jasleen2302

Awesome!! Great Job Sikh Organization for Prisoners Welfare. The whole humanity is indebted to you for your efforts ensuring that Innocent Sikh Prisoners get a fair chance in their fight for justice. Cheers!! :respect: :biggrin2:

An appeal to all my friends taking the videos and pictures of Punjab Police committing atrocities & firing gunshots against unarmed Sikh protestors. WE NEED TO TELL THE WORLD WHO THE REAL TERRORISTS ARE! Please upload your videos on any or all of the following links: (there might be other great channels as well, but these were the few resources I could find) BBC http://bbcnewsupload.streamuk.com/ CBC http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourvoice/yourvideo/upload.html CNN http://ireport.cnn.com/ If you have trouble uploading them, please email them to whoever you think can upload or to us at: sikhbroadcast@gmail.com

I found this brilliant idea on one of the posts.... So whoever is taking the videos and pictures of Punjab Police committing atrocities & firing gunshots against unarmed Sikh protestors. Please upload your videos on the BBC Link: http://bbcnewsupload.streamuk.com/ And tag them as Human Rights Violations, Punjab etc...

Jaspal Singh, an 18 year old Sikh Boy, was an Engineering Student and was killed by Punjab Police, while he was peacefully protesting against hanging of Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana. In a related video on what is going on in Punjab, one can clearly see bunch of Punjab Policemen brutally beating and firing gun shots at unarmed Sikh youth who are running away to save their lives. And what is more appalling is that these Police Officers are themselves turbaned, and so at the least they look Sikh. So that leads me to the question - Why was an 18 year old Sikh Engineering Student shot dead by State Police, while he was clearly unarmed and was peacefully protesting? In an oppressive regime, there are broadly 2 ways in which a minority can survive. For the ease of understanding, let us classify the people belonging to the minority faith into Type 1 and Type 2 people. Type 1 people wake up every morning, and then make an effort to prove their allegiance to the Majority led State Establishment in every possible way. A simple example would be to sit in the middle of your friends, and crack jokes at your community, and show them that even though I am a Sikh and look different, but I am a harmless, spineless creature and hence, you don’t need to fear me. In return, these people are rewarded by the State, sometimes even offered leadership positions in the Government. Case in point is Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has proved that he is the weakest Prime Minister that India has ever had. I can go on and on about Manmohan, but that would be digressing from the point. Type 1 people come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, these people in their urgent and desperate need to appease the majority would commit the most heinous atrocities on people belonging to their own faith. The name of Prakash Singh Badal, the Punjab Chief Minister immediately comes to my mind. Other names include the so-called Butcher of Punjab, the super cop – KPS Gill and ex-Chief Minister of Punjab Beant Singh. It is not surprising that whenever Badal is in position, even peacefully protesting Sikhs are attacked and murdered ruthlessly in broad day light. This phenomenon is not new. Two Sikh boys were killed on March 29, 2012; however in the past also, 13 peacefully protesting Sikhs were shot dead in 1978, during Badal’s regime. How Badal protected the murderer of 1978 Sikh victims would be a topic of another discussion. One of the video very clearly shows the Punjab Police chasing and attacking peacefully gathered Sikh youth. They are firing as if they are at war, at war with the Civilian Sikhs, who are all hiding and running away for their lives. On their return, these so called police officers are hugged and cheered by the Shiv Sainiks, who are shouting slogans and chanting “Har Har Mahadev”; and hence these Type 1 Sikhs feel comforted by the precious approval of Shiv Sena that they have attained by attacking and firing gun shots at unarmed protestors. For me, the face of Type 2 Sikhs is people like Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana, as well as the people who are protesting to show solidarity with him. Such people would rather die than accept an oppressive regime, where the mass-murderers of Sikhs are protected and rewarded, while innocent Sikh civilians are killed in a State Sponsored Genocide. For me, the face of the Type 2 Sikhs is a young boy shown in one of the videos. This boy is clearly unarmed, but he is not even running away or hiding for protection, when the policemen attack him. He is just standing their quietly and taking pride in being beaten brutally by the Police Officers because he does not expect anything else but gross injustice from the Indian Justice System. These Type 2 Sikhs are not irrational or stupid; instead they just want to live with their head held high. They demand justice. They want to see the perpetrators of 1984 genocide convicted and punished. They want to see the people who killed thousands of innocents in Punjab during 1990’s through fake encounters and illegal abductions being punished; and until that happen there cannot be any sustainable peace.

Source: Times of India timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Why-Balwant-Singh-Rajoana-never-appealed-against-his-death-sentence/articleshow/12458451.cms Balwant Singh Rajoana was to be executed on March 31. This would have been the first execution in India since 2004. His execution has been stayed - for the time being - in response to the rising whirlpool of politics that's engulfed Punjab on this issue. That India should sully its record again after 8 years with state sanctioned murder is a matter of distress, but this consideration seems largely removed from the politics of Rajoana's execution. However even in addition to principled opposition to the death penalty, the cynical considerations swirling around his execution, the specifics of the case itself are significant. Opposition to capital punishment is removed from the specifics of the case, basing the argument on human rights, the range and extent of power given to the State, citizen's right to equality before law, the inherent arbitrariness in the exercise of power by individual state functionaries, and irrevocability of the punishment especially given the possibility of wrongful conviction. In contrast, the proponents of capital punishment argue on the specifics, seeking justification in the heinousness of the crime, recidivism, retribution, and deterrence. In this the proponents are almost vigilante in their perspective, with their preoccupation with punishment for the alleged lawbreaker than the state, its powers and processes, and civil liberties Nevertheless in this instance, the specifics too raise some disturbing questions. Balwant Singh is on death row for his role in the suicide bombing of the former Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh in 1995. 17 persons, including the Chief Minister were killed. The history has some relevance. Punjab had been racked by insurgency since the seventies, with the regional autonomy movement progressively hardening into a secessionist movement over the decades. President's Rule was established in 1987 in the aftermath of Operation Bluestar and the Sikh pogrom in Delhi in 1984. After five years of President Rule checkered by militancy and heavy police crackdown, elections were called in 1992, but were postponed twice. Protesting that the elections were unlikely to be "free and fair", the Sikh parties boycotted the elections. With voter turnout in the low twenties, Beant Singh's ascendancy was widely disparaged by the Sikhs as lacking legitimacy. Militancy and consequent police clampdown continued unabated. Beant Singh was assassinated in 1995 by suicide bomber Dilawar Singh, aided by Balwant Singh and others. During trial, Balwant Singh refused counsel, asking instead to be allowed to represent himself. He did not cross-examine witnesses. He was awarded the death penalty. In 2009, when his death sentence came for conviction in the High Court [as part of the legal process], he again refused counsel and asked to be allowed to argue his own case. His intent in each instance was not to seek acquittal. In the 14 years that the case made its way from the trial court to the High Court, Balwant Singh held to his story, claiming that he strapped the bomb on to the body of Dilawar Singh. The High Court, noting that there was no evidence in favour of Balwant Singh in order to "have a second thought on the murder reference of Balwant Singh, coupled with his three confessional statements, there is no other alternate with us but to confirm" the death penalty. Balwant also refused to appeal against the death penalty administratively through mercy petition to the Governor and/or President. In a letter to the Chief Justice of the High Court, he writes, "legal system, judicial system of this Country and the rulers of this Country have been discriminating" [and that] "slavery of such system is not acceptable to me". In embracing 17 years of imprisonment including solitary confinement and ultimate execution, Balwant Singh is making a political statement. In his letter and statements, he brings out his search for justice in the democratic framework, his feeling of marginalization and his desire for rebellion. He sees the injustice of the swiftness of response when a five star hotel in Mumbai is under siege and the dilatory tactics of commissioning enquiry committees without any accountability for the thousands who perished in the 1984 Sikh pogrom. He writes, "thousands of Sikhs were massacred. It is submitted that these murderers have neither been punished nor been punished by any Court of law of the country even after 25 years [...] Here I would like to ask your Lordship that the persons who have killed thousands of innocent xxxx, xxxx, and xxxx [redacted] are not the terrorists. Why not the law of the nation, [redacted] try to interfere in the matter. On the contrary, when the hotels of Mumbai are attacked then the military of the country immediately interferes. The commandos of Delhi initiate immediate action after reaching Delhi. This is made to known as to which in which village the assailants reside in [redacted]. Contrary to it, the [redacted] of [redacted] of people in Delhi could not be identified. How the security can be assured without the law when everybody knows the killers" [sic]. He locates the justification for the suicide bombing in this persecution by the state (as per his contention) and the lack of accountability saying in a statement to the District and Sessions Judge, Patiala, "conscience of a person have self respect refuses to accept the authority of callous rulers. Such feels instigate a person for becoming human bomb rather than to become a human being [sic]" The purpose of this article is not to romanticize Balwant Singh or terrorism. But surely some introspection is required when an obviously bright individual seeks political expression in the rejection of the "democratic" government itself even at the cost of his own life? Our democratic systems are discriminating - on class, caste, and religious lines. After 64 years of democracy, which by definition means people's control over the state to ensure propagation of their interests, more than 3 quarters of our country still ekes out a living on just Rs 20 per day. In our ostensibly secular state, all significant minorities have been persecuted (1984, 1992, 2002, 2008) without any accountability. Likewise the constitutional promise of equality before rule of law is flouted routinely. The poor are routinely displaced, their rights violated, their very being often declared illegal. The poor overwhelmingly populate our jails; around 70% are under-trials, not convicts. The death penalty too is disproportionately administered to the poor. Balwant Singh's execution is now embroiled in cynical politics from all sides, however whatever the outcome, we all share some blame in perpetuation of a system where meaningful political expression, redress and justice is denied to all but a small minority. (Ruchi Gupta works in a think tank in Delhi. The views expressed are her own.)

It is disgusting for me to see news articles, where there are reports of Sikh Bodies, including the official parliament of Sikhs - SGPC, requesting Indian President to interfere in the capital sentence of Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana, and grant clemency to him. But I have a very strong objection to the use of word – “Clemency”. Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation (in whole or in part) of the penalty associated with it. Hence, by asking for Clemency, these bodies are agreeing to the inferred statement that what Balwant Singh did was indeed a crime, which is absolutely not right. Instead, we are failing the great legend, who has stuck to his ground for last 7 years, that what he did was absolutely right; because Beant Singh was a murderer, and no less evil than the likes of Kony and Gaddafi. Beant Singh was responsible for overseeing the mass killing of Sikhs and was responsible for giving police officers such as KPS Gill (known as ‘The Butcher of Punjab’), SSP Sumedh Saini, SSP Mohammad Izhar Alam (leader of the infamous Black Cats) and others a free reign to run operations that deliberately targeted the civilian population of Punjab. The suicide operation conducted by Balwant Singh & Dilawar Singh put an end to a decade long period of State Organized killing of Sikh youths (almost 50,000 Sikhs were killed in fake ‘encounter’ killings, brutal torture, illegal detention, and mass rapes). What is even more inspiring, and mark of personal integrity and spiritual strength is that he has never asked Indian Government for Justice. He had even refused to hire a lawyer, because he does not believe in Indian Judicial System. He has openly called for the death penalty recognising it as the only form of justice available to him under the Indian legal system. And, is he irrational or wrong? No, because the State that organises and sponsors Sikh genocides to teach Sikhs a lesson, and rewards the Sikh mass murderers (read Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler) who were the perpetrators of the 1984 genocide, with plum government posts and state protection has absolutely failed in its duties towards its citizens, and is not worth asking justice for.