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Sikh delegation asks British
govt to ensure WMDs are out of Punjab
WSN Network
 London:
Following the delivery on 26 January 2009 to the Indian and Pakistan
Governments as well as to the UN Security Council of a formula to
remove the risk of nuclear war in Punjab that Sikhs consider their
Homeland, a delegation of Sikhs has briefed the UK Government about
the proposals.
Military experts
have warned that Punjab will be the theatre of war in South Asia and
the conflict is likely to involve nuclear weapons resulting in
millions of casualties.
The proposals
call for India to remove all its nuclear weapons systems (and other
WMDs) from
Punjab
and to undertake to the Sikh community that it will not use its
homeland for the purposes of firing or targeting such weapons. The
formula also involves a commitment from
Pakistan not to
target the territory. The UN is also requested to oversee
implementation of the proposals by establishing and monitoring a no
fly zone for those weapons systems. The formula has been endorsed by
thirty-six leading Sikh organisations based in the Sikh Homeland as
well as across the Diaspora.
The delegation
stressed that the British have a special obligation given their role
as the ex colonial power as they had formally recognised the Sikh
Nation as a stakeholder in the region till at least August 1947. In
addition, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council which has
influence over the two countries, Britain could be a key player in
removing the anxiety the Sikhs and others in the region have about
the risk of an all out war.
Indo-Pak
tensions over recent days and weeks, with political and military
leaders on both sides speaking openly about war, have lead major
world powers including the UK to call for restraint. The delegation
stressed that the Sikhs, perhaps more than any other party, wanted
peace to prevail. They had no option but to raise their concerns at
the international level as even the slightest risk of nuclear war in
their territory is unacceptable. That risk carries the threat of
near annihilation for the world's fifth largest religion; no other
people face that level of threat.
Neil Kernohan
(Head of the India, Nepal and Bhutan desk at the Foreign Office),
Joanne Crabtree (India desk), Carl Spychal (India-Pakistan Desk) and
other officials were apprised that the underlying tensions in South
Asia remain very high; the political compulsions of the forthcoming
Indian general election in a few months would see a further rise in
belligerence so the "nightmare scenario" will at some point need to
be addressed.
The UK-based
delegation comprised Amrik Singh Sahota, OBE, Gurmej Singh Gill,
Santokh Singh Saran, Gurcharan Singh, Jaspal Singh, Mandeep Singh,
Narinder Singh and Ranjit Singh Srai who delivered the proposals on
behalf of the international coalition of thirty six Sikh
organisations.
25 February 2009
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