VIGIL TODAY

[s s Jhamka]

vaheguru ji ka khalsa

vaheguru ji ki fateh

please sangat ji can ppl from the midlands make it to the Candle Light Remembrance Vigil today. i cant make it working in london this week :wub:

Candle Light Remembrance Vigil

3pm to 7 pm - 3 November 2004 - Victoria Square, Birmingham, UK

Plea to the Sikh Youth : Unite and Remember on Wed 3rd November

Plea to the Sikh Youth : Unite and Remember on Wed 3rd November

"Victims speak of mobs led by notoriously unruly youth congress activists armed with voters lists from which Sikh homes and businesses could be identified. How did kerosene materialise so effectively? Why did the police declare open season on Sikhs?"

(Daily Telegraph, Nov 1984)

Sangat Jee,

The week commencing Monday 1st November marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most ruthless and bloody chapters in Sikh history, when the mirage of Indian secularism and democracy was exposed and Sikhs suffered state orchestrated brutality across the country.

In the hours that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi, by her Sikh bodyguards (Beant Singh and Satwant Singh), on 31st October 1984, her son Rajiv Gandhi instructed the powers that be to "teach these bastards (the Sikhs) a lesson". The state run media vilified Sikhs, broadcasting proactive slogans such as "khoon ka badla khoon" (blood for blood), and spreading fake rumours e.g. Sikhs had poisoned Delhi's water supply and that trains from Punjab were arriving with dead Hindus on

board.

What followed was the systematic and co-ordinated massacre of Sikhs, not only in Delhi but also in Uttar Pardesh, Haryana, Binar and Kanur amongst others.

The attacks followed a chilling pattern. Local politicians from the ruling Congress party mobilised mobs of Hindu youths and armed them with swords, iron rods, knives, clubs and combustible material, particularly kerosene. Using electoral lists and ration shop records, the Congress party leaders guided the mobs to Sikh homes and businesses, moving from one district to another in jeeps to personally supervise the murder and rape of Sikh men and women.

(This is just a glimpse of the atrocities that occurred, for more, go to www.witness84.com, www.carnage84.com [other sites?] )

Two of the Congress Party politicians implicated by eyewitnesses were Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. You will not be surprised to learn that neither has ever been successfully prosecuted, as attempts to do so have either collapsed as a result of witness intimidation or been locked in the judicial process.

To add insult to injury, not only are these men still at large and playing an active role in the Congress Party, but Tytler has recently been appointed to a government ministerial post, having the portfolio for NRI, meaning Non-Resident Indians ... yes, that’s US!!!

Is this some kind of sick joke? … And the man responsible for appointing Tytler to this post? Our very own much heralded 'Sikh' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Behind all of the glossy headlines, this single act speaks volumes.

Lawyers in India are trying to bring Kumar and Tytler to account for their actions, but their quest for justice faces immeasurable obstacles as attempts to commence legal proceedings get wrapped in red tape.

We must also show that we have not forgotten, and that we too will continue to demand that these criminals Kumar and Tytler are brought to justice.

The Sikh youth of the region will congregate at Victoria Squa

re in Birmingham City Centre on Wednesday 3rd November, from 3pm to 7pm to raise awareness amongst the wider community as to the injustice and suffering endured by Sikhs in their 'homeland'. Speakers including British MPs will be invited to show their support.

Above all, however, your support is required. Spread the word and let us ensure there is an overwhelming attendance on 3rd November, just as there was at Hyde Park in June.

Very few of our gurdwaras have chosen to organise programmes in remembrance of these events, so it is up to the Sikh youth to seize the initiative.

In the same way that the attacks on Sikhs were indiscriminate, regardless of caste, wealth, social status and irrespective of whether they were practicing or not, each and everyone of us, whether amritdhari or not, should feel the pain that still haunts many of our brothers and sisters in India every day.

Show your support on 3rd Nov.

For more details contact

sikhthetruth@yahoo.co.uk