Posted on 04/02/2002 9:25:28 AM PST by TBP
India Passes Its Most Repressive Law Ever
New Excuse for Terror Against Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Others
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 29, 2002 – The Indian Parliament has passed the so-called "Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance" (POTO), a law more repressive than the "Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act" (TADA), which expired in 1995. According to the March 27 issue of the Washington Post, POTO allows authorities to detain a person for 180 days without filing charges and denies access to witnesses for cross-examination. It also facilitates the use of intercepted communications as evidence in court. Under POTO, the burden of proof is on the accused and there is no mandatory right to compensation for those detained and later found not guilty.
"How can a democratic country hold any person without charges for six months?" asked Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, which leads the Sikh struggle for independence. "The United States Supreme Court ruled a few years ago that suspects could be held for 48 hours, and many Americans thought that was too long, yet ‘the world’s largest democracy’ claims the power to hold persons without charge or trial for six months."
"This bill is worse than TADA," said Dr. Aulakh. According to the Post, "about 76,000 people were arrested under that measure." According to a recent report from the Movement Against State Repression (MASR), India admitted to holding 52,268 Sikhs as political prisoners under TADA. On February 28, 42 Members of the U.S. Congress wrote to President Bush, asking him to work to get these political prisoners freed.
"This new law shows the true face of Indian secularism," said Dr. Aulakh. "It is a product of majority Hindu repression," he said. "The Congress Party is shedding crocodile tears about POTO, but where are the votes? Was it not the Congress government which invaded the Golden Temple and murdered over 20,000 Sikhs in Punjab in June 1984?"
Hindus are 83 percent of India’s population. "It is irrelevant to minorities whether Congress or the BJP is in power," said Dr. Aulakh. "Either way, the repression continues and the minorities continue to die," he said. "The majority Hindus are bent on the destruction of Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and other minorities," he said.
The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984. Over 75,000 Kashmiri Muslims have been killed since 1988. More than 200,000 Christians have been killed since 1947, along with tens of thousands of Dalits, Tamils, Assamese, Bodos, Manipuris, and other minorities. Since Christmas 1998, Christians have felt the brunt of the attacks. Priests have been murdered, nuns have been raped, churches have been burned, Christian schools and prayer halls have been destroyed, and no one has been punished for these acts. Militant Hindu fundamentalists allied with the RSS, the pro-Fascist parent organization of the ruling BJP, burned missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons to death.
"It is shameful that the Akali Dal, which is supposed to be the Sikh party, is in alliance with the BJP," Dr. Aulakh said. "They ran the most corrupt government in Punjab’s history, they refused to release political prisoners, they refused to release their own report on the police murder of Akal Takht Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke," he said. "How can they claim to represent the Sikh Nation?"
Dr. Aulakh pointed out that just two days ago, Hindu leaders said that if minorities want peace, they must "earn the good will of Hindus" and serve Hindus. Last year, a cabinet member said that everyone living in India must be a Hindu or be subservient to Hindus. In July 1997, Narinder Singh, a spokesman for the Golden Temple, told National Public Radio, "The Indian government, all the time they boast that they're democratic, they're secular, but they have nothing to do with a democracy, they have nothing to do with a secularism. They try to crush Sikhs just to please the majority."
"The only way to escape this government-supported violence and tyranny is for the Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and other minorities to claim their freedom from India," Dr. Aulakh said. "That is the only way to prevent the Hindu theocracy from wiping us out," he said. He noted that Hindu laborers are being sent into Punjab "to make the Sikhs a minority in their own land. Outsiders can’t buy land in Himachal Pradesh and other neighboring Hindu states,’ Dr. Aulakh noted, "but Hindus are buying up land in Punjab. Why can outsiders buy land in Punjab when Sikhs can’t buy land in these Hindu states? Clearly, the Hindu nationalists are trying to wipe out the Sikh religion and culture," he said.
"Sikhs are a separate nation and ruled Punjab until 1849. No Sikh has signed the Indian constitution. The people of South Asia must have self-determination now," Dr. Aulakh said. "India is on the verge of disintegration," he said. "Khalistan will be free by 2008."
On the contrary, it has everything to do with democracy. Democracy is precisely about the tyranny of the majority: in a pure democracy, if 50.1% of voters vote to kill Sikhs, or blacks, or Jews, or gun owners, that's what's going to happen. No ifs, ands, or buts. The "power of the people" is total and absolute.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States endorsed a controversial anti-terrorism bill approved by the Indian parliament on Wednesday, saying it appeared to be consistent with democratic values and the constitution.
Opposition parties and human rights groups have attacked the bill, saying it could be used to harass innocent people and to target minority Muslims or opponents of the government.
But State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said: "It's important for governments to take steps against terrorism (and) to do it in a constitutional way. Other governments have also passed legislation that makes clear that they are going to take efforts to strengthen their legal systems, as the Indians have just done, within constitutional bounds.
"We do believe that that can be done consistent with democratic principles. We have done that. The Europeans have done that, and India seems to have done that as well."
The State Department said later that it was advising U.S. citizens to avoid the Kutch region in the western state of Gujarat, scene of recent conflict between Hindus and Muslims.
People traveling under the sponsorship of the U.S. government will postpone trips to Kutch, a statement said.
A travel warning on March 13 covered Gujarat but excluded the Kutch region. The statement did not explain the change.
In fact, this law should be amended to say that only Muslims or persons of no identifiable religion SUSPECTED of being Muslims, can be arrested.
There is no need to deprive any non-Muslim of any civil rights according to western customs....
It seems the good Dr. Aulakh has a lot to learn about democracy (mob rule).
Why do you continue to post false propaganda from an organization working for Punjabi terrorists?
It is time to outlaw a violent, inherently illegal movement, that is masquerading under the guise of "protected religious speech."
The minaret's shadow of death must be removed from our land, and the proponents of "kill the infidel" islamic fundamentalism... need to be expatriated OUT of our borders.
This outfit is a mere Pawn in the Islamic Terrorism emanating from Pakistan, into India, Nepal, Burma, Bangladesh, etc. I am sure this law is aimed at the Islamics and as well as the Sikh extremists, if they still happen to be a threat.
As far as 200,000 Christians being killed in India, this obvious and indicates what kind of Islamic-sponsored propoganda we're up against!
K.P.S. Gill is not a writer that I know of; he is the former police chief of Punjab, and a brutal one who presided over the deaths of thousands and took roughly the same action against the killers as the Catholic archdicese of Boston took against the child abusing priests -- i.e., transferring them somewhere lese where they could do their damage on new victims.
There is absolutely no relationship between Babbar Khalsa International and Council of Khalistan. Period. BKI is a militant organization, and the Council of Khalistan explicitly rejects militancy.
The Akali Dal was at one time the Sikh national political party. It has been infiltrated like many organizations and taken over by Indian government bootlickers. It no longer serves teh interest of its constitutency.
The fact is that the Akalis are in coalition with the Hindu nationalists. The Akali government was the most corrupt in Punjab's history. The Akalis -- all factions -- have not used their elective offices to advance Sikh interests. This is why they were massively rejected.
The Akali government in Punjab came to power on three promises: to bring the police officials who had committed atrocities and other acts of repression to justice; to appoint a commission to investigate allegations of police abuse; and to free political prisoners. They did none of these things. Now they are no longer in power. They would not even release their own report on the murder of Akal Takht Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke, who was the highest-ranking Sikh religious leader. Captain Amarinder Singh, the new Chief Minister, has been asked to release it. Let's see if he does so. Presumably, it implicates high-ranking police officials in the Kaunke murder, including Swaran Singh Ghotna, a former SSP.
Why do you continue to post false propaganda from an organization working for Punjabi terrorists?
As I pointed out, it is your statement that the Council of Khalistan is "an organization working for Punjabi terrorists" that is false propaganda. The Council has repeatedly rejected militancy and terrorism from any quarter and has repeatedly called for a peaceful, democratic, nonviolent movement to liberate Khalistan. You don't have to agree with them, but be honest about the organization's goals and methods.
I believe this is the same kind of movement that Gandhi led for the liberation of India from the British. Was he a terrorist?
This is just another policy error by the Bush Administration. In America, the Supreme Court has ruled that you can only hold someone without charges for 48 hours (and Scalia and Thomas said that was too long.) In India, you're now allowed to keep tehm in "preventive detention" for up to 6 months.
There are still over 52,000 Sikhs being held as political prisoners under the previous TADA law, which expired in 1995. This is from a report by the Movement Against State Reperssion. Tens of thousands of Christians and other minorities also continue to be held as political prisoners. This law gives the government more power than TADA gave it. Do you not see the threat to basic human rights and civil liberties?
...the council of khalistan rejects militancy.Yes, of course it does. It is strictly a political organization working for Khali separatists, of whom the majority are militant. (Of course, Political donations help, don't they?)
Interesting what you say about the Akali Dal. Traitors to the Sikh cause, eh? And what Sikh "interests" have the Akalis forsaken?
The fact IS, your council is going nowhere, fast. The vast majority of Sikhs in Indian Punjab are very happy where they are, now.
..."an organization working for Punjabi terrorists"... the council has repeatedly rejected militancy and terrorism from any quarter and has repeatedly called for a peaceful, democratic, nonviolent movement to liberate khalistan.
Couple of things. 1)The militant Sikhs are not getting the answer, so don't tell me, tell them. 2)Which Khalistan are they trying to "liberate?"
I believe this is the same kind of movement that Gandhi led for the liberation of India from the British. Was he a terrorist?
Gandhi was asking the British for independence and not his own country. Your council only wants Indian Punjab liberated. What about Pakistani Punjab? Am I supposed to believe the Pakis will just let their part of the Punjab go? Why does dear Dr. Aulakh only lie about the Indians? Half of the Punjab is in Pakistan, right?
So if you have violence in your country, it's OK to trample on basic liberties? That is hardly a conservative position. It's more like Daschleism.
What an invitation to any tinhorn despot to foment violence so he can clamp down!
And report after report shows that India is fomenting a lot of the violence itself.
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