June 15, 2004
OPEN LETTER TO THE SIKH NATION
SGPC Elections July 11
What You Vote For, You Get; Control of SGPC is Control of Sikh Politics
Political Power Essential to Survival of Sikh Nation

Dear Khalsa Ji:

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA, WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH!

There will be elections for the Shiromani Prabandhak Gurdwara Committee (SGPC) on July 11.  These elections are very important because whoever controls the SGPC controls Sikh politics in Punjab.

Now is the time to oust Parkash Singh Badal and his cronies from control of this crucial agency.  If you keep Badal in power, you cannot blame anyone else for Punjab's problems.  Badal ran the most corrupt government in Punjab's history and brought disgrace on the Sikh Nation with his corruption.  He and his family sold jobs.  They invented a new term for bribery: fee for service.  If you didn't pay the fee, you didn't get the service.  Mrs. Badal could tell how much money was in a bag just by picking it up.  That is why Badal is being prosecuted by the Amarinder Singh government.  Badal is corrupt and is a disgrace to the Sikh Nation.  He must be prosecuted.

To get elected, Badal promised to release the political prisoners, to investigate human rights violations by the police, and to bring these perpetrators to justice.  He did not keep those promises because he was in the pocket of the Indian government.  Do you want the Indian government in control of the Gurdwaras throughout Punjab? 

It is essential to replace the corrupt Badal faction and all the stooges of the Indian government with honest, committed, dedicated Sikhs who will work to release the political prisoners, to restore Punjab's riparian rights, to achieve full compensation for the farmers, and for freedom for the Sikh Nation. 

New leadership must emerge at the SGPC.  This new leadership must be honest and free of corruption.  It must be committed to the cause of freeing our Sikh homeland from the repression and brutality of the Indian government by reclaiming our lost sovereignty in a free and independent Khalistan.

The Sikhs in Punjab have suffered enormous repression at the hands of the Indian regime in the last 20 years.  The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984.  In addition, over 50,000 Sikh youth were picked up from their houses, tortured, murdered in police custody, then  secretly cremated as "unidentified bodies."  Their remains were never even given to their families!  Over 52,000 Sikhs sit in Indian jails as political prisoners without charge or trial, according to the Movement Against State Repression (MASR.)  Some of them have been in illegal custody for 20 years!   Even those sent to prison for life for murder only serve 16 years.

The desire for independence is a fire that burns brightly in the hearts of the Sikh Nation to this day.  Late in 2003, former Member of Parliament Atinder Pal Singh organized a seminar on Khalistan at Baba Makhan Shah Labana Hall, Sector 30, Chandigarh.   Dal Khalsa has been holding marches for Khalistan.  It is time to take action to free our homeland. 

Repression and genocide of this magnitude at the hands of the Indian government is unparallelled in the late part of the 20th century.  India should be ashamed of the genocide it has committed against Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and other minorities.  The SGPC has previously voted on resolutions for Khalistan.  By electing honest, committed Sikhs who are for freedom, you can rout the corrupt Badal leadership and take a strong position for ending the repression of the Sikh Nation.  If you do not do it, it is your own fault.  You cannot blame others.

It is time for Sikhs to look back at our history of persecution and suffering over the past 20 years.  The Hindu government of India, whether run by the Congress Party or by the BJP, wants minorities either subservient to Hinduism or completely wiped out.  Yet Badal and his party have been in alliance with the former ruling party in this effort.  He must be ousted from any position of power.  He is a traitor to the Sikh Nation.

The Indian government and its allies have tried to weaken the Sikh religion by saying that Sikhism is part of Hinduism.  If that is true, why have they murdered so many Sikhs?  Hindus practice idol worship; Sikhism is monotheistic, worshipping only one God.  Hindus believe in the caste system; Sikhs believe in the equality of the whole human race.  Remember the words of Guru Gobind Singh: "Recognize ye all the human race as one."  We cannot let the stooges of Hindu fundamentalists continue to control an organization as important as the SGPC.

In spite of the fact that the religions believe completely opposite things, Hindus desire to engulf Sikhism just as they did with Jainism and Buddhism in India.  They think that Buddhism is part of Hinduism because Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was born in India.  Similarly, Guru Nanak was born Hindu, so they proclaim Sikhism to be part of Hinduism.  Yet Guru Nanak said that he was "neither Hindu nor Muslim."  Jesus was born Jewish.  Does that mean that Christianity is merely part of Judaism?  

We must bring back our Khalsa spirit.  We must end the corruption by ousting the Badal faction from their last political base, the SGPC.  We must clean house and begin anew with leadership committed to the greater well being of the Sikh Nation and to the cause of freedom.

We must remember our heritage and tradition of "Khalsa Bagi Yan Badshah" by committing ourselves to freeing our homeland, Punjab, Khalistan, from Indian occupation.  We need a new Sikh leadership and a new political party which has a dedication to the interests of the Sikh Nation as its sole objective, to establish Khalsa Raj by liberating Khalistan, severing all political ties with India.   We can begin to establish that by ousting Badal and his cronies from the SGPC in these upcoming elections.

Last year's seminar on Khalistan shows that the flame of freedom still burns brightly in Punjab in spite of the Indian government's brutal repression.  Perhaps this is why India is afraid to hold a free and fair vote on the subject of independence.  The essence of democracy is the right to self-determination. 

Remember the words of Professor Darshan Singh, former Jathedar of the Akal Takht, during the celebration of Guru Nanak's birthday: "If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh."   He was only reiterating the Guru's blessing, "In Grieb Sikhin Ko Deon Patshahi."  The time to achieve our independence is now. 

Always remember our heritage: Raj Kare Ga Khalsa; Khalsa Bagi Yan Badshah.  Let us work to restore our rights and end the stain of corruption by ousting Badal from the SGPC.  This will be a good step toward our freedom.

Panth Da Sewadar,



Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh
President
Council of Khalistan

This material is circulated by the Council of Khalistan, which is registered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of the Council of Khalistan, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab.  The material is filed with the DOJ where the required registration is available for inspection.  Registration does not indicate approval of the contents by the U.S. Government.