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Why Sikhs Shouldn’t Celebrate Indian Independence


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WHY SIKHS SHOULDN’T CELEBRATE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE

15 August marks India’s Independence Day and prolongs the suffering of the Sikhs. We are clear about our nationhood, but it is denied by the Indian State and the Indian political class which are not prepared to allow us basic rights.

Sikh sacrifices for freedom

Prior to independence Sikhs were less than 1.5% of the population, but their contribution to the freedom struggle was immense. 77% of those sent to the gallows were Sikh as were 81% of those sentenced to life imprisonment. During the Quit India Movement many indiscriminate arrests were made and Sikhs contributed 70% of the total Punjabis arrested. More than 60% of the 20,000 who joined the Indian National Army were Sikhs.

100-150 million refugees resulted from partition in August 1947 with 40% of all Sikhs becoming refugees. Partition resulted in up to 2 million people being murdered and another 10-50 million being injured.

Sikhs betrayed and promises broken

India’s founding fathers gave numerous solemn promises that the Sikhs freedom and dignity would be safeguarded. Jawaharlal Nehru said that “the brave Sikhs of Punjab are entitled to special consideration. I see nothing wrong in an area set up in the north of India wherein the Sikhs can also experience the glow of freedom”. These promises were conveniently forgotten after independence and the Sikhs were dismissively told by the same Nehru that the “circumstances had now changed”.

Sikhs have rejected India's Constitution

Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru gave the Sikhs assurances that after India achieves political freedom no Constitution shall be framed by the majority community unless it is freely acceptable to the Sikhs. This promise was repeated throughout the period up to independence. When the Constitution was produced in 1950 it failed to deliver any safeguards or political rights for the Sikhs as a people or nation. The Sikhs therefore refused to sign the Constitution and have never accepted it. Article 25 even denies Sikhism, the fifth largest faith in the world, separate recognition as a religion – an affront that is widely seen as a deliberate act of suppression of the Sikhs.

Demands for greater autonomy were dismissed

The Indian authorities have systematically discriminated against the Sikhs since 1947 and subverted or suppressed all legitimate political demands for greater autonomy. The Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1973 set out the basis on which the Sikhs were prepared to accept a political union within India, as a federal state. This demand for internal self-determination was pursued through decades of peaceful protest and attempts at negotiation with the central government. The demands were never seriously considered and given the history of the conflict between the Sikhs and India since 1984, this would now be too little too late.

Gross violation of Sikh human rights

In the last 30 years the Indian authorities have unleashed a rein of terror through gross violation of human rights of Sikhs in an attempt to extinguish the calls for freedom and Sikh independence.

In June 1984 the Indian army attacked the Golden Temple Complex and 125 other Sikh Gurdwaras in Punjab and massacred tens of thousands of innocent Sikh pilgrims. This laid the foundation stone for an independent sovereign Sikh State, Khalistan.

In November 1984 tens of thousands of innocent Sikhs were massacred in Delhi and over 130 other cities throughout India by well-orchestrated mobs under the direct supervision of senior Indian politicians and officials.

Over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered and disappeared since 1984. Many Sikh political prisoners still languish in Indian jails without charge or trial and others have been falsely charged and sentenced to death by hanging. Illegal detention and torture of Sikhs is common place and well documented by independent human rights organisations.

Sikh nationhood and independence

Sikhs first secured political power in the form of an independent state in 1710, after suffering centuries of foreign invasions and alien domination. The larger sovereign Sikh state was established in 1799 and was recognised by all the world powers. The Sikhs, after the two Anglo-Sikh wars, lost their kingdom and the Punjab came under British rule in 1849. However, in giving up power Sikhs were party to several Treaties with the British.

Gurjeet Singh

Sikh Federation (UK)

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Independence from british soveriegnty was a good thing. Everyone agrees that the way in which it was done was not. Remember the partition was bad for everyone..sikhs,muslims and hindus. It wasnt just sikhs who were killed.

It is our own fault as a panth that we didnt have a leader whom was more assertive and strived and pushed for our own state during the moments leading up to partition.

Regarding all of the attrocities against sikhs since partition, i think that is disgusting. I fail to understand why the international community hasnt reacted to this.

May i ask where all these figures and facts came from which were quoted in the above article. Are the figures substantiated? or are they estimates? If they can be substantiated and proven then cant we present them to our government, or human rights groups to force the indian governement to investigate/appologise or do something!

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Many figures e.g. on the numbers killed are estimates - figures range from 1-2 million, numbers injured 10-50 million is deliberately wide. Either way the numbers are very big and have been quoted elsewhere.

However, the number of Sikhs sent to the gallows, life imprisonment etc. have been quoted many times.

A good source is:

http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/sikh-history/...dependence.html

This is just one of many articles.

The Sikhs and the Independence Movement is in 6 parts - below are just some of the references

Notes and References

[1] Anil Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism: Competition and Collaboration in the Later Nineteenth Century, Cambridge, 1968, p. 349.

[2] For an incisive survey of constitutional advance and British policy in this period, see R. J. Moore, The Crisis of Indian Unity 1917-1940, Oxford, 1974, and his "The Problem of Freedom with Unity: London's India Policy, 1917-47," in D. A. Low, ed., Congress and the Raj: Facets of the Indian Struggle 1917-47, New Delhi, 1977, pp. 375-403. In the extensive official reports of the Round Table conferences, of special relevance to Sikh interests are "The Communal Problem in the Punjab," by Sir Geoffrey Corbett, and "A Scheme of Redistribution of the Punjab," by Sardar Ujjal Singh, Indian Round Table Conference (Second Session) Proceedings, Cmd. 3997 (1931-32), Appendix 16 & 17.

[3] India Office Library and Records (=IOLR), L/PO/48, Note by the Secretary of State for India, "Communal Problem: Question of a Decision by the Government," discusses negotiations and plans for the Award. See also Helen M. Nugent, "The Communal Award: The Process of Decision-Making," South Asia, N.S., 2, 1-2 (1979), pp. 112-129.

[4] See IOLR, L/PO/49, for communal analysis and projections of allocations of legislative seats. An enclosed letter of 21 July 1932 from the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, to the Secretary of State for India, Sir Samuel Hoare, admits that "The Sikhs cannot be satisfied and the Punjab difficulty will have to be faced."

[5] For a summary of the Sikh response, see K. L. Tuteja, Sikh Politics [1920-40], Kurukshetra, 1984, pp. 156-162. For details, see The Tribune (Lahore), numbers during 1932.

[6] Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (=NMML), Sardar Sunder Singh Majithia Papers, 31, No. 5075 of 26 December 1916.

[7] NMML, Majithia Papers, 22. The complete vow, as reported in The Tribune, 27 July 1932: "I [name] in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib pledge that I shall not tolerate any communal majority granted in any way to any particular community and take a vow that I shall try to fight against this by making every possible sacrifice. I pray may He give me power to fulfill my pledge." For background on the League, see Sukhmani Bal, "Politics of the Central Sikh League (1919-1929): A Critical Review," Journal of Sikh Studies, 10, 2 (1983), pp. 131-139.

[8] IOLR, Parliamentary and Other Papers, Folio 1019, records the text of the "pact" and of the official response.

[9] IOLR, L/P&J/9/82, records the proposed agreement and the resolutions of the Muslim conference of 20th November, sent by the All India Muslim League to the Secretary of State for India, which concludes "that the Allahabad 'solution' of the communal problem is, so far as the Muslims are concerned, manifestly unfair and unacceptable."

[10] Sikh Rahit Maryada [1950], in W. H. McLeod, tr. & ed., Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism, Manchester, 1984, p. 79. Swaran Singh Sanehi, "Rahitnamas of the Sikhs," Journal of Sikh Studies, 11, 1 (1984), pp. 66-85, surveys the genre from a standpoint typical of the Singh Sabha or neo-Sikh tradition of study.

[11] W. H. McLeod, "On the word panth: a problem of terminology and definition," Contributions to Indian Sociology, N.S., 12, 2 (1978), pp. 287-295.

[12] Niharranjan Ray, The Sikh Gurus and the Sikh Society: A Study in Social Analysis, Patiala, 1970, pp. 176ff., discusses the distinction between descriptive and normative approaches to Sikhism and Sikh society, and calls for study of existing "sects" and "sub-sects" among Sikhs. His terminology tends to be resisted by neo-Sikh writers; see, e.g., Teja Singh, "Are There Sects In Sikhism?" The Panjab Past and Present, 12, 1 (1978), pp. 130-141, to which the proposed answer is "No." Paul Brass, Language, Religion and Politics in North India, New York, 1974, p. 285, observes that "the creation of a cohesive community includes a process of symbol and myth selection which includes some groups, excludes others, and treats still others as marginal. In this process among the Sikhs, the sahajdari Sikhs, while not formally excluded, are considered less 'genuine'." Although the focal issue involves orthodoxy, orthopraxy, and religious dissent; it has important consequences for scholarship and in politics. See Baldev Raj Nayar, "Sikh Separatism in the Punjab," in Donald Eugene Smith, ed., South Asian Politics and Religion, Princeton, 1966, pp. 150 175.

[13] N. Gerald Barrier, "The Sikh Resurgence: The Period and its Literature," pp. xvii-xlv, in his The Sikhs and Their Literature: A Guide to Tracts, Books and Periodicals, 1849-1919, Delhi, 1970, remains the best brief survey. See also Harjot Singh Oberoi, "A Historiographical and Bibliographical Reconstruction of the Singh Sabha in the Nineteenth Century Panjab," Journal of Sikh Studies, 10, 2 (1983), pp. 108-130.

[14] Gurdarshan Singh, "Origin and Development of Singh Sabha Movement: Constitutional Aspects," The Panjab Past and Present, 7, 1 (1973), pp. 45-58.

[15] Kenneth W. Jones, "Ham Hindu Nahin: Arya-Sikh Relations, 1877 1905," Journal of Asian Studies, 32, 3 (1973), pp. 457-475. For background on shuddhi as a context for Arya-Sikh relations, see also Kenneth W. Jones, "Communalism in the Punjab: The Arya Samaj Contribution," Journal of Asian Studies, 28, 1 (1968), pp. 39-54; and G. R. Thursby, Hindu-Muslim Relations in British India, Leiden, 1975, pp. 136-158.

[16] In his The Heritage of the Sikhs, rev. edn., New Delhi and Columbia, Mo., 1983, pp. 225-259, Professor Harbans Singh of Patiala, esteemed editor of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Sikhism, makes an eloquent appeal for appreciation of the work of Ditt Singh, Teja Singh, and the Singh Sabhas toward the "search for Sikh identity and self-assertion." Work in progress by younger scholars, such as Harjot Singh Oberoi of the University of British Columbia, as well as a forthcoming book by N. G. Barrier on the emergence of modern Sikhism, will make possible a deeper understanding of the politics and the social and cultural significance of the period.

[17] Professor Teja Singh, "The Singh Sabha Movement," in his Essays in Sikhism, Lahore, 1944, pp. 129-147; Barrier, "The Sikh Resurgence," passim. See also the editorial "Chief Khalsa Diwan-Fifty Years of Service (1902-1951)," The Panjab Past and Present, 7, 1 (1973), pp. 59-67.

[18] K. S. Talwar, "The Anand Marriage Act," The Panjab Past and Present, 2, 2 (1968), pp. 400-410; Barrier, "The Sikh Resurgence," p. xliii.

[19] Rajiv A. Kapur, Sikh Separatism: The Politics of Faith, London, 1986, pp. 43-44.

[20] Surjit Singh Narang, "Chief Khalsa Diwan--A Study of Its Ideology, Leadership and Strategy," Journal of Sikh Studies, 12, 1 (1985), pp. 97-108. Cf. his "Chief Khalsa Diwan--An Analytical Study of Its Perceptions," in Paul Wallace and Surendra Chopra, eds., Political Dynamics of Punjab, Amritsar, 1981, pp. 67-81; and "Chief Khalsa Diwan--A Study of a Socio-Religious Organisation," Journal of Sikh Studies, 8, 1-2 (1981), pp. 102-117.

[21] Sangat Singh, Freedom Movement in Delhi (1858-1919), New Delhi, 1972, pp. 198-220; Harjot Singh [Oberoi], "From Gurdwara Rikabganj to the Viceregal Palace: A Study of Religious Protest," The Panjab Past and Present, 14, 1 (1980), pp. 182-198; NMML, Caveeshar Papers. In May 1920 the name of the Khalsa Akhbar was changed to the Akali. On the role of the princes, including Nabha, in Sikh society and politics, see Barbara N. Ramusack, "Punjab States: Maharajas and Gurdwaras: Patiala and the Sikh Community," in Robin Jeffrey, ed., People, Princes and Paramount Power: Society and Politics in the Indian Princely States, Delhi, 1978, pp. 170-204.

[22] N. G. Barrier, "In Search of Identity: Scholarship and Authority among Sikhs in Nineteenth Century Punjab," in Robert I. Crane and Bradford Spangenberg, eds., Language and Society in India: Essays in honor of Professor Robert O. Swan, Columbia, Mo., 1981, p. 23.

[23] W. H. McLeod, "Cohesive Ideals and Institutions in the History of the Sikh Panth," in his The Evolution of the Sikh Community: Five Essays, Oxford, 1976, p. 58.

[24] Report on the Administration of the Punjab and its Dependencies for 1920-21, Lahore, 1922, v. 1, pp. 350-351; National Archives of India, Home Political 459/II/1922; IOLR, L/P&J/6/1734; R. Kapur, Sikh Separatism, pp. 91-100; Mohinder Singh, The Akali Movement, Delhi, 1978, pp. 15-23.

[25] IOLR, Reading Collection, MSS Eur E 238/84, "Confidential Report on the Reading Administration," p. 243; R. Kapur, Sikh Separatism, pp. 105-115; Mohinder Singh, "The Congress and Nationalist Sikh Politics (1920-1937)," in B. N. Pande, genl. ed., A Centenary History of the Indian National Congress (1885-1985) (Volume Two: 1919-1935, R. Kumar,ed.), New Delhi, 1985, pp. 367 370.

[26] R. Kapur, Sikh Separatism, pp. 124-129, 143-156, 173-180; IOLR, L/P&J/6/1734.

[27] IOLR, Hailey Collection, MSS Eur E 220/7A, Correspondence from Hailey to Governor-General Reading, 22 January 1925; R. Kapur, Sikh Separatism, pp. 181-196.

[28] IOLR, MSS Eur E 220/6C, Hailey to Lahore Commissioner A. Langley, 25 November 1924.

[29] Government of the Punjab, Legislative Department, The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, (Punjab Act, No. VIII of 1925, with the Rules Thereunder [As modified by the Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order 1937 and Punjab Act, No. VII of 1938], Lahore, 1939, 205pp.

[30] IOLR, MSS Eur E 220/7B, Confidential Minute of 6 May 1925.

[31] IOLR, MSS Eur E 220/7B, Hailey to L. Rushbrook-Williams, 23 June 1925.

[32] IOLR, MSS Eur E 220/8B, Hailey to W. M. Vincent, 31 December 1925.

[33] R. Kapur, Sikh Separatism, p.200; Sardul Singh Caveeshar, "The Akali Movement," The Sikh Studies, Lahore, 1937, repr. in The Panjab Past and Present, 7, 1 (1973), p. 123. Sardul Singh's terminology recently has been adopted by Richard G. Fox in his Lions of the Punjab: Culture in the Making, Berkeley, 1985. Fox's interpretive framework, like that of the Cambridge school, places emphasis on instrumental or rational utility in the service of material interests, and views Singh identity largely as a "subsidized" product of British imperial interests, particularly the need for "martial races" in military service. Cf. his "Urban Class and Communal Consciousness in Colonial Punjab: The Genesis of India's Intermediate Regime," Modern Asian Studies, 18, 3 (1984), pp. 459-489. Toward an alternative interpretation, note the following: R. Kapur, Sikh Separatism, p. 113; Gail Minault, The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India, New York, 1982, pp. 13-14 & n.1.

[34] C. Shackle, "The Sikhs Before and After Indian Independence," Asian Affairs, 16, 2 (1985), p. 187. For support of this analysis, and some corroboration of Fox's interpretation, see K. L. Tuteja, Sikh Politics, pp. 173-216; R. Kapur, Sikh Separatism, pp. 194 250; Stephen Oren, "The Sikhs, Congress, and the Unionists in British Punjab, 1937-1945," Modern Asian Studies, 8, 3 (1974), pp. 397-418; Ayesha Jalal and Anil Seal, "Alternative to Partition: Muslim Politics Between the Wars," Modern Asian Studies, 15, (1981), pp. 415-454; and Joyce J. M. Pettigrew, "The Growth of Sikh Community Consciousness 1947-1966," South Asia, N.S., 3, 2 (1980), pp. 43-62.

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More pictures from 1947 have been requested for placrds etc.

See below from the BBC with captions:

In 1947, the border between India and its new neighbour Pakistan became a river of blood, as the exodus erupted into rioting. These pictures are by Margaret Bourke-White from Khushwant Singh's book Train to Pakistan, Roli Books. WARNING: Some images may cause distress.

post-2951-1186346654.jpg

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