|
VFF urges US President to help India grow sane
WSN Bureau
 Even as pushed
to the Indian Government was forced to table in Parliament the
report of the Liberhan Commission into demolition of the historic
Babri Masjid in 1992, after sensational leak of the report, reports
of 15 commissions and committees that enquired into the anti-Sikh
carnage of 1984, resulting in the death of 2,733 Sikhs (as per
official data) have not resulted in any report being tabled in
Parliament.
In most of these
cases, none of the leaders and bureaucrats in the higher echelons of
power, including the then Home Minister, who was none other than
late Shri Narsimha Rao, have either been indicted or held
accountable for their acts of omission and commission.
The same
Narasimha Rao seems to have escaped lightly even in Liberhan
Commission report.
Like Vajpayee,
the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi too would have been accountable
for his words and inaction in 1984, and perhaps even for proactive
belligerance since he famously and notoriously said that a big tree
falls when the earh shakes.
He too, along
with his entire administration is culpable for murder, and
manslaughter on a massive scale.
With India
opening up to the US, and with the US rightly persuading India to
respect all international norms –from climate change, to nuclear
non-proliferation to religious freedoms in the country, it is
opportune time for the United States to raise issues of concern for
human rights violations in India –violations against Sikhs, Muslims,
Christians, Dalits, people in the north east and the generally poor
people who are not enriching through agreements and treaties, but
whose lands are being occupied and whose number increases by the
year, with India having more than 30 percent of the people living
below the poverty line.
| |
India’s claim for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security
Council is untenable till it becomes a functioning democracy and the
concerns of minorities are addressed to their fullest satisfaction
in consonance with the UN Charter and the UN Declaration for Human
Rights. |
As the US and
India prepare to have an agreement about terror control and
anti-terror tactics, it is necessary to recognize poverty,
continuing injustice, disregard for any community’s religious rights
as the causes of discord.
The United
States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has
also named India to its Watch List in August 2009 for failing to
bring perpetrators and instigators of violations on religious belief
and freedom to justice.
We endorse the
points raised by Voices for Freedom that has demanded immediate
action and justice on the following key cases:
Irom Chanu
Sharmila, who is on a fast unto death and is being force-fed for the
last nine years in Manipur as she and the people of Manipur desire a
withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives
sweeping powers to harass, arrest, maim and kill. Just as President
Barack Obama has asked the tyrannical Burmese government to release
Aung Sang Suu Kyi, so should President Obama ask the non-functioning
Indian democracy to release Irom Chanu Sharmila.
Injustice
against Sikh widows who are waiting for justice since the last 25
years must be immediately addressed. Are the Sikhs living in a
civilized society where the murder of 4000 Sikhs goes unchecked?
Drawing parallels in cases of terrorism is unfair, uncivil and
dangerous. However, Voices for Freedom wishes to know that within
less than a year, the government of India “knows the full
ramifications of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.” The United States
must help in uncovering (if it still does not know) the truth of the
November 1984 genocide of the Sikhs in Delhi and 80 other towns of
India.
|
With
India opening up to the US, and with the US rightly persuading India
to respect all international norms –from climate change, to nuclear
non-proliferation to religious freedoms in the country, it is
opportune time for the United States to raise issues of concern for
human rights violations in India –violations against Sikhs, Muslims,
Christians, Dalits, people in the north east and the generally poor
people who are not enriching through agreements and treaties, but
whose lands are being occupied and whose number increases by the
year, with India having more than 30 percent of the people living
below the poverty line. |
|
Approximately
40,000 Christians languish in camps in Orissa and who still haven’t
received justice, despite accusations against alleged perpetrators
of the violence, targeted against the Christian community. This
destructive campaign also led to at least 40 deaths. There were also
accounts of forced re-conversions to Hinduism of Christians
returning to their villages following the violence. This is just
another example of India’s failure to provide justice to religious
minorities.
A large number
of political prisoners are in prison in
Punjab
and
Kashmir
and are being imprisoned for their religious and political views.
Hundreds of
political activists are being imprisoned for waging a struggle
against the Indian government’s intention of waging a war against
the indigenous peoples of the Indian sub-continent who do not want
their home and hearth to be snatched and grabbed by multi-national
companies of Indian or any international origin in Orissa, Madhya
Pradesh and Chattisgarh.
India’s claim
for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council is
untenable till it becomes a functioning democracy and the concerns
of minorities are addressed to their fullest satisfaction in
consonance with the UN Charter and the UN Declaration for Human
Rights.
The Voices for
Freedom, in a strong missive signed by its Director, Ranjit Singh,
has asked President Obama to listen to the voices of sanity of the
many human rights groups and organizations that demonstrated in
Lafayette Park outside the White House to raise these serious issues
and take these up with New Delhi to put an end to the culture of
impunity for perpetrators of violence against religious groups in
India. These, if not addressed, will result in incidents of
sectarian violence against religious minorities and continual
failure of the Indian system.
25
November 2009
|
Read Also