TORONTO, Canada (KP)—Worldwide human rights organizations, along with Panthic groups, took strong notice of the recent glorification of genocidal mastermind KP Gill in a recently published article. The article titled “A Punjabi lesson for Afghanistan” asks the foreign military in Afghanistan to follow in the footsteps of KP Gill to defeat the Taliban forces. The author of the article, Martin Regg Cohn, has wrongfully described KP Gill as a legend in the fight against so-called ‘Sikh Separatists.’

Cohn has written about the parliamentary vote that approves the allotment of Canadian forces in Afghanistan until 2011. He states that if the troops are to win in Afghanistan, they must adopt the heavy-handed tactics used by the Punjab Police—many of which may be crimes against humanity. In addition, several fallacies were published in the article which lead to a misunderstanding of the situation in Punjab that led to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent victims.

KP Gill, who can be classed with the likes of Gestapo leader Heinrich Himmler, used inhumane tactics to ‘crush’ a freedom movement in Punjab in which he took extreme measures to seek promotions for himself and his associates. His role in the killings of several human rights activists and journalists in Punjab, especially of Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra is well known.

For a media agency such as the Toronto Star to glorify a mass murderer is highly problematic and mischievous. The newspaper, along with the author, owes an unconditional apology, not only to the Sikh Community but all others who revere world peace.

The Sikh Activist Network, an online Sikh youth group has started an online protest against the article (which can be seen here). A sample letter they have written to Martin Cohn follows:

K.P.S. Gill perpetuated uncountable and heinous human rights violations He is responsible for the mass killing of thousands of innocent Sikhs throughout Punjab. Various human rights activists have decried the flagrant human rights violations of the Punjab Police under his rule. K.P.S. Gill and the Punjab Police ordered numerous media blackouts to deprive the public of any knowledge of the true nature of their actions. K.P.S. Gill employed tactics such as false encounters, where the Police staged confrontations between the police and innocent individuals to justify their murder and mass unrecorded cremations. When these tactics were brought to the public’s attention by human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, he was tortured and murdered by the Punjab Police. No K.P.S. Gill was not legendary, perhaps notorious but undeniably villainous in his disrespect for the human rights and disregard for the value of human life. He should not be praised and to do so mocks the memories of all those killed by his hand. The movement for an independent state in Punjab was founded on disenfranchised farmers and students. The struggle for autonomy is enshrined in the United Nations Charter as the right to self determination. It is inaccurate and biased to draw a parallel between one group struggling to express a human right and other groups alleged to have a more insidious purpose. Finally, the solution in Afghanistan is unequivocally to end any and all further foreign military presence. The paternalistic and morally superior position taken by those who assume to know what is best for another people is horribly flawed. The Afghani people alone have the right and the personal experience to determine what is in their best interest. Foreign assistance should be provided at the request of the Afghani people and limited to specific goals as outlined by them.

To see the author's contact information as well as more information on this article, please visit http://forums.panthic.net/index.php?showtopic=29947.

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AmardeepSingh @ 04. January 2009

I read the article but didn't see any links to the online petition.

http://www.sikhtoons.com/TorontoStarKPSGill.html