Simranjit Mann's Blatant Speech To Indian Parliament

[dalsingh101]

Some of you must be kidding. Are you suggesting that a man who has been imprisoned and tortured speaking about how his people have been mass murdered by government forces without any justice is something India should be proud off.

I have to give it to the old man. He gave it straight to them - true Singh style in the face of oppressors.

[Bijla Singh]

Freedom of speech is very limited in India and allowed rarely for Sikh demands. Maan was allowed to speak but look at how well he was and is being treated for exercising the right to speak. Sant Jarnail Singh Ji spoke freely and we all know how the government dealt with the situation back then and how his true image is being mislabeled. Hindus speak freely and they become patriots while Sikhs speak freely and they are labeled as terrorists. So much for "freedom of speech".

[N30S1NGH]

I think lot has improved in india when it comes freedom of speech. One has to acknowledge that fact, for eg- after 1984 it was almost like sin in government eyes to let people have sant jarnail singh bhindranwale picture or hear his speeches, you would get jailed, people were in fear. But now we have seen amazing establishment where sant jarnail singh bhindranwale potrait was raised in golden temple and taksal under sant harnam singh bhindranwale making art gallery in remembrance of 1984 shaheeds in new gurdwara...soon his picture and his tapes will be in each household in punjab... Only criticism came from right wing rss-bjp who isnt in power anyway. Videos of nihang singhs doing jaikara of sant jarnail singh bhindranwale in india out in public. India has lot of improve in terms of freedom of speech but slowly but surely they are getting there. As they say for desire of freedom, there is revolution (revolutionary legends- sant jarnail singh bhindranwale, chee guvera, marin luther king, nelson mendala) and price to pay. Regardless of whichever country you are, you can read the history, each country have a dark history/black chapter, its some countries have already evolved and allowed freedom of speech/freedom of religion/liberty some countries are not there yet, surely will get there eventually. I for one like to be optimistic instead of giving into these opportunist to further exploit the young generation and suitation for their own agenda.

[mann_kaum_layee_qurbaan]

sarpanch brother, your not wrong and neither is Namstang. the truth always lies somewhere in the middle.

freedom of speech comes with consequences in india. simranjit singh mann was able to make such statments in parliament because he was an elected official. he is a very widely traveled individual who has made frequent trips to california explaining the sikh struggle. however, since he no longer has any political power, other than Captain Amrinder Singh's wife being his wife's sister, he now faces sedition charges left and right speaking about sikh issues.

in india, Namstang, you have to agree its about who you know. About the rally against capitalism, as a well read individual, i'm sure you know the power of the socialist parties in india and India's closeness to Russia since 1947. Keeping down socialist elements in india would never sit well with powerful CPI men. With the current civilian nuclear deal on the table with the US, the CPI and the BJP are up in arms. They fear India falling prey to the "evil Capitalist country", the US. Your example is not quite relevant to sikh activists speaking about sikh issues. socialism and marxism are not treated the same as Sikh activism in india.

The common man still has a tight noose around their necks in terms of freedom of speech. in this regard, sarpanch is correct. picture of baba jarnail singh in the darbar sahib museum is quite interesting. its a start, but i wouldn't get too excited.

its hard not be cynical when widows in delhi are still where they were 24 years ago. to become optimistic requires action and results. if india delivers, that's a win win situation for everybody, but as of yet, they make nothing but cynics out of us.

peace.

i'm sure you'll find this interesting:

"CHANDIGARH: It’s a story of six families - related to each other - who ruled or as some would say ‘ruined’ Punjab. To get closer to the coveted chair of power, many of them switched loyalties and thereby their affiliations to political parties from time to time. As years passed by Punjab politics took the shape of dynasty rule of these few families, with most of the politicians belonging to these families ensuring that the next generation is initiated into politics as well. Thus, four decades have passed, but the state is yet to get a chief minister who is not from one of these families.

At a time when Parkash Singh Badal and Capt Amarinder Singh are fighting it out, it would be interesting to know how it all started. Pratap Singh Kairon, the first chief minister of Punjab came back from Michigan University to join Shiromani Akali Dal. However, later he joined Congress in 1929 and was sworn in as CM in 1956. Till then, most of these families - Kairons, Badals, Majithias, Brars, and the Patiala royal house were kind of acquaintances. But then some marriages out of political compulsion took place - four of them over a period of five years - Capt Amarinder Singh and Simranjit Singh Mann tied a nuptial knot to sisters , HS Brar with Pratap Singh Kairon’s niece, while Kairon’s grandson Adesh Pratap married Parkash Singh Badal’s daughter. Both Kairons and Badals are Dhillons by caste. These four alliances in the 60s were enough to ensure that power would remain with these families for decades to come. About four decades later, things haven’t really changed.

Adesh Pratap was in Congress, but later joined SAD (B) because of his father-in-law Badal. If his sister married a Kairon, Sukhbir married Har Simrat Kaur, a Majithia. She is the daughter of Satyajit Singh Majithia , who was the deputy defence minister during Jawahar Lal Nehru’s regime. Also, Badal’s cousin was married to former defence minister Baldev Singh’s son Surjit Singh. Surjit’s brother Ravi Inder Singh was close to Badal at one point of time. Now he is heading a splinter group of Akali.

Like Badals, Brars too, are related to Kairons. The former chief minister Harcharan Singh Brar, who became the CM after Beant Singh’s death, is married to Pratap Singh Kairon’s brother Jaswant Singh’s daughter Gurvinder Rano. Thus, Adesh is Brar’s nephew. Brar’s daughter Babli Brar once fought elections against Badal’s son Sukhbir Badal.

Brar’s son Sunny Brar and Capt Amarinder Singh’s brother Malvinder Singh too, are related, as they have married the daughters of a businessman from Delhi SPS Mann. Capt Amarinder Singh and Simranjit Singh Mann are related too, as they have married sisters Preneet and Geetinder, respectively. "

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1052985.cms

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/world/asia/09india.html

But quite improbably, by seizing on India’s deepening friendship with the United States, Mr. Karat and his party have lately emerged as a sharp and dangerous weapon against the coalition government, making it plain that though the Communists do not have the strength to rule India, they have the power to spoil the plans of those who do.

On Tuesday, as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, was in India for what the government described as a routine, long-planned visit, political squabbling intensified, and speculation was rife that the increasingly strained relations between Mr. Karat’s party and the government that it has supported were about to give way.

India’s electoral math makes it impossible for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government, which is led by the Congress Party, to govern without the backing of its Communist allies, principally Mr. Karat’s party. And so, if Mr. Karat carried out his veiled threats to withdraw support, the government could not continue, and fresh elections would have to be called before its five-year term expires in 2009.

i think all this proves one thing:

Raj bina na dharam chalay hai, [without Rule principles are not safe.]

Dharam bina sabh dllai mallai hai.[and without principels everything is chaos]

peace.

[N30S1NGH]

Thanks for your reply mklq,

I agree with most of it what you said...its quite interesting to see parallelism in that article. its eye opener. It seems every move whether its for the panth or general in punjab is political driven. Its very hard to find true intentions of these chameleon like characters. I can just hope for the best.

regarding your comment on:

Your example is not quite relevant to sikh activists speaking about sikh issues. socialism and marxism are not treated the same as Sikh activism in india.

I humbly disagree, socialism/marx theory is quite relevant to sikh activist/issues. May be not now, its all white/purple/red washed now but back in the late 70's..whole sikh freedom struggle was based on "Anandpur Sahib resolution". http://www.sikhcoalition.org/Sikhism21.asp / If you look at point 3, socialism has everything to do with sikh struggle.

Resolution No. 3

(Economic Policy Resolution)

The chief sources of inspiration of the economic policies and programme of the Shiromani Akali Dal are the secular, democratic and socialistic concepts of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh. Our economic programme is based on three principles:

(a) Dignity of labor.

(b) An economic and social structure which provides for the uplift of the poor and depressed sections of society.

© Unabated opposition to concentration of economic and political power in the hands of the capitalists.

While drafting its economic policies and programme, the Shiromani Akali Dal in its historic Anandpur Sahib Resolution has laid particular stress on the need to break the monopolistic hold of the capitalists foisted on the Indian economy by 30 years of Congress rule in India. This capitalist hold enabled the Central government to assume all powers in its hands after the manner of Mughal imperialism. This was bound to thwart the economic progress of the states and injure the social and economic interests of the people. The Shiromani Akali Dal once again reiterates the Sikh way of life by resolving to fulfil the holy words of Guru Nanak Dev:

"He alone realizes the true path who labors honestly and shares with others the fruits of that labor."

This way of life is based upon three basic principles:

i. Doing honest labor,

ii. Sharing with others the fruits of this labor, and

iii. Meditation on the Lord's Name.

The Shiromani Akali Dal calls upon the Central and the State governments to eradicate unemployment during the next ten years. While pursuing this aim, special emphasis should be laid on amelioration the lot of the weaker sections, scheduled and depressed classes, workers, landless and poor farmers and urban poor farmers and urban poor. Minimum wages must be fixed for all of them.

The Shiromani Akali Dal urges Punjab government to draw up such an economic plan for the state as would turn it into the leading state during the next ten years by raising per capita income to Rs. 3,000 and by generating an economic growth rate of 7% per annum as against 4% at the national level.

The Shiromani Akali Dal gives first priority to the redrafting of the taxation structure in such a way that the burden of taxation is shifted from the poor to the richer classes and an equitable distribution of national income ensured.

The main plank of the economic programme of the Shiromani Akali Dal is to enable the economically weaker sections of the society to share the fruits of national income.

The Shiromani Akali Dal calls upon the Central government to make an international airport at Amritsar which should also enjoy the facilities of a dry port. Similarly, a Stock Exchange should be opened at Ludhiana to accelerate the process of industrialization and economic growth in the State. The Shiromani Akali Dal also desires that suitable amendments should be made in the Foreign Exchange rules for free exchange of foreign currencies and thereby removing the difficulties being faced by the Indian emigrants.

The Shiromani Akali Dal emphatically urges upon the Indian government to bring about parity between the prices of the agricultural produce and that of the industrial raw materials so that the discrimination against such states that lack these materials may be removed.

The Shiromani Akali Dal demands that the exploitation of the produces of cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, oil seeds, etc., at the hand of traders should be stopped forthwith and for this purpose arrangements be made for purchase by government of these crops at remunerable prices. Besides, effective steps should be taken by government for the purchase of cotton through the Cotton Corporation.

The Shiromani Akali Dal strongly feels that the most pressing national problem is the need to ameliorate the lot of millions of exploited persons belonging to the scheduled classes. For such a purpose the Shiromani Akali Dal calls upon the Central and State governments to earmark special funds. Besides, the state governments should allot sufficient funds in their respective budgets for giving free residential plots both in the urban and rural areas to the Scheduled Castes.

The Shiromani Akali Dal also calls for the rapid diversification of farming. The shortcomings in the Land Reforms Laws should be removed, rapid industrialization of the State ensured, credit facilities for the medium industries expanded and unemployment allowance given to those who are unemployed. For remunerative farming, perceptible reduction should be made in the prices of farm machinery like tractors, tubewells, as also of the inputs.

i think all this proves one thing:

Raj bina na dharam chalay hai, [without Rule principles are not safe.]

Dharam bina sabh dllai mallai hai.[and without principels everything is chaos]

It all depends how one views the raj, there is no right or wrong answer... some view it in form of khalistan, some view it form of khalsa raj without nation boundaries (stated in ugardanti /sri sarbloh granth/sau sakhi written by sri dasam patsah).

[mann_kaum_layee_qurbaan]

yes, many sikhs in the morcha came from the comrade ranks...so point well taken.

besides all of this, i think if we have civilized conversations on these issues dealing with human rights, its in the best interest of all us.

take care.

peace.