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The Sikh Case Mr. Maluk Singh Chohan The government of India has issued a White paper on the Punjab agitation. The government of India has given a distorted and one-sided view of the symptoms of Sikh agitation and not the causes of it, nor the people responsible and answer for the causes. It is therefore, felt desirable in the interest of all concerned that the Sikh case can be presented in the manner it deserves. The Sikh case has always been misrepresented by its opponents and we cannot really complain about it. The Sikhs have been represented as defenders of India and Hindu faith with implication that it is the religious duty of the Sikhs to be loyal to India and Hindus even at the cost of their own identity. To give credibility to this assumption they state that 9th Guru of the Sikhs, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur, laid down his life for the protection of Hinduism. This is far short of being fair to the said great Guru. The truth is that Guru Tegh Bahadur laid down his life for upholding the fundamental human right, of all the people, to follow any religion they liked. It is only a coincidence of history that at the time it were the Hindus who were the victims of religious persecution by the Moghul emperor, who benefited by His supreme martyrdom. The unambiguous lesson of the said martyrdom is that Sikhs will help any victim of religious persecution, may it be Hindus, Muslim, Christian or follower of any other faith. The principle behind the lesson is the fundamental human right to profess any faith. It took centuries for the fundamental human right to be formally adopted by the United Nations. The real Sikh case is always obscured behind the argument whether Sikh demands, are justified or not. It is therefore necessary to briefly look back to the history of the Sikh case, start starting with pre-independent India. During the struggle for India's independence the Sikhs made contributions far beyond their numbers. Figures for such contributions given by us may be disputed by opponents, this may give them a chance to distract peoples' attention from the real question and start a new debate. To avoid that situation we produce the figures from a report by late Maulana Abul Kalam Azad wherein he provides;
While struggle for Indian independence was going on, the question of how would the interests of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs will be protected after independence was a live one. The parties representing the interests of different nations living in India were in constant touch with one another. The Muslims in the beginning were not sure where to put their lot and at that time the late Mohammed Ali Jinah was an important member of the Indian National Congress. By passage of time and experience they came to the conclusion that their interests would be best served by separation from India. They relentlessly pursued that line of action and fully achieved their mission in the shape of Pakistan. What the Sikhs did is of paramount importance for purpose of this paper. We make no apology by referring to Sikhs as a separate nation amongst other nations within the Indian nationality. It is no use getting into this controversy. Do not forget the Hindus jubilation at the decision of appeal decision in Mandla v Lee (1982) 3 All ER 1108 wherein the court of appeal held "Sikhs are not a nation", and their anger when the decision was upturned by the House of Lords (1983) 1 Aller 1062. That only shows the real mind of the Hindus whom authority of court of appeal unquestionably right not because it is right but it suits them and authority of the highest court is questionable not because it is right but it does lie in the mouth of Indian national congress, who had been dealing with Akalis Muslim league and the British government on the basis of Sikhs being a nation quite separate from Muslims and Hindus. Important issue is to study what happened to the Sikh case before 15-8-1947 and thereafter. The Sikhs while fighting for independence naturally had their thoughts for the future and with it they had their misgivings. To ensure the protection of their rights it was obvious they would wither require solemn assurances from the Indian national congress, Muslim League or the British government. The Sikhs preferred to have an honourable agreement with the Indian National Congress (hereafter to be referred to as congress). It was in 1929 when the Congress had its historic session at Lahore when complete independence as its goal was fixed. On a day previous to the session, Sikhs had taken out a huge 500,000 strong procession under the leadership of veteran Sikh leader Baba Kharak Singh which in the words of the Times (of London) put the congress show in to shame and shadow. Leader of the congress including Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawarlal Nehru met Baba Kharak Singh and gave the Sikhs solemn assurances that: -
This promise was later put into formal policy resolution of the congress at that session. There was quite a widespread disbelief amongst the Sikh masses about the reliability of the said assurances of the foxy congress leaders. And to inspire the confidence Mahatma Gandhi went to a special Sikh congregation held on the 16th March 1931 in Gurdwara Sis Ganj Delhi where he was asked as to what guarantee there was that his congress would implement the assurances, given to the Sikh people in 1929, at Lahore. It is interesting to note what he said and we reproduce verbatim at his reply as published in his reply as published in his Young India of the 19th March 1931.
When further asked as to what may the Sikhs do in case of betrayal he said, "in that case take their kirpans in hand with perfect justification before God and man". The said Policy Resolution of 1929 was repeatedly restated throughout the period up to 15-8-1947. We would like to point out what Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said, at a press conference in Calcutta (after the 1929 assurances was re-iterated) at he congress working committee meeting, in July 1946. He said,
The same Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on the 9th December 1946 in the first meeting of the Constitution Assembly of India held under the chairmanship of Babu Rajender Prasad moved the first and the fundamental resolution in which it said;
During the period between the said historic resolution of 1929 congress meeting and the Independence Day for India (15-8-1947) the Muslims of India through their representative body Muslim league approached the Sikh leaders and proposed to accord the Sikhs a sovereign or autonomous status in the areas constituting their ancestral homeland between River Ghaggar and River Chenab. The Sikhs spurned the offer and preferred to align with the congress, as such the Hindus. Mr. Jinah as late as April 1947 kept this offer open to the Sikhs. The British government on the other hand put proposals to the Sikhs for safeguarding their identity and rights. The first such informal proposal was made in 1932 at the time of second Round table conference through Sardar Bahadur Shivdev Singh, then a member of the Advisory Committee to the British Secretary of State for India. The second and more serious proposal was communicated to Sardar Baldev Singh through the Cabinet mission in 1946. The proposal was made in the context that the Sikhs were at that time determined not to part company with Hindu India. The proposal in essence was like this: - The British government in their solicitude for the Sikh people, was prepared to frame the independence Act of India, so that in respect of the Sikh homeland, wherever these areas eventually go, in Pakistan or India, no constitution shall be framed such as does not have the concurrence of the Sikhs. Sardar Baldev Singh rejected the proposal not after consultation with Sikh leaders but with congress leaders specially Pandit Nehru. When the negotiations with the British government for the independence of India were coming to a close and Lord Mountbatten, Pandit Jawarlal Nehru, Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan and Sardar Baldev Singh came to London in May 1947 at the invitation of the British government in search of solution for the communal problem then in its ugly form, the British Cabinet conveyed to Sardar Baldev Singh that if he stayed behind, arrangements might be made:
Sardar Baldev Singh then lost the final bus and divulged the secrets to Pandit Nehru and gave this short message to the press "Sikhs have no demands to make, they shall satisfy their political rights and aspirations through the good will of the congress and the majority community" and flew back. It is important to state here that at the end of the negotiations the Sikhs in exercise of their right of self determination decided to put their lot with the Hindu India Whether the Sikhs' final decision was right or wrong but it was their right and they exercised it. That right still resides in them and will ever reside. Position After 15-8-1947 It is a matter of recent history. As soon as the clock struck 12 on the night of the 14th and 15th August - the advent of independent India the leaders of congress felt absolved of any solemn assurances and commitments, undertakings or oath in respect of Sikh rights and aspirations and it got into their heads, that they were the "rulers" of India and the Sikhs were the "ruled," in consequence there of, started behaving accordingly. It is a long string of acts of betrayal but few instances will suffice, to demonstrate the evil designs of the congress and their Hindu backers. Soon after the advent of independent India Sardar V. B. Patel the then Home Minister of India sent a secret circular to the officers in the high echelon of the state that "Sikhs are a nation of criminals and be treated as such", Apart from this circular in writing there were policy decisions taken in pursuit of the policy of subjugation of the Sikh nation. Sikhs in general were discriminated against in services. Sikhs who forsaked their 5 K's were shown some leniency. Promotions in top ranks of the armed forces were banned to the Sikhs. It did not take too long for demoralisation to become evidently clear to be taking place when Sikh army officers started shaving their beards. When Sikhs started complaining about the open acts of discrimination Master Tara Singh the then leader of the Sikhs (March 1948) was arrested for sedition and detained in Almorahja jail. The realisation started creeping in the minds of the Sikhs of mistaken trust reposed by them in the goodwill of the congress leaders. Anything held dear by the Sikhs was made the subject of destruction. Almost all the Sikhs spoke Punjabi. When the first census in the independent India came to be conducted in 1951 Hindu of northern India specially Punjab as it then was prompted, encouraged and inspired by the leaders of congress, Jan Sang and Arya Samaj denied Punjabi to be their mother tongue. It is ironic that such denial was expressed in Punjabi language. In 1954 Master Tara Singh met Pandit Jawarlal Nehru in Delhi and asked for "What about the solemn assurances given to us by you in 1929 and repeated in thereafter" Pandit ji's simple answer was "Master ji, times have changed". Master ji did not get the full message but did feel let down. Sikh leaders started getting the feelings of homelessness. They thought they might feel secure if an administrative unit could be formed in India with predominant Sikh population and started agitating for the establishment of such an administrative unit to be formed on linguistic and cultural basis (not on Sikh majority population basis). At that time great demand was voiced for the redistribution of administrative boundaries of India on linguistic and cultural basis. When new constitution of India was being framed. Sikhs were expecting that assurances of the congress leaders (described earlier) will be reflected in the Articles of the Constitution and they had pinned their hopes on it. The congress and Hindu leaders would not have anything of it. When it came to the adoption of the constitution the Sikhs representatives in the constitution assembly, later Sardar Hukam Singh and Sardar Bhupinder Singh Maan refused to sign it in protest that it does not protect the Sikh rights. It may be noted that it is only the Sikhs who had not accepted the Indian Constitution. The movement for the redistribution of Indian states boundaries took a greater momentum after the death of Sri Romalu in southern India - the death that gave birth to the state Andhra Pradesh - the government of India was obliged to set up a commission for the purpose. The commission proposed and the government of India accepted the application of redistribution of states' boundaries on linguistic and cultural lines for the whole of the country except Punjab where Sikhs could apparently feel benefited and settled together. The Sikhs has to launch an agitation for the application of the established principle of creation of states on linguistic and cultural lines to Punjab. There again was a meeting between Master Tara Singh and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru did not accede to the just application of the said principle to Punjab but offered Regional Formulae and implored Master ji to accept ion good faith as "His honour was Master ji's honour". Master ji was quite naive to accept it. I personally remember afterwards he was asked of the meeting from Master ji that "Master ji, when Pandit ji said to you my honour is your honour, why didn't you ask him, well Pandit ji what about my honour". Master ji has no answer to it except to shrug his shoulders. Quite plainly Master ji was out manoeuvred and cheated by Pandit Ji. Punjab was the last state to be created on the basis of the said principle. It was not done till after the cruel death of Oarshan Singh Pheruman. The shape in which the Sikh leaders of the times accepted the Punjabi Suba (state) as it is called, created more problems than it solved. Here again, the congress leaders played every trick in the book to injure the Sikh interests, thus instead of allaying the Sikh fears they helped to exacerbate. The Sikhs gathered at Anandpur Sahib - the birth place of the Khalsa - to take stock of the situation and thought they could and I repeat they could find satisfactory provisions of Anandpur Resolution were complied with. In essence the Anandpur Resolution demands greater autonomy for Punjab on lines similar to the provision applicable to Jammu and Kashmir.... The story of government of India's suppression of Sikhs in not limited to the political spheres, it runs around all aspects of life including religious affairs i.e. Administrative management and controls of the Sikh Gurdwaras. The Sikhs had a temporary respite when Mrs. Gandhi and her congress party was rejected by the electorate in 1977 for acts of her corruption, bribery, naked nepotism, mal administration and family enrichment at the cost of the state. People's memory short as it is Mrs. Gandhi and her congress was returned to power not on the basis of their own record but on the disintegration of the coalition government at Delhi. On return to power Mrs. Gandhi and her congress party did not change their attitude and did not conceal it either. The Sikhs started struggling again, this time on the basis of Anandpur Resolution. They felt obliged to launch an agitation called Morcha under the leadership of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. What Are We Going To Do? We are duty bound to express the feelings of the Sikhs in general which are:- a. It is evidently clear that Mrs. Gandhi government with the whole hearted support of the Hindu leaders have unilaterally repudiated the accord solemnly entered in to between the Sikhs and the rest of India in 1929 and restated and reiterated clearly and unambiguously at different times thereafter giving clear signals to the Sikhs "You are not any different from Hindus, rather are part of them." b. This has clearly put the Sikhs on the spot to again exercise their fundamental right of self-determination. c. This right can only be exercised by Sikhs living in India, it is their right. It does not matter how strongly we Sikhs living outside India feel about it. After all it is they who have been and still are bearing the brunt of the oppression. Our duty is to give them maximum support in whatever way and form it is asked for. It is not a one-day business; it will be a long struggle. It is easy to shout but difficult to preserve and suffer and that is what is expected of us. d. The final decision on how to achieve the ultimate goal of Sikhs living in peace and in full dignity as expected of us by our Gurus, will be taken by Sikhs of India and at the eternal capital; Akhal Takhat. e. At the moment Sikhs find themselves as standing on cross roads of history waiting for and longing to exercise their fundamental right of self-determination. They have every right to seek, solicit, look and obtain any help from any quarter in realising a chance to exercise their such rights. |
