My thoughts on the Current State of Panjab

I haven't got any work done over the past week. I can't think about anything except what's happening to our brothers and sisters in Punjab.

 

I can't get over how corrupt the Indian government is and how unnecessarily violent the police are. Why are peaceful protests seen as such a crime? Why are the police beating protestors when all they've actually done is turn up? Why are the police acting violently and provoking reaction at a perfectly safe, peaceful protest? Why are youth being fired at, from behind? Why are the voices of the minorities immediately suppressed? Why are so called Sikh police officers failing to support the Panth? Why aren't these so called Sikh police officers showing loyalty towards their Guru and their Panth? Why is it okay for completely innocent boys to be shot? Why the hell is the Indian system so messed up?!

But I also can't get over how much support people are showing, and how much awareness we've managed to raise. The protests were shown on the news. People involved in British politics are showing their concerns. Seas of orange flooded areas of the country. Handsworth, Smethwick etc. were absolutely covered in orange, with orange material tied on every post, railing, streetlight, shop etc. Nishaan sahibs are adorning the cars and houses of Sikhs. Orange Dastaara are everywhere.... even the Raagis at Harimandir Sahib pledged orange. People are being asked by work colleagues about why they have nishaan sahibs on their houses and cars. I've been repeatedly asked about the orange band around my wrist at school. Even Facebook showed a video about Rajoana in the advertisements bar at the side of my page. People are shocked by the injustices of the Indian government.


All of this is simply a question of Humanity. The death penalty itself is a breach of human rights. The inconsistent use of the death penalty in certainly unjust. Needlessly beating and firing at innocent protestors is disgusting. Killing unarmed youth is completely unnacceptable. What's it gonna take for India to bring justice to its people? This is not about political/ religious factions opposing one another. The fight is for Justice.

"For the last ten years grave human rights violations have been perpetrated in Punjab by the police in their efforts to suppress an often violent campaign for the establishment of a Sikh homeland in a state called "Khalistan". These violations include scores of "disappearances", extrajudicial killings, widespread torture, unacknowledged detentions as well as deaths in custody. Amnesty International has documented its concerns about these human rights violations for many years. The state and central governments continue to deny the occurrence of virtually all these human rights violations. For example, K.P.S Gill, the Director General of Police, Punjab, claimed during a visit to London in June 1994 that allegations of "disappearances" were entirely unfounded since they concerned young men who had left the country and were living abroad. However, there were often eye-witnesses to their arrest and court orders to produce some of the victims of such practices in court have been routinely ignored by police and senior officials."

- Amnesty International