The Sikh Farmers Of Utrranchal - Betrayed!

Nirvair S Khalsa · January 11, 2006

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

THE SIKH FARMERS OF UTRRANCHAL - BETRAYED!

The merciless "Operation Escort" in the Indian state of Utrranchal was against the recommendation of the state government's own committee. A total 251 families have been evicted.

"The houses of Sikh farmers who had transformed jungles into rich agricultural lands were demolished without mercy " - Daily Ajit (Panjab) headline

Panjab is open to all, Panjab river waters are diverted to other states, but Panjabis are barred from buying lands in surrounding states like Rajasthan, Himachal Pardesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

"This is betrayal of Sikhs. After getting their barren lands cultivated, by Sikhs, now not only those people, but local governments are apparently trying to kick away Sikhs. If so, it is the height of ungratefulness of those people and governments" said one of the many e-mails expressing the anguish of the global Sikh community.

The questions raised :

* How do such discriminatory practices in India relate to the one nation ideal?

* Does the Indian constitutions allow such discriminatory restrictions imposed on own citizens ?

* What are the consequences for Panjab with its liberal land laws?

FULL STORY

The news report of 4 January in the reputable "Daily Ajit" (Panjabi) is headed "The houses of Sikh farmers who had transformed jungles into rich agricultural lands were demolished without mercy ". News pictures speak volumes.

On 2 January at 5 in the morning, 2,000 police surrounded the land of Sikh farmers. At 7.00 am the bulldozers started demolishing their houses while the women and the elderly rushed around in panic collecting their belongings. Undertaking given by the Chief Minister of Uttranchal, N D Towari in June 2005 that no one will be displaced was ignored. The bulldozers returned on 4 January, 2006 to demolish more houses.

Background: The Supreme Court delivered its judgment February 2004 and declared 1,050 acres of the land previously owned by Escorts Farms Ltd as surplus, under the Land Ceiling Act. Sikh farmers bought land from the company before and after the commencement of court proceedings and many had no knowledge about the court case even after buying the land. In June 2005 the Chief Minister N D Tiwari assured Sikh farmers that no families would be displaced. In October 2005 Uttranchal government formed a committee of senior politicians to make recommendations. Five meetings of this committee took place. The committee made recommendations which would have resolved the issues in accordance with the Land Ceiling Act in compliance with the court order without displacing anyone. However, the Government chose to ignore the recommendations. On 31 December 2005, it was announced through loud-speakers that farmers should vacate their properties within 24 hours by the New Year. What happened after that date was captured by press cameras. However, hardly any mainstream Indian media reported this cruelty inflicted on the families - including old men, women and children, on their own land, they were all hard working citizens.

The question is whether India is one country with equal rights for all citizens? The experience of Panjabi farmers is that while Panjab is open to all comers, the industrious Panjabi farmers are not welcome in the states bordering Panjab. In fact Rajasthan is thriving on diverted river water from Panjab.

Restrictions on Panjabis in Rajasthan

In Rajasthan the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has been approaching the Rajasthan Government for lifting the ban on residents of Punjab from buying land in the border state for quite some time now. Also, in questioning the ban imposed on Sikhs to purchase land in Rajasthan, S. Simran Singh Mann has raised the issue of passage for the supply river waters to Rajasthan and the naming of the Rajasthan canal after Indira Gandhi. S. Mann has asked Ms Sonia Gandhi to direct the Rajasthan Chief Minister to lift the ban on Sikhs to buy land in the state. He has also drawn her attention towards a similar ban in Himachal Pradesh.

The issue had been raised on many occasions in the past by Punjabis, mainly Sikhs, but nothing had been done about it. Many people were interested in buying agricultural land in Rajasthan and had complained that the ban was a discriminatory practice against a minority community.

S. Tirlochan Singh, Chair MCM, visiting Jaipur took up the issue with CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia. " I am sure she will realise that the ban imposed by the then government in 1992 was not in the right spirit and was preventing people from Punjab from buying agricultural land in the border state" he said. The Chairman said that Ms Raje was sympathetic to the problems of Sikhs and had announced the setting up of a Punjabi Academy in Jaipur to promote and develop this minority language in the state. This had been one of the long-pending demands of the community who were settled in large numbers along the Ganga canal which was constructed in 1920 by Maharaja Ganga Singh of the erstwhile Bikaner State. Although, Sikhs had enjoyed buying rights from the 20s these were curtailed during the period of militancy in Punjab. The then government had reportedly instructed that any Punjabi buying land would have to get sanction from the District Collector. No sanction was accorded and this became the practice till 1991-92 when the government made it mandatory for a prospective buy to produce a domicile certificate of 1971. The sources said in 2000 the government raised the limit by 10 years and it became possible for those with a 1981 domicile to buy land. Interestingly, the ban was applicable to Bikaner Division comprising the districts of Sriganganagar, Bikaner, Hanumangarh and Churu, which have a large Sikh populations running into almost three millions.

In this day and age, mutual respect and friendly co-existence is a sine qua non to a healthy polity. It is time to permanently bury all unlawful and racial discriminatory systems not only against Sikhs, but all minorities. A copy of the order through which a ban has been imposed on Sikhs to buy property in Rajasthan has also been sent to Ms Sonia Gandhi, who it appears is not too pleased at the ban. In the letter to Capt Amarinder Singh, Mr Mann has stated that the Chief Minister should have linked the passage for the supply of water to Rajasthan to the lifting of the ban to buy land. Questioning the passage for water, Mr Mann has asked Capt Amarinder Singh, "Before your government gave the passage of water to Rajasthan, the quid pro quo arrangement should have been codified in writing and the contract should have been legally made that Sikhs and Punjabis will be allowed land and property in Rajasthan". In his letters, Mr Mann has referred to a recent function in Ferozepore district, where Chief Ministers of Punjab and Rajasthan were present to release water in the remodelled Ganga (Bikaner) canal. Mr Mann has urged Capt Amarinder Singh to ask the Chief Minister of Rajasthan to implement the verbal contract, whereby he had promised to grant the right to buy land in Rajasthan in lieu of Punjab waters to that state.

Jammu and Kashmir (J& K)

Those Sikhs and Hindus who were uprooted from Pakistan during the time of the partition have not been able to become citizens of Jammu and Kashmir. They have neither the right to exercise their franchise, nor buy land nor construct a house in the state. New law has also seriously affected the latter immigrants to the state from Panjab and other parts of the country, who are unable to buy any property in the state. The largest number of people from outside is that of Punjabis, and mainly Sikhs.

Himachal Pradesh

The ban on Punjabis in Himachal Pradesh also started in the years of 1984 onwards. Many large tracts of land are already owned by Punjabis prior to that. The Royal families of Nabha, patiala, Jind etc and other Sikh tycoons had already bought such lands long before 1947, and upto 1984. On the pretext of stopping Sikh terrorism many of these bans came into being. They are not imposed particularly at Sikhs but all outsiders. But are they sustainable in courts is the question. No Sikh or other on record has challenged them as yet, as an Indian citizen ,living within India.

The ceilings to buy such lands have been imposed to prevent new Punjabi and other settlers from buying further.

Call for action!

The Sikh Federation (UK) has contacted Rob Marris MP (Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for UK Sikhs), all its Office holders and around 40 of its most active members to push for explanations from the Indian High Commission/Govt and action by the Foreign Office/EU against the Indian authorities.

Writes Gurcharan Singh Kulim, "There is no reason why the Punjab government should not do the same, as land is already in short supply in Punjab. But one of the fears is, would this then result in more states doing the same, against Punjabis ?

The Punjabi and Sikh community is the only community that has migrated to all states, apart from the three southern states Kerala, Karnatka and Maharashtra where tamils, kanadi and keralites have migrated across state boundaries in larger numbers."

Writes Harbans Singh Noor (USA), " Thirty year back, in 1975, in a similar situation. Jathedar Santokh Singh of Delhi, through his good offices, was successful in getting Mrs. Indira Gandhi's help for stopping disfranchisement of Sikh farmers in Karnal and Hissar, whose leases had expired, and dis-establishment of Sikh farmers in Pilibhit, and Lakhimpur, where there was a movement to restore lands to local farmers. (Ref.: Dr. Giani Bhajan Singh, "Swai Jiwani" (autobiography) p.157)."

Writes Harjot Singh " The so called active media in India has been unable to cover the incident in Uttranchal in Iindia where Sikhs were beaten so rashly by police and their lands & buildings were demolished so badly . the news and photos are coming slowly but the thing is why media don't play its role positively and unbiased. Tribune, on which most of our sikh people depends dont even covered this topic , not even a single photo , how Sikhs turban were removed and forced near to death."

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Acknowledgements

The Sikh Times is grateful to Sardars Gurumukh Singh (British Sikh Consultative Forum) and Gurcharan Singh Kulim for their contributions and also acknowledge other sources, mainly Ajit (Jalandhar), networks GLZ and Sikh News Discussion.

http://www.thesikh-times.co.uk/farmers.htm

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!