and left wing political parties which espouse nationalist sentiment over European. The answer is to recognise and celebrate diversity and give more autonomy for people not less unless you want India turning into one party authoritarian state like China (repressing its Tibetan and Uyghur minorities) or the way Turkey is turning particularly with its treatment of its Kurdish minorities. It is very telling that Sikhs seem free to protest for their rights in the US but are arrested arbitraily in their own homeland to stop them from speaking even to other Sikhs on the anniversary to commemorate the most devastating event in living Sikh history.
“The Indian and Earthian Punjab is going to burn up in 4 billion years from now.
So we don’t have much time left and we need to evolve ourselces nto Space faring people .”
4 billion years isn’t enough time for you?
Dude, you’re a lunatic.