Vishav(World) Sikh News - World Sikh Council

US Congressmen Demand
Investigation into Genocide in
Punjab
A bipartisan group of 23 members of
House of Representatives of the US
Congress have written a joint letter to
Prakash Singh Badal, Chief Minister
of Punjab, asking him to appoint an
independent judicial commission to
investigate the genocide by the Indian
government in Punjab from 1984 to
1998. The letter dated January 30
states that “it is imperative that your
Government fulfill its pledge to
appoint an independent judicial
inquiry to determine who was killed
and who responsible.” The joint letter
was signed by 23 congressional
representatives from states of New
York, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Georgia,
Texas, Vermont, New Jersey,
California, Indiana, Illinois, and
Maryland. The Council of Khalistan
in a press release issued February 5
quoted its President Dr. Gurmit Singh
Aulakh, as saying that “the Sikh
Diaspora and honest Sikhs in Punjab
will never let the Badal Government
sweep the 14 year genocide under the
rug. The Akalis have made it clear
that they want the hundreds of
thousands of men, women and
children killed to be forgotten.” The
joint letter by the US Congressmen
has been welcomed by the Sikh
Students Federation through a written
statement. Representative Edolphus
Towns (D-N.Y.) inserted a statement
into the Congressional Record on
February 11 that “Letting Amnesty
International and other human rights
monitors into the country would also
signal India’s commitment to finding
and punishing those who violate
human rights. If India does not take
even these minimal steps, then we
must take strong action. It is time to
impose tough economic sanctions on
the India regime, cut off aid to that
theocratic satrapy, and publicly
support the freedom movements in the
many captive nations of South Asia.”
The same day Representative Towns
also placed a statement in the
Congressional Record condemning
the interception of mail by Punjab
Government of Sikh journalist
Sukhbir Singh Osan. India Abroad
(2/13/98, 2/20/98), Ajit US (2/19/98),
Des Pardes (2/13/98) and News India-
Times (2/20/98) published articles on
these developments.
Article on Sikh Candidate for
Illinois Legislature
The Chicago Daily Herald dated
February 9 published an extensive
article on the election campaign of
25-year old Sikh Ravi Singh of
Aurora, a candidate for the Illinois
state legislature. Ravi Singh stressed
moral responsibility as one of the
backbones of his message. The article
quoted Ravi Singh as “People ask me,
are you doing this in the spirit of
Mahatma Gandhi……No, I am doing
it in the spirit of Ronald Reagan and
George Bush.” Ravi Singh has been a
former aide to Lt. Governor Bob
Kustra and Illinois Treasurer Judy
Baar Topinka and if elected he would
be the first Sikh in the Illinois
legislature.
Asylum Seeker Describes Abuse in
Jail
Harpal Singh, who had been
transferred to the Union County Jail
of New Jersey in 1995 after an
uprising at an INS detention center,
has alleged that he was abused while
is custody of the jail authorities. In
The Record (Bergen County) dated
February 3, Harpal Singh alleges that
when he was brought to the county
jail, the guards tossed him from the
van. His turban fell off and a guard
grabbed his Kes and collar and locked
him in a small room with other
detainees. Later he is alleged to have
been strip searched, kicked and forced
to kneel naked along with several
other detainees for at least four or five
hours. Harpal Singh is currently in
federal custody while his asylum case
is pending with INS.
Torture Victims Get Help from SI
Survivor’s International (SI), an
organization of concerned physicians,
has been successful in providing
medical help to victims of torture. The
organization recently reported in an
article titled Tending to Rights in the
January/February 1998 issue of
Unique Opportunities: The
Physician’s Resource that “most of
our clients who come for medical
evaluation for asylum, probably 80 to
90 percent of them, come from Punjab
2
(an area divided between India and
Pakistan). Many of these people have
been tortured by being beaten on their
feet. The prevalence of such injuries
has created a tremendous need for
orthopedic and podiatric services at
SI; however, the organization is still
without providers in specialty areas.
Laws also points to the need for
dermatologists to evaluate skin lesions
consistent with electric shock and
other forms of torture.”
US Confirms Abuses in J&K
The US State Department is reported
to have confirmed widespread
killings, abductions and abuses by
India security forces in the Muslim
majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The annual 1997 Human Rights
Report was released on January 30
and it alleges that about 350,000 to
400,000 government forces continue
to commit serious human rights
violations in the state. The Periscope
Daily Defense News Capsules dated
February 3 published an article on the
report. The report also confirms that
from 1/1/90 to 6/30/97, only 10
security personnel have been tried and
sentenced to more than 10 or more
years imprisonment for violating
human rights in J&K and Punjab.
Sikh Youth Symposiums
Sikh Youth Federation of USA
(member of VSC-USA) is organizing
youth symposiums at various centers
of its Midwest Zone. Youths from age
7 to 25 years will participate in the
event, in which they will be asked to
review a variety of assigned books and
deliver a speech on it. These books
have been supplied by the Hemkunt
Foundation of New York. The dates
on which the symposiums will be held
at various Gurdwaras is given below:
• Chicago Center: Palatine
Gurdwara Sahib, March 7, 1998
• Cleveland Center: Richfield
Gurdwara Sahib, March 14, 1998
• Pittsburgh Center: Monroeville
Gurdwara Sahib, March 21, 1998
• Detroit Center: Sikh Gurdwara
Sahib, March 28, 1998
More information on the event can be
obtained from center coordinators or
from Sikh Youth Federation of USA
by e-mailing to sikhs@accesstoledo