London, UK (KP) - Protests by hundreds of Sikhs have taken place on Friday 1st July outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (King Charles Street) to highlight the deteriorating human rights situation in Panjab. The protest coincided with a press conference being given by Tony Blair inside the Foreign Office in the run up to the G8 conference.
Over the past month the number of Sikhs being arrested in Panjab has risen at alarming rates. Men, women and children of all ages are being arrested on fabricated evidence accusing them of being terrorists. The current situation in Panjab is being referred to by many Sikhs as not unlike that of the 1980's.
Sikhs are urging the UK Government and the international community to take immediate steps for securing the release of all Sikh political prisoners and to stop the arrests, illegal detentions and torture of innocent Sikhs.
Many Sikh political prisoners have been languishing in Indian jails for over 20 years without charge or trial, while others have been unfairly sentenced with dubious charges and fabricated evidence to simply try to stop their political activities.
In the last few weeks alone reports indicate over 700 Sikhs in Panjab have been arrested, illegally detained and tortured.
Details of individual cases have been passed by the Sikh Federation (UK) to Amnesty International to take urgent action. The Amnesty International Secretariat are expected to make a public announcement calling for Amnesty to be given immediate access to Panjab to investigate, which they have been denied since 1978.
With the refusal by Indian authorities to allow the entry of Amnesty international to Panjab, it is questionable that the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be allowed to attend the G8 summit in Gleneagle. Panthic Weekly has learnt that during his visit to UK the Indian Prime Minister will visit the G8 Summit in Gleneagle, Scotland. Would the G8 allow Robert Mugabe with such reports on Human Rights abuses attend the summit?
The Sikh Federation (UK) has been pushing the UK Government over the last two weeks to ensure they also take up the case of pro-Sikh independence protagonists, such as Kanwarpal Singh Bittu, Sarbjit Singh Ghuman and Simranjit Singh Mann. Earlier this week the Federation took human rights lawyers from Panjab to meet with politicians from all three main political parties urging them to act now.
An Early Day Motion (EDM) has been tabled this week in the House of Commons to highlight the concern of UK politicians
EDM 448 - ARREST OF POLITICAL ACTIVISTS IN PUNJAB reads:
That this House notes with extreme concern the arrest by the Indian Government of senior Dal Khalsa leaders, Mr Kanwarpal Singh Bittu and Mr Sarbjit Singh Ghuman, the President of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, and the President of the Khalsa Raj Party, Mr Jagjit Singh Chohan; and calls upon the Government to press the Indian government to draw back from what many regard as a campaign of oppression of free speech and legitimate political activity.
A spokesperson from the Sikh Federation said: "The situation in India is unacceptable. A peaceful public display of support for an independent sovereign Sikh state, has been met with arrests and charges of sedition. Dal Khalsa activists have been charged for carrying Nishan Sahibs, pictures of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the greatest Sikh of the 20th Century, and photographs of the Akal Takht that was destroyed in the Indian army assault in June 1984."
"We believe it is our duty to take up the case of the right of freedom of speech of all pro-Sikh independence activists in Panjab. We have taken this matter up with UK Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister. We are also aware of Manmohan Singh's presence in the UK on the 7-8 July. This is why we have also arranged a protest to take place next week when he is at the Indian High Commission."
The current state of Panjab is beginning to unnerve Sikhs all across the world as more and more men women and children are arrested everyday in Panjab by police on fabricated evidence, while the world continues to ignore the situation once again like it did over 20 years ago.
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