It has become increasingly obvious as this by-election campaign has progressed, that the Conservative candidate Tony Lit is the best person to represent Ealing Southall as our next MP. He's energetic, dynamic and displays the kind of qualities that would make him ideally suited to represent the people of Ealing Southall. We wanted to provide him with our backing and joining the Conservative Party sends the clearest possible message.
Locally since Conservatives took control of Ealing Council in May 2006 we have noticed that they have been making great strides towards trying to improve the quality of life for all our residents. We've finally reached the stage where it has become blatantly obvious that we would be doing own voters a great disservice if we continue to dogmatically stick with a disorganised and divided Labour Party. Our goal is to see genuine improvements for our residents. We believe that the Conservative Party now provides our community with greater opportunities and is genuinely interested in improving services for all.
At a national level we are extremely impressed by David Cameron's modern Conservatives and, with the changes that he has now made, we feel that the Conservative Party now best represents our views. In a sense we believe the
Conservatives have become our natural home and we are very excited about the opportunity to play a full part in a Party which we believe is destined to form the next government.
The five defectors are Cllr Gurcharan Singh, Cllr Manjit Singh, Cllr Maninder Kaur Keith, Cllr Jarnail Singh Jandu, Cllr Jagdish Gupta. Hilariously, Pickled Politics reckons the defection of Cllr Singh from Labor is a "blow" to the Conservatives. God knows how they will spin the defection of the other four.
George Bush Senior once said that to win an election you had to have the "Big Mo". It is far too early to say the Conservatives will win this by election but few observers would deny that it is they who have had the best start. Tom Watson's campaign is disintegrating by the day.
UPDATE 10:33: The LibDems are a bit behind the times. Ten minutes ago they put up THIS statement on their website. Get with it, guys!
Hmmm..
ReplyDeleteWould one new Tory MP + 5 new Tory Councillors compensate for the tragic loss of Sir Bufton Hufton-Tufton-Muffton-doubledashstrokeJohnnyBoy-oooohI'mnotastroker-Tufton-Smythe to the Labour benches???
Er.. I think so!!!
It couldn't happen to a nicer guy!
ReplyDeleteLike they say, What goes around, comes around...
Four minutes before ConHome. Well done.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Tory campaign in Sedgefield?
ReplyDeleteGreat I almost feel like going down there and helping out. Good news
ReplyDeleteBrown is dead in the water, even if the Tory candidate doesnt win(still unlikely) its a huge bash to the fragile NuLab confidence. PMQ's, EU referendum, cash for honours......drip drip drip. Many Nulab backbenchers should start looking for alternative employment!
ReplyDeleteWell done Mr. Keith Vaz! Thanks for your help, you sexist git!
ReplyDeleteWhat idiot put Tom Watson in charge of anything?!?! After his digi-cam special with Sion Simon the Labour High Command should have stamped- TWAT- across his Whips file! Anyway, he's been doing a wonderful job for us Tories! Ta Tam!
ReplyDeleteI suspect the " great clunking fist" is even now hovering over the hapless Watson as we blog
ReplyDeleteLooks like a suspected case of sour grapes, five gents in search of a cabinet member's allowance perhaps - Pickled Politics might be right, this might all backfire for ye jolly Tories. But even a case of suspected sour grapes is to be prefered to the mysterious case of the pickled herring...
ReplyDeleteGreat news and anon 10.28 is spot on !!
ReplyDeleteSo, now we know. It wasn't the granita deal, but the "armitage shanks" deal.
ReplyDeleteThe tw*t can't even get himself out of a locked toilet:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6283494.stm
anon 10.25
ReplyDeleteI think the Tories will happily settle for third in Sedgefield and first in Ealing Southall.
After all, didn't the Tories stand a Kevin Philips BONNNGGGGG candidate for a council seat there this year, who duly "polled no votes at all. Not a sausage. Bugger all...."
Not exactly their top target seat.
There is some fabulous politicing going on in Ealing Southall. Credit to Shapps for at the very least making this an "interesting" contest when it really should be a deffo third place for the Tories.
ReplyDeleteAt least IDS stoopid upping the price of beeer idea shouldn't impact negatively in this constituency with its religious make up!
I think the Tories have a chance to win in Ealing Southall. Speaking as a resident of this constituency, the new Tory Ealing Council have been doing a good job on local issues - even down to a democratic, ward-by-ward referendum on bins resulting in a near unanimous rejection of wheeliebins for the retention of once a week black bags.
ReplyDeleteLabour is tarnished by the local council's support of the West London Road Diggers Pension Fund, er, I mean Tram.
This election is for the Tories to lose, frankly.
Labour cannot bully everybody.
ReplyDeleteLook at how the BBC are reporting this on their web site. Talk about political bias. They quote the one independent candidate who happens to have moved back to his labour roots rather than the 5 coucillors and other independent candidiate who has moved to the tories.
ReplyDeleteWill the foul-mouthed oik who has posted here at 10.19am and 10.44am try to think of a name of his own please instead of using mine. Its not too difficult for most people but if it taxes his imagination too much perhaps he could ask his Mummy to think of one for him.
ReplyDeleteThese political types are as loyal as allay cats.
ReplyDelete"I think the Tories will happily settle for third in Sedgefield and first in Ealing Southall."
ReplyDeleteI suspect the Tories will be unhappily settling for a bronze medal in both seats...
How surprising that none of the posters of two weeks ago is now demanding that these five resign their seats and stand in a by-election.
ReplyDeleteI find it rather concerning that what appears to be effectively tribal politics has come to the UK. All the defectors appear to be Sikh, backing a Sikh.
ReplyDeleteI hope it is not a case of religious loyalties being placed before political convictions. Democracies with that tendency end up in a rather poor state.
they should resign, the same day as quentin whatshisname
ReplyDeleteAccording to Tom Watson in Ealing and Southall, the person who is known to some as “Tony Lit” is down on the ballot paper as standing as “Cameron’s Conservatives” candidate.
ReplyDeleteBlimey,welcome to the world of personality politics.Someone who wasn't even a member of The Conservative Party a few days ago is now standing as a member of 'Cameron's Conservatives'.God help Dave if all this goes belly up, he'll be torn to pieces...
I don't know who this imposter at 11:35am thinks he is, but *I* am Desperate Dan. I came up with the name first you nimwit.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you were so desperate you had to nick my name?
Pathetic.
Desparate Dans - Why doesn't one of you become disparate.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought!
Its flattering but intensely irritating that some brain dead moron can't think of a name for himself.
ReplyDeleteDesperate Dans:
ReplyDeleteC'mon have a go if you think you're hard enough!!!
Anon. 11.54-Was wondering just how long it would take to work it out.
ReplyDeleteSpot on.
Hope they haven't brought any tricky polling history with them.
As wonderful as Brown's government may turn out to be, do you think people might be turning against Labour for failing to give the actual voters a choice of who became the next PM?
ReplyDeleteIt's a very strange situation where the new PM announces "ch ch ch changes" from the government which a) he was a part of and b) people voted for en masse.
Perhaps Brown's arrogance will be getting a good clunking.
Here's what one of the defectors wrote on his blog about 10 days ago.
ReplyDelete"I am full of hope for the future as this to me signals the beginning of an era where the Labour party can consolidate its leanings over the last few years and move forward with a new outlook based upon positive change. We progress."
Clearly a committed Tory.
Noorderling said...
ReplyDeleteHow surprising that none of the posters of two weeks ago is now demanding that these five resign their seats and stand in a by-election.
I'm not 100% certain that you need to have a by-election to elect councillors. Just a thought.
There are just under 26k Sikhs in Ealing (National Statistics: census data 2001). If the defecting councillors swing a significant proportion of these voters in their community behind the tories it makes this contest wide open....
ReplyDelete"The best start"? OMG Iain you are now just writing nonsense. I suppose it is true that Tony Lit's selection got the defections and resignations going earliest! And that one of them is even standing against him!! So far so true. But otherwise ... it looks like a car crash.
ReplyDeletePlease send your people over to mine for a quick look at some of the downside that Labour have been having to wrestle with all these years with young Mr G Singh.
We feel rather like Atlas handing the weight of the world over to Hercules. But we're not taking him back, no way Jose! Read and weep.
Oh, just a footnote. Gurcharan Singh's crew will be disgusted at the shameful sell out of Mr Lit and why any of their backers who is a principled proponent of the "visible Sikh at all costs" route would back him rather than one of the many Independents I just don't know.
ReplyDeleteanon 1.22
ReplyDeleteClearly a New Labour "new era" lasts somewhat less than 10 days before reality crashes through....
I don't think you can apply party politics to Southall, I agree with the earlier comment on tribal politics. This I find a worrying trend.
ReplyDeleteTom Watson's post at 10.28 am on Pickled Politics: "The sun is shining on a glorious day in Ealing."
ReplyDeleteYou just *had* to make it personal, didn't you, Iain?
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with you and Tom? Do you obsess over his seniority, or it is something deeper?
Well marquee mark @ 10:54, the Conservatives ran-in second in Sedgefield in 2005 and with the LD's and Labour engaging in hand-to-hand fighting in Trimdon, I rather fancy the Tories for an easy silver at the very least.
ReplyDelete(The real mystery of the "null points" candidate in May 2007 is that the local paper carried reports after the election of a couple of electors in that ward who were surprised their Conservative votes hadn't been counted. Not the first time unionised local government workers have proved "inefficient"...)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDoes Chris Paul actually work for the Labour Party ? Seriously . They have a file of slurs to throw at defectors. I wonder of how many Labour Party members this is now true.
ReplyDeleteTerrifying people
CP does seem to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of every Labour association up and down the country. Is there central file on each and every member of the party in case anyone needs to be briefed against?
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice bunch of people.
That LibDem article is hilarious! People accuse Brown of being Stalinist but it's the Lib Dems who are behaving like Stalin as far as information regarding the Ealing Southall by-election is concerned. Conservative campaign in disarray? We'll see about that on polling day.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the Lib Dems will be talking about tractor production next...
Oh and Chris Paul mate, you're making us all laugh! Quit with the daft comments while you're only 1.9 million miles behind!
ReplyDeleteA media friend has been calling the LibDems today and says the panic is palpable. Not just these defections but their canvass returns show a swing to Tony Lit. They're response is entirely negative and my friend expects them to get worse if the slippage continues.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't just about Ming now but the future of the LibDems as a credible force since they've placed themselves on the fringe of opposition.
Time to go and help out Tony Lit! He seems to be the business. I caught this on YouTube this morning:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wmkGBEMqmc
Anon 4:17
ReplyDeleteMedia friend from Fox TV?
anon @ 11:54:
ReplyDeleteI find it rather concerning that what appears to be effectively tribal politics has come to the UK. All the defectors appear to be Sikh, backing a Sikh.
I hope it is not a case of religious loyalties being placed before political convictions. Democracies with that tendency end up in a rather poor state.
You, sir, are a vile and repulsive racist with no place in the modern Conservative party. Just catch David Cameron going within a mile of truthful analysis like that!
Is this Sedgefield, England, or Sedgefied, India? Tell me this is proportional representation otherwise the BNP will have a field day.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Tory. I don't want your guy to win. But what I do like about this story is how much s**t it throws into Tom Watson's stupud fat face.
ReplyDelete"And the Tory campaign in Sedgefield?"
ReplyDeleteRemember that Sedgefield is a much more distant target for the Tories than Ealing Southall. If the Tories gain Sedgefield at the next general election, Labour would have its lowest number of MPs since the 1910s.
I'm a Conservative, and I think the five Southall Cllr defectors should resign their seats and fight them at by-elections in their new guise.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course there is tribal politics going on - welcome to reality. I've always maintained that any politician suddenly attempting to 'cross the floor' should be required to sit as an Independent for six months before being accepted into the Party.
If Tony Lit wins the Ealing Southall By election I will eat my own doo doo. He hasnt a chance !!!. Why are you getting so excited, those 5 coucillors have written their own political death warrents.
ReplyDeleteGood to see Southalls Labour party shaken up. Labour by imposing an old out of touch candidate just the same as Piara Khabra will make the voters will make a protest decision.Already people are talking about this in large numbers at work, temples and radio phone ins about a protest. Victory to the electorate, enough is enough of shambolic Southall Labour party.
ReplyDeleteThis whole post has made me laugh. Some of you are just clueless
ReplyDeleteIf Iain had any idea of the politics in Ealing, he wouldn't be gloating about Mr Singh and his posse's defection. In fact, it was always likely that he would defect or stand as an independent when he was inevitably rejected by the Labour Party's selection panel for candidacy.
ReplyDeleteAs Chris Paul rightly asserts, the Conservatives are welcome to Mr Singh and his cronies - he's a nasty piece of work. And one hopes that when he and Mr Lit's father get together to plan their bullying campaign, they end up knocking 7 shades of shit out of each other - couldn't happen to a nicer pair.
The following has been posted in response to a negative write up by Chris Paul of Gurcharan Singh, his involvement in the turban campaign in France and allegations he was pro-Khalistan. It appears the details relating to 1984 are to be posted on prominent Conservative and Liberal Democrat blogs so they can challenge Virendra Sharma.
ReplyDeleteI’m not into party politics, but I am a Labour Party member as well as someone who works for the good of the British Sikh community. I find the contents of the article you have written is everything that puts ordinary people off party politics. I am a Labour Party member, but also a person who passionately believes in campaigning for Sikh rights.
Upset you may be with the Labour Party defections, but if you and others thought so little of prominent local Labour Party members in Southall you should have done something about it when they were in the Party. Also I find some of your comments offensive.
Why should Sikhs children not be able to practice their faith in French schools? Why should Sikh teachers, lecturers, police officers in London not be able to freely travel and work in France without having to compromise their faith? What is wrong with Gurcharan Singh showing his support for religious freedoms in France for Sikhs that live there and others that may choose to go and work there from the UK (even Ealing Southall). You are in serious danger of resorting to racist behaviour as you are upset. You should be upset with the likes of Keith Vaz who has put Labour in this position.
You also link Gurcharan Singh with the pro-Khalistan movement and make allegations about him rejoicing after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Anyone in the Sikh community in Southall or elsewhere in the UK will tell you that Gurcharan Singh’s role in promoting the Khalistan movement in the last 23 years is minimal to say the least?
You however make no mention of the official Labour Party candidate having strong family ties and being the agent and member of a foreign political party – the Indian Congress. How can the Labour Party allow someone to stand as a Member of the UK Parliament who has open allegiances to Congress and will always be at the beck and call of the Indian High Commission in London rather than the constituents of Ealing Southall? This also explains the pivotal role of Keith Vaz, an Indian Government stooge, in ensuring a one horse race in the Labour Party short list.
Given Labour friends of Virendra Sharma have bought up the Khalistan issue and the events of 1984 I thought it only right to share the following information more widely so the opposition parties can challenge the ‘invisible and silent’ Labour candidate that owes his allegiances to the Indian Government and the Congress. Although recent revelations have also shown that as a prominent Hindu he also has close ties with right wing Hindu groups, such as the VHP and RSS.
Congress was not only responsible for the massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs at the Golden Temple Complex that ultimately led to two of her Sikh bodyguards taking revenge for the desecration, but also for the anti-Sikh pogroms that took place in over 130 different cities in India that took the lives of over 20,000 innocent Sikhs following a four day orgy of violence.
India's whole scale military crackdown in Panjab in June 1984, resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Sikh civilians during the Indian Army attack on the Golden Temple complex and the subsequent draconian sweep through Panjab.
Preceding the attack on the Golden Temple there was a non violent agitation for political, religious and economic rights for Sikhs and all Punjabis. This was due to the non fulfilment of promises made to the Sikhs by Nehru and Gandhi on independence from Britain in 1947.
This was the biggest non violent agitation for rights since Indian Independence movement and thousands of Sikhs were thrown in jails for simply protesting for their rights. Many Sikhs were also killed in extra judicial murders carried out by the police.
Under this persecution Sikhs used their historic centre for political and religious rights the Golden Temple and Akal Takht to pursue their agitation. This was nothing new as the Sikh Guru’s had done this in the past when standing up against oppressors, and told Sikhs to do the same if they faced persecution in the future.
Then from June 1984 India launched a brutal attack on 125 Sikh Gurdwaras including the Golden Temple and Akal Takht. Thousands of innocent civilians died during the initial attack with thousands of others being simply disappeared in an army operation across the entire of Punjab. The worst aspect of the massacre was the killing of women and children by the army.
http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/bluestar/ (weblink giving full background to the attack)
Media Quotes on 1984
On 4 June, a day of pilgrimage for Sikhs when thousands had gathered at the Golden Temple, army tanks moved into the Temple Complex, smashing into the sanctum and shooting everyone in sight.... Those left alive were then prevented from leaving the building, many wounded were left to bleed to death and when they begged for water, Army Jawans told them to drink the mixture of blood and urine on the floor. Some 3000 dead, including many who were only unconscious, were piled high in trucks and removed. Four months later no list of casualties or missing persons had yet been issued. Then can the army occupation of Panjab with frequent humiliations, arrests and killings of Sikhs by soldiers. It caused a feeling voiced by many ordinary people who had never before been separatists that ...Sikhs could not be safe there.”
Amrit Wilson: New Statesman - 16 November 1984
PUNJAB UNDER SIEGE
‘For five days the Punjab has been cut off from the rest of the world. There is a 24-hour curlew. All telephone and telex lines are cut. No foreigners are permitted entry and on Tuesday, all Indian journalists were expelled. There are no newspapers, no trains, no buses -not even a bullock cart can move.
Christian Science Monitor - 8 June 1984
‘HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL’
“As long as the army keeps news reporters and other outsiders from traveling in Punjab except on tightly controlled military tours, there is no way of knowing what excesses might be committed”
New York Times - 8 June 1984
COLD BLOODED MURDERS
“The Amritsar deputy police superintendent who helped remove bodies from the temple grounds said at least 13 of the victims were shot with their hands bound. It was a virtual massacre,” said the Jullundar doctor. “A large number of women, children and pilgrims were gunned down.”
Associated Press - 14 June 1984
INHUMANITY
“…medical workers in Amritsar said soldiers had threatened to shoot them if they gave food or water to Sikh pilgrims wounded in the attack and lying in the hospital.”
Christian Science Monitor - 18 June 1984
SILENCING THE PEOPLE
“Mopping up after the death of Jarnail Singh Bhindanwale…the government has now arrested more than 3000 of his....followers. The government has also turned up its propaganda machine
Newsweek - 25 June 1984
DISINFORMATION
“As for anti-Sikh feeling, the word ‘Sikh’ and ‘terrorist’ became almost synonymous in the government controlled media and in the speeches of politicians. The storming of the Golden Temple at Amritsar was reported by most national papers and radio and television in a shamelessly biased fashion.”
Amrit Wilson: New Statesman - 16 November 1984
During the Golden Temple attack, young boys ages 8 to 13 were taken outside and asked if they supported Khalistan, the independent Sikh country. When they answered with the Sikh religious incantation “Bole So Nihal,” they were shot to death. The Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scriptures, written in the time of the Sikh Gurus, were shot full of bullet holes and burned by the Indian forces.
Other useful points that could be put to the Labour Party candidate, Virendra Sharma, include:
India has not allowed Amnesty International or UN Rapporteur for Torture to be allowed to visit and investigate in Panjab for almost 30 years. What is India hiding?
Three Early Day Motions that were tabled on the 20th anniversary of 1984 are reproduced below and attracted cross-party support from over 150 UK MPs. Would Virendra Sharma sign such EDMs?
EDM 664 - 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STORMING OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE COMPLEX
That this House notes with sadness the 20th anniversary of the June 1984 assault by the Indian army on the Golden Temple complex, the Sikhs' holiest shrine, where sacred buildings and historic artefacts were destroyed or damaged beyond repair; further notes that the unprecedented action using artillery and tanks took place on one of the most important days in the Sikh calendar, when there were huge numbers of pilgrims in attendance, which resulted in thousands of innocent Sikhs being killed in cold blood, many with their hands and feet bound, including women and children; is appalled that scores of other Sikh Gurdwaras were stormed by the Indian army throughout Panjab and that thousands of Sikhs were arrested, tortured, and killed, including children; recognises that these actions by the Indian authorities continue to have an immeasurable impact on Sikhs throughout the world; and extends its sympathy and support to the law-abiding, hard working, and well respected international Sikh community.
EDM 663 - VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF SIKHS IN INDIA
That this House notes and applauds the efforts of human rights activists in India to highlight atrocities, including false imprisonment, torture, deaths in custody, extra-judicial executions and disappearances, perpetrated against Sikhs in the last 20 years; further notes that it is estimated that over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered and/or disappeared since June 1984; is deeply concerned that 20 years later the Indian Government continues to deny full access to Panjab to international human rights groups and to the UN Rapporteur on Torture; regrets that thousands of families are still waiting to know the fate of relatives who have disappeared; and calls on the Prime Minister, on behalf of the estimated 700,000 Sikhs in the United Kingdom, to lead the international community in demanding full access to Panjab to international human rights groups and the UN.
EDM 662 - 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF NOVEMBER 1984 ATTACKS ON SIKHS
That this House notes with sadness the 20th anniversary of the November 1984 pogrom against thousands of innocent Sikhs in a matter of days in cities across India; further notes that Sikhs became the target of organised violence with murderous gangs swarming into Sikh houses, hacking the occupants to pieces, chopping off the heads of children, raping women, tying Sikh men to tyres set aflame with kerosene and pulling Sikh passengers from public transport to be lynched or burned alive; recognises that Amnesty International in a memorandum to the Government of India, complained that far from being spontaneous expressions of popular grief and anger as made out by the authorities, the killings were the outcome of a well organised plan marked by acts of both deliberate commission and omission by important politicians of the Congress and by authorities in the administration; believes that investigation and criminal proceedings are long overdue; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to take the lead in the international community to establish an independent UN inquiry into the failure of successive governments in India to take sufficient actions against those responsible for the events of November 1984.
1984 to the Present
In November 1984, thousands of Sikh civilians in New Delhi and other major cities, were systematically hunted down and murdered in their homes and on the streets; with the open complicity of the Indian police.
• Over the last 25 years, India has imposed a regime of gruesome repression and murder on the Sikh population in Panjab. Tens of thousands of Sikh civilians have been killed in a combination of staged 'armed encounters' and 'disappearances'.
• Amnesty International(2) and Human Rights Watch (3) have together produced over twenty separate reports, documenting widespread human rights atrocities in Panjab by India's police and army. Torture, arbitrary incarceration, and custodial deaths, are reported as routine and widespread. India has refused to open up to an international scrutiny of these incidents. It has barred Amnesty International, since 1978; and has refused to permit access to the UN's Special Rapporteur on Torture and Disappearances.
• Many human rights activists, such as Jaswant Singh Khalra (4), have been killed in police custody or 'disappeared' in sinister circumstances.
Human rights should be enjoyed by all people at all times. We believe that awareness of these issues will help the struggle to end grave abuses of the fundamental human rights in Panjab and elsewhere in India. We come from all walks of life, with widely different political and religious views, united by our determination to ensure everyone enjoys basic human rights. We want to give hope to the people of Panjab that justice will be done. At the same time, we strongly and unequivocally condemn the killings of other innocents, including Hindus, that took place during the same period. Acts like these were used to further communalise the situation and impose further draconian measures.
Will Virendra Sharma call upon the British Government and European Union to bear pressure on the Government of India to prosecute those who have committed these crimes against humanity. Will he also call upon the United Nations to establish and supervise in the Panjab a full and independent Commission for Truth & Justice in order to document the atrocities that have been committed over the past 20 years.
Notes
(1) Politics of Genocide (1995) by Inderjit Singh Jaijee of the Movement against State Repression, p 41 quoting three human rights groups and three Advocates Generals who researched the killings for the period 1984-1994.
(2) Break the Cycle of Impunity and Torture in Punjab (2003), Amnesty International.
(3)Dead Silence: The Legacy of Abuses in Punjab (1994), Physicians for Human Rights.
(4) A Mockery of Justice – The case concerning the ‘disappearance’ of human rightrs defender Jaswant Singh Khalra severely undermined, Amnesty International (1998
Continuing Violations
The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1948, over 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands of Tamils, Assamese, Bodos, Manipuris, Dalits, and others. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs "worse than a genocide."
The police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and murdered, then their bodies were declared unidentified and secretly cremated. He was murdered in police custody. His body was not given to his family. The police never released the body of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna murdered him. Ghotna has never been brought to trial for the Jathedar Kaunke murder. No one has been brought to justice for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Human Rights Reports on Sikhs and Punjab
Amnesty International
India: Punjab - Twenty years on impunity continues - Amnesty International
Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200992004
India: A vital opportunity to end impunity in Punjab - Amnesty International
In 1996 in response to two petitions filed in the Supreme Court containing allegations of human rights violations in Punjab, the Court ordered th National Human Rights Commission to examine the al...
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200241999
India: Will past human rights violations in Punjab remain forgotten? - Amnesty International
Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200291999
India: Break the cycle of impunity and torture in Punjab - Amnesty International
Torture and custodial violence continue to be regularly reported in Punjab, despite the end of the militancy period in the state in the mid-1990s. In this report Amnesty International makes the ...
India: AI membership expresses solidarity to the families of the disappeared in Punjab - Amnesty International
There is no abstract for this document
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200052003
India: Fear of torture/Fear for safety - Amnesty International
Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of at least 100 individuals including social activists, human rights defenders and lawyers in Punjab. Some are being illegally detained in connect...
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200022004
India : Fear of torture/fear for safety of Rajiv Singh - Amnesty International
Rajiv Singh, a key witness in the trial of police officers accused of abducting a human rights activist has been arrested by Punjab police. Amnesty International fears this is an attempt to prevent ...
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200482000
India: A Mockery of Justice: The case concerning the "disappearance" of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra severely undermined - Amnesty International
This brief report documents the means used by accused police officers, including delay of proceedings and intimidation of witnesses, in their search of impunity for the 'disappearance' of Jaswant ...
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200071998
Human Rights Watch
Letter from Human Rights Watch to the National Human Rights Commission of India
On the upcoming decision in the Punjab mass secret cremations case
As the National Human Rights Commission prepares to issue a decision in the Punjab mass secret cremations case, we urge the Commission to order a full accounting of the systematic abuses that occurred in Punjab, determine liability after detailed investigations into the violations, and provide for compensation for surviving family members based on a detailed understanding of the scope of violations suffered by each individual.
Other Screams of Terror
By Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch researcher
Published in The Asian Age
People who lived through 1984 in Delhi are unlikely to forget the horrors. After years of inquiries, commissions, accusations and denials, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has, last month, expressed regret for the horrifying anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi, saying that, "I have no hesitation in apologising not only to the Sikh community but the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood and what is enshrined in our Constitution."
India: Justice Eludes Families of the "Disappeared" in Punjab ...
"Ending state impunity for abuses in Punjab must become a priority. ... We hope it will do the same in Punjab." Smita Narula, senior researcher for South ...
www.hrw.org/press/2003/06/india061003.htm
http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?showtopic=28215&st=144#entry271123
One thing that has been good in this by election is the profile of human rights abuses in India has been raised. Sikhs , Chritians, Muslims and Dalits have all been victims.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Labour under Brown will take these up withIndia?
5 labour Councillors defecting in Southall = 5 votes at best.
ReplyDelete