Weeping Truth

This was written by me 6 months back when Indian government and its machinery tried tagging Sikhs as militants and started their Anti-Sikh propaganda

Weeping Truth

I am nothing but a common man who goes to the office at 9 in the morning and comes back in the late evening after completing work in the office. Often, I bring office-work home and keep working and attending calls till late at night. I also work on Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays too.

I don’t mind working hard because at the end of the month, the pay cheque brings a smile to my face and helps me feed my family.

But, the last few weeks, which include my salary-drawing week, have not brought any smile on my face.

In fact, it has left me with a scar which will stay with me throughout my life. I have this bad habit of following important developments very closely. It can be political as well non- political, can be related to sports or stock markets or it can be an article written by an eminent personality who displays some grey matter or a thought-provoking piece written by a social activist.

But in these few weeks, what I have been following very closely is the process of maligning the image of Sikhs across the globe by the Indian machinery which includes the Indian Government, the Indian Media, Indian intelligence agencies, the Indian people, or I should be saying, anything which is somewhat related to India and is in line with Brahminical ideology

In recent months, Sikhs have got a lot of attention and support across the globe and I firmly believe that the Indian government could not digest the fact that Sikhs are getting strong empathy and sympathy from the Western world. The Indian machinery seems to be scared that Sikhs are becoming increasingly politically involved in world affairs, participating in the political setup in each of their homelands, trying to create lobbies for themselves, spreading word about Sikhism across the globe and getting positive coverage from the media channels like BBC, CNN, NBC, Huffington Post, Washington Post, etc.

All this started on a sad note but it is well documented in the history of Sikhs that Sikhs have the capability of turning around the situations which end up doing good for them.

In response to the Wisconsin shooting , for example, it seemed like that whole of US has come together to stand behind the Sikhs. Sikh representatives were invited to the talk shows and were asked to describe what Sikhism is all about. The political brass of US, inter faith organizations, US citizens, US media, government and non-government US agencies came to the rescue.

Not to forget P.O. Murphy, the hero of the Sikh-American community whose selfless service will be remembered for decades by Sikhs.

We know all these positive things but the other side of the coin is that when this story broke in the Indian media, then Indians were posting comments full of hatred. Some of the comments were: “In Rome, be like the Romans!”, “Till the time Sikhs will not get rid of the funny cloth (turban) on their heads they will be shot like this!” ... and so on.

No comments or action came from the Indian political setup, everybody kept mum and were indifferent to this behaviour. Recently, some Indian politicians and bureaucrats have, belatedly, visited Wisconsin. My question to the Sikh community in Wisconsin is: why the hell do you entertain these enemies of our community?

Then there was the story of Balpreet Kaur who, with her cherubic smile and benign thoughts and words, not only pacified the person who uploaded her picture and made rude comments, but also drew lot of positive attention from every nook and corner of the world.

Please note that here also the Indian media tried to project the miscreant as funny. A few of the Indian media houses also posted online articles related to what Balpreet Kaur should do to get rid of her facial hair and many Indians posted all kinds of stupid and senseless comments on these articles.

In the midst of all of this, Daljeet Singh Bittu and Kulbir Singh Barapind -- who are not in agreement with center controlled SAD (B) -- were arrested. God knows what was the reason, Punjab Police didn’t bring arrest and search warrants when they picked up Barapind. Bittu was picked up a couple of days later without any reason or explanation.

When a few Human Rights organizations raised this matter and questioned the Punjab Police,  the latter could not give convincing answers and showed poorly concocted FIRs which were prepared in a haphazard manner only AFTER the arrest of Barapind and Bittu. Nobody gave any reason why they have been arrested. Their judicial custodies got extended. Barapind was given electric shocks and was treated with 3rd degree torture during his judicial custody.

But the actual havoc was yet to be done by the Indian government and media.

A flood of negative propaganda against Sikhs has started flowing from the Indian media under the guise of talking about the reported attack on Lt Gen Brar in London, England. Trust me, I don’t like this person but as a Sikh I will never include him in my daily prayers – either for him or against him.

Then all, together - the Indian politicians, the Indian media, the Indian public, RAW, the Indian agencies, etc started in concert to create a web trap for innocent Sikhs. RAW didn’t get any information about attacks by terrorists from any bordering nation in all these years but they have special reports now, suddenly, on how the bordering nation’s intelligence agency is clubbing with Sikhs in the West and trying to give new life to the Khalistan movement.

Please note it’s the same RAW which till date has not been able to bring even one report which can hold water. It is the same agency which has not been able to nab a single mafia don for years. What I smell over here is a cooked up story wherein Barapaind, Bittu and all Sikhs living across the globe have been trapped.

It is really stunning that Barapind and Bittu have been woven into the story of the attack on Brar. Nobody was aware of who attacked Brar but the Indian media was leading the front by mentioning that it was “radical Sikhs”, “separatists Sikhs”. We were given all these labels instantly by the Indian media.

Then came more: the Indian media started linking Barapind and Bittu with attacks on Brar. It is worth noting that the British police didn’t know who had attacked Brar but the Indian media knew that it was Sikhs!

I guess the Indian media houses are running special intelligence cells ... or were they well ahead of weaving a story to malign Sikhs globally?

Another point which came out of nowhere was that the attacker used a knife but according to the Indian media, it was a “kirpan - ceremonial dagger”!

The Indian media this time went ahead and mentioned that now Sikhs are using kirpans, this way they created a classic case for the UK government to ban kirpan-wearing and to turn UK and other governments against Sikhs.

Another lie which the Indian newspapers mentioned during those hours was that “Khalistani Sikhs” had disrupted the August 15 celebrations in the UK. All of us know that those who disrupted those Indian Independence Day celebrations were local Sikhs residing around the area of the gurdwara. But 'Khalistani Sikhs"?

Coming to the reason why those Sikh-Britons disrupted the event: the Indian dignitaries were imbibing liquor inside the hall which was on the property of the gurdwara, and the space had been rented on false pretenses, ostensibly for spiritual purposes. The notice board at the entrance of the hall clearly mentions that liquor is NOT be consumed inside the hall.

As far as my knowledge goes, the Sikhs protested peacefully and for only one reason: i.e., against the consumption of liquor inside the hall. Also, the Indians - calling themselves 'sadhus' (mendicants) used foul language while leaving the hall.

None of these facts were mentioned anywhere in the news articles printed by the Indian media. Wait, there's more.

All of a sudden, RAW has got hold of Sukhwinder Singh “Sukhi”. Who is Sukhi? Sukhi is a corrupted product from the "Punjab  Kharkoo" days. He joined the 'Kharkoo' movement but became a Police CAT and helped the Indian agencies to kill the Kharkoos who were fighting for a real cause. Sukhi also participated with the police to malign the image of Sikhs by killing innocent Hindus in Punjab and blaming it on Sikhs!

Once the Khaarkoo era was over, Sukhi was given a new identity, “Harjit Singh K ahlon”, by the Punjab Police, a new passport and other documents were also provided. He was relocated to an "unknown place". Meanwhile, the Punjab police declared him dead and closed all the pending cases against his name.

There are approximately 300 Police CATs who were helped by the Punjab Police to start a life with new identity. The Indian media didn’t mention anything about Sukhi’s clubbing with Indian agencies during the Kkharkoo days and the killing of innocent Hindus as well as Sikhs. The media is now dishonestly portraying him as a Sikh militant who has been caught in Jaisalmer which is close to the Pakistan border.

Not only this, the Indian agencies have started harassing local Sikhs in Jaisalmer who are hardworking and involved in small businesses and jobs.

The other day I read an article with a headline: “Massive fund-raising campaign in West by separatist Sikh bodies”.

This clearly shows that the Indian government and its agencies are hell bent on maligning the image of Sikhs. They simply can’t digest that Sikhs are being portrayed as progressive, hardworking, honest, law abiding citizens and loyal to their respective countries.

Finally, I would like to mention that the scar made by this false propaganda by India and its agencies will remain with me. My elders in the community have gone through so many similar situations; I don’t know how many scars they have and how deep they are. But the moment they are about to heal, India and its corrupt agencies open the wounds again and ensure that they bleed.

I urge everybody to come under the “Kesri Nishaan Sahib” and protect yourself and family members from the false propaganda of the Indian media. I would also like to request the youth to come forward and use social media to spread the truth.

 “sach puraana hovai nahi” ... "Truth never gets old" [GGS:956] 

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