Respected Minister,
The
nation is witness to strong arm tactics against activists who have allegedly
received tainted foreign funds for their work amongst the underprivileged. Laws
like UAPA, sedition, NSA, IPC have been slapped against these activists who are
languishing in jails for years without any bail. Agencies like CBI, ED, CBDT,
NIA, IB, RAW, police have “obliged’ the rulers in this crackdown for about a
decade. The victims include those allegedly involved in Bhima Koregaon
violence; Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand; Muslim activists of Popular Front of
India (PFI); Muslim movement leaders in Kashmir; the Christians particularly in
northeast India and lately Punjabi immigrants (Sikhs) to Canada. To create
terror in the minds of citizens, nationwide raids are staged and the public is
told immediately that incriminatory documents/weapons have been found in the
premises of those raided. The corporate press is ever ready to pimp on behalf
of the authorities. The media is fed by the very authorities whose job it is to
prevent media trials. Presently the media is splashing pages after pages with half-baked
news regarding Canadian citizens espousing separatist cause allegedly with
money got through dubious means. The Union Home Ministry is working overtime in
this ‘cleansing’ operation.
Sir,
you are well aware that the Dalai Lama has been a recipient of CIA funds for
decades starting from 1959 – when he and his followers entered India illegally
without any visa to set up a base camp demanding independence of Tibet from
China. Why should the Government of India be extending help to these Tibetan Separatists?
While the funding of separatist activists in Canada is yet to be proved in a
court of law, the Dalai Lama’s administration has itself confessed in full
glare of international media about his CIA funding: (Quote).
“Dalai Lama Group Says It Got Money From C.I.A.
The
Dalai Lama's administration acknowledged today that it received $1.7 million a
year in the 1960's from the Central Intelligence Agency, but denied reports
that the Tibetan leader benefited personally from an annual subsidy of
$180,000.
The
money allocated for the resistance movement was spent on training volunteers
and paying for guerrilla operations against the Chinese, the Tibetan
government-in-exile said in a statement. It added that the subsidy earmarked
for the Dalai Lama was spent on setting up offices in Geneva and New York and on
international lobbying.” (The
New York Times, Oct 2, 1998)
Sir,
do you have the courage to subject the Dalai Lama to the same treatment extended
to say separatist activists based in Canada? Would the Indian media ever write
pages after pages on a daily basis on the CIA funding and separatist activities
of the Tibetan protesters who indulge in violent protests including self-immolation?
Lately you have been talking ad infinitum
about the double standards of western countries. We stand by you on this
observation. But allow me to point out that you, too, are seen to be indulging
in double standards. Why should the Dalai Lama’s separatist activities be
supported even as Kashmiri movement leaders are thrown in jails for demanding the
right to self-determination? The corporate press parrots the alleged findings
of investigative agencies; terms like hawala transactions; benami properties;
money laundering; narco trafficking; extortion; gang wars; are thrown in to
damn the credibility of alleged accused. The recent media blitzkrieg against
Punjabi immigrants in Canada has painted the entire Sikh community as
Khalistanis. This way the rulers could consolidate Hindu votes. In 1984 a
similar scurrilous campaign against Sikhs ensured 400 plus Lok Sabha seats for
the then ruling party. Is the Modi Government tempted to use this template to
garner 400 plus seats in 2024 general elections? Sikhs sure come in handy for
political parties to garner absolute majority in Lok Sabha.
It
is just as well to add that the Indian Constitution refers to Sikhs as part of
Hindus. If that be so, why does your government and the corporate press talk of
Sikh separatists as if they are not Hindus? Have you ever referred to:
- Dalai
Lama as Buddhist separatist
- Tamil
militants espousing the cause of Tamil Eelam as Hindu separatists
- United
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) as a Hindu Separatist Organisation
- Dravidistan
separatist movement as a failed Hindu separatist attempt
- Achutistan
separatist movement as a failed Hindu separatist endeavour?
It
is only in relation to Sikhs, Muslims and Christians that you have a different
policy. As in the case of Tamil militants and ULFA you could refer to
separatists in Canada as Punjabi separatists. Your policy appears to be to give
the name of the language spoken/state name when it comes to Hindu separatists.
Apply the same policy to all sections of Indian society uniformly. Else the
charge of double standards will stick on you and your mentors. As a person born
in the Sikh faith I feel deserted, ditched, damned, demonised and defamed by
the statements of the rulers in relation to the Indo-Canada conflict. The
perpetrators of 1984 Sikh genocide have not been brought to justice. Besides
L.K. Advani’s support to Mrs. Gandhi on army being sent for assault on Golden
Temple is not forgotten.
My unflinching
political views are:
Neither
Hindu Rashtra nor Khalistan,
United
shall stand Hindustan
Both
the Hindu Rashtra and Khalistan are outside the pale of the present Indian
Constitution.
[P.S. On 3rd
October 2023 NewsClick founder, Prabir Purkayastha was arrested in connection with a case
which was registered after an investigation published on 5 August 2023 in the
New York Times alleged that NewsClick was part of a global network that
received money for pushing Chinese propaganda. Incidentally it was the same
paper which had published the news report about the Dalai Lama’s CIA funding.]
P.S. Sahni is a member of a non-funded,
non-party organization, PIL Watch Group. The views expressed are personal - the
outpourings of an anguished soul.
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