IJSA June 2015
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THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SIKH AFFAIRS JUNE 2015 Volume 25 No. 1 Published By: The Sikh Educational Trust Box 276, 9768 - 170th St, NW EDMONTON, AB T5T 5L4 CANADA E-mail: <[email protected]> http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/IntJSA ISSN 1481-5435 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SIKH AFFAIRS JUNE ISSUE 2015 VOLUME 25 No. 1 Editorial Advisors Dr S S Dhami, MD Dr B S Samagh Dr Surjit Singh Prof Gurtej Singh, IAS New York, USA Ottawa, CANADA Williamsville, NY Chandigarh J S Dhillon “Arshi” M S Randhawa Sukhjit Kaur Gill Gurmit Singh Khalsa Malayasia Ft. Lauderdale, FL Chandigarh AUSTRALIA Sami U Malik Secretary-General LISA Editor in Chief: Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon The Sikh Educational Trust Box 276, 9768 - 170th Street, NW, EDMONTON, AB T5T 5L4 CANADA E-mail:<[email protected]> NOTE: Views presented by the authors in their contributions in the journal are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editor in Chief, the Editorial Advisors, or the publisher. SUBCRIPTION: US$ 80.00 per anum plus 5% GST plus postage and handling (by surface mail) for institutions and multiple users. Personal copies: US$30.00 plus 5% GST plus postage and handling (surface mail). Orders for the current and forthcoming issues may be placed with the Sikh Educational Trust, Box 60246, Univ of AB Postal Outlet, EDMONTON, AB T6G 2S5 CANADA. E-mail: [email protected] The Sikh Leaders, Freedom Fighters and Intellectuals To bring an end to tyranny it is a must to punish the terrorist - Baba (General) Banda Singh Bahadar Sikhs have only two options: slavery of the Hindus or struggle for their lost sovereignty and freedom - Sirdar Kapur Singh, ICS, MP, MLA and National Professor of Sikhism I am not afraid of physical death; moral death is death in reality Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa Martyrdom is our ornament - Bhai Awtar Singh Brahma (General) We do not fear the terrorist Hindu regime. We are tireless: we shall return home before freedom of Khalistan - General Labh Singh The coward Hindu regime will never achieve our surrender - Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal One must have superior morality and lifestyle than the person he is going to punish - Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha My real life will begin from the moment of my martyrdom for the Panth Bhai Amrik Singh Khalsa The siege of Darbar Sahib is the siege of the Sikh Nation - Justice Ajit Singh Bains No power on the earth can stop the freedom of the Sikh Homeland - Simranjit Singh Mann, MP Even they dismember my body, I will not surrender before the terrorist police chief KP Gill - Bhai Kanwar Singh Dhami We are alive, we are awakened, we are struggling and we shall surely win - The Declaration of the Sikh Nation The lessons of Guru Gobind Singh ji must be followed. No Sikh, whether a politician, sarpanch or jathedar, should be followed if they do not openly and unequivocally speak out for a free and sovereign Khalistan and encourage a peaceful movement -Dr Gurmit Singh, President, Council of Khalistan, Washington DC The goal of Khalsa Panth is sovereign Khalistan. The Akali government has backed away from it. It has lost its credibility with the Sikh Nation. Do not let these Akali leaders get away with it. It is our responsibility to liberate Khalistan. - Dr Gurmit Singh Aulakh Freedom is never given, it is won through and struggle by peaceful means - Dr Gurmit Singh Aulakh Akali Party is dead - Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer The top priority of the Sikh Nation is to “Re-establish the Sovereignty of the Sikhs' Holy and Historic Homeland, Punjab, Khalistan, by peaceful means.” - Dr Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President, Council of Khalistan, Washington DC PRINTED IN CANADA ISSN 1481-5435 i INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SIKH AFFAIRS JUNE ISSUE 2015 VOLUME 25 No. 1 CONTENTS Tagore's views of the Sikh faith Gurtej Singh 1 Overview of Afghanistan-Pakistan region Asif Haroon Raza 8 Politicians are the biggest enemies of democracy Asif Haroon Raza 9 I would have sentenced Rajiv Gandi and Veer Bahadar Singhh to death Ilyas Azmi 11 Human rights violations, etc., in India Kanwaljit Singh Gill 12 Dr Sekhon writes to the Canadian Prime Minister 13 28th Session of the United Nations: Human Rights Council…,2nd – 27th Marcch, 2015 14 Centre for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy (CHRPA) Agenda Item 5 14 Dr Sekhon participates in the Women and Children Rights in the Northeastern states of India 14 The Sikhs' Struggle for Sovereignty and Independence of their “robbed” Punjab of the 15th August, 1947 15 NEWS, VIEWS, SHORT ARTICLES, ETC. 15 Sirdar Gurmit Singh Khalsa (Australia) onBR Ambedekar 16 Message and appeal to the Sikh Nation, PUNJAB under Indian “occupation” A S Sekhon 16 Dr Sekhon writes to Bhai Sahib Balwant Singh Rajoana, Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara, etc. 16 Dr Sekhon responds to Sardar Inderbeer Singh Kashmiri 17 RSS and Hindutava volunteers have started working in Nepal….Palash Biswas 17 No entry to [permanent seat] for India H S Aujla 17 No doubt it is a matter…writes Hemraj Jain 18 Modi government in a crisis situation Palash Biswas 18 Dr Sekhon responds to Sirdar Gurmit Singh Khalsa 19 Press Release: The Kashmir Diaspora Alliance 20 China-Pakistan energy corridor Asif Haroon Raja 21 Indigestion of Mohan Bhagwat…Hindus-Brahmins extremists and fundamentalists 24 Dal Khalsa Association (USA) submits “Memorandum” to the United Nations: HRC 26 Surinderjit Singh 30 Book Review - The myth of holy cow Kavneet Singh 31 United States of America should respect the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Asif Haroon Raja 34 PUNJABI Section 36 Parmvir Singh posted p. 46; Shromani Khalsa Panchayat, Ludhiana: Open Letter p. 55; Kesri (saffaron) colour challenged by Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer p. 36;The Sikh martyars: Bhai Balwinder Singh Buttar, Bhai Fauja Singh, Jathedar Ranbir Singh Fauji, Bhai Avtar Singh Kulara, Bhai Raghbir Singh Bhagupur, Bhai Kewal Singh, Bhai Harbhajan Singh, 46 Bhai Amrik Singh, Bhai Piara Singh, Bhai Gurcharan Singh, Bhai Gurdial Singh 'Mode', Baba Darshan Singh Mehta, Bhai Dharambir Singh, Dr (Bhai) Gurnam (Jagdish) Singh Buttar, Bhai Sukhdev Singh Jhamke, Bhai Inderjit Singh Jammu, H S Aujla writes to the Chief, The Akal Takht Sahib. Call for papers: Submit your contributions, via electronic mail using the MS Office 10 programme, of academic interest only on the Sikh philosophy, and the Sikh Affairs. The authors of the accepted contributions for publication will be notified. Note: Opinions and views expressed in the article(s) are of the author(s) and the International Journal of Sikh Affairs, its management and publishers bear no responsibility. RELEASED: 1st, JUNE, 2015 ii International Journal of Sikh Affairs Vol 25, No. 1, JUNE ISSUE, 2015 ISSN 1481-5435 TAGORE'S VIEW OF THE SIKH FAITH Gurtej Singh, IAS & IPS (Formerly) [Some, who hold Sirdar Kapur Singh in high esteem, got together to bodies’ concept of Guruship - a fundamental doctrine of the Sikh institute a commemorative annual lecture in the Punjabi University, faith. Eventually both of them showed a tendency to dismantle the Patiala to revisit his contribution to history, philosophy, theology, Sikh edifice, presumably to project the Hindu faith in favourable politics and literature. Two lectures went very well because the light in comparison. guests were invited in consultation with the Trust. The third one was MK Gandhi explicitly, and Tagore implicitly, were both against the somewhat tolerable. The one that should have been held last year propagation of Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script. From them these (2014) was a disaster. The faculty insisted on inviting Amiya Dev, a cultivated prejudices travelled to certain Bengali historians - former Vice-Chancellor of the Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, prominent among them being JN Sarkar and IB Banerji. who knew nothing about the Sirdar, nothing about Sikh history or In his translation of the small portion of the Sikh scripture, I found ethos and very little about Rabinder Nath Tagore’s motivation for Tagore careless about getting the original version for use - it was venturing into the field of Sikh theology and history. Fortunately almost as if he took it as a ritual to be performed. I found that he paid someone went through the lecture that had been printed by the more attention to Bhagatbani - many versions of which were current concerned department. He found it woven around conjured up ideas and automatic escape route in case of faulty translation was inbuilt. I and images. An immediate hue and cry was raised just before the found his interest in the Guru’s word was superficial. I found that he lecture was scheduled to be delivered the next morning. had no idea of Sikh history or any sympathy for it. Then why did he I had also received a copy of the lecture printed by the University I want to write? was appalled at the insensitivity of the author and tired to get in touch Then I went to his Sikh poems. I cannot say how they sound in with the Vice Chancellor. Our high dignitaries maintain their Bangla but in translation they were listless - as his Geetanjali is. ‘highness’ by remaining inaccessible to ordinary people. I did not ‘Bandi Bir’ is highly derogatory to the first indigenous sovereign in succeed. 800 years: one who created the Peoples’ Republic based on the Sikh I did the next best thing within my power. I decided to register my idea of polity, almost a century before the French Revolution. disagreement by appropriate analysis of the talk and Tagore’s He concocts a story contrary to facts to depict Banda as a compul- understanding of Sikh history and religion.