Memorandum to Sonia Gandhi (Chairperson, UPA) - By KAC

Memorandum to Sonia Gandhi (Chairperson, UPA)

By Khalsa Action Committee

RegardingThe blasphemous activitiesOf the Sirsa Dera and its chief
The Khalsa Action Committee urges you to take immediate steps to assuage the hurt psyche and feelings of the Sikh people caused by the anti-Sikh blasphemous activities of the Sirsa Dera undermining Sikh beliefs and principles. The continuing logistic support and patronisation of the Dera and its pseudo-saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim by the Congress Party has caused pain and anguish to the devout in Panjab, which has been further exacerbated by the utterances of the Panjab Congress chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and various Congress leaders in Haryana.
Malafide interference in the activities of the church by the state is unwarranted and uncalled for. The history of Italy and the Vatican are testimony to the two working in their own domain and respecting each other. Nobody in India can understand more than your good self.
Unfortunately, the history of Panjab is replete with many instances of the state meddling in the religious affairs of the minority peoples and flagrantly supporting the majority community. The Constitution of the Indian State professes to be secular, but in practice all federating units and the Union government misuse discretionary funds to foist schismatic forums to weaken the ethos of religions of minority peoples. This is precisely the case with the Sirsa dera. The avowed aim of this outfit is to underscore and attack the concept of Shabad Guru –a fundamental tenet of the Sikh religion.
The ministry of home affairs fired the first salvo against the Sikhs by sponsoring the pseudo-Nirankaris in the early fifties, till it became an uncontrollable Frankenstein Monster resulting in the killing of 13 devout Sikhs in Amritsar on 13 April 1978 . After lying low for some time, this cult too is again raising its head and is seen on the streets of Panjab, taunting devout Sikhs.
The Sirsa Dera chief is a melodramatic cultist leader like the ones which appeared in the United States in the early eighties. Such cultist leaders hold such a sinister sway over their followers that they can ultimately lead them to mass suicides. In the present case, matters have been made worse by state patronage. The Congress party in Haryana and Panjab has been fuelling this Dera, not only to achieve its premeditated aim of undermining the Sikh religion, but also to reap electoral benefits by influencing the Dera chief to issue diktats in its favour as was done in the last assembly elections in Panjab and Haryana.
The divisive and destructive policies of the Congress may have resulted in political benefits to your party but have certainly damaged the polity, strained people-to-people relationship and caused bloodshed. The role of the Congress party has been mysterious, its intentions, malafide and its machinations, Machiavellian.
In the present case, the act of the Sirsa Dera head that had attired himself like the Tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh and tried to negate the concept of Amrit (the Khalsa baptism ceremony) of the Guru has caused deep and inconsolable hurt. To rub salt on our wounds, Congress leader Capt. Amarinder Singh, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Congress working President, K. P. Singh publicly defended this gross misdemeanour of the pseudo-baba.
It is in the fitness of things to mention that this person, Gurmeet Ram Rahim has cases of rape and murder against him. The courts may have granted bail to him but the manner in which logistic support in the form of Z-plus security; bullet proof vehicles and 24-hour armed guards are provided to him, smacks of the state protecting its honoured guest! Had the pseudo-saint not indulged in open blasphemy, the CBI, which was postponing charging the baba, may have still not pursued the case. We believe that this too is the result of the closeness of the baba with the Congress party and respective governments in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi . The Indian judiciary was also quick to treat him differently. Sikh leaders having dissenting political opinion have cases foisted upon them many times over.
Despite Sikh protests, things have been allowed to come to a pass where the Dera head projects himself as a law unto himself. It is the general belief of Sikhs and other minorities that the judiciary is manoeuvred to suit the requirements of the ruling party. It has happened in this case too. While we would not like to serve a warning, we would like to point out that even in the case of the pseudo-Nirankaris, our wounds were allowed to fester and even in the present case, we have been pushed to the wall.
There has not been substantive improvement in the relations between the Sikhs and the Indian state. A large number of issues and concerns await redress: release of Sikh detainees languishing in various jails, withdrawal of black list, commutation of death sentence of Prof Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, restoring to Punjab's right to its river waters, dismantling the SYL canal, providing corridor to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, amendment to the Indian constitution, All India Gurdwara Act, enactment of enabling provisions under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, et al.
We seek your immediate indulgence to take effective measures against the Sirsa Dera and its chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim. All patronage and support to this baba and other such self-styled bigots must be stopped. The Congress party must be seen to be secular in Panjab in letter and spirit. Under your leadership, you should bury the hatchet put up by your predecessors and make serious attempts to normalise the polity in Panjab. All vicious propaganda against the Sikhs in the media must cease. You should issue strict guidelines for the Congress leadership in Panjab directing them to desist from interjecting in Sikh religious affairs.

Khalsa Action Committee is an umbrella organisation of various social, religious, political and human rights organisations including Shiromani Akali Dal ( Amritsar), Sikh Students Federation, SAD (1920), Dal Khalsa, Damdami Taksal, Kendri Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Akhand Kirtani Jatha, International Human Rights Organisation, Punjab Human Rights Organisation.

Source: SikhSiyasat.Com