The following KHALISTAN CALLING newsletter has been
published in the leading Punjabi-English newspaper of the Sikh diaspora, Surrey
Canada-based CHARHDI KALA, (Issue of
May 16 - 22, 2001 : Vol. 17 ; No. 20). ( http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/main/k_calling/kc05172001.htm )
It was also published in the second week of May in the Vancouver-based PUNJAB GUARDIAN, Toronto-based SANJH SAVERA, Calgary-based SIKH VIRSA
and numerous other Punjabi/English weekly and monthly publications which cater
to the three million strong Sikh diaspora in Europe, Africa, Asia and
Australia. The Overseas Sikhs, unlike their 19 million compatriots captive in
India, are free and prosperous and they are determined - as they believe it is their
destiny and pray for it every day; Raj
Karay Ga Khalsa; Sikhs will rule - to carve a sovereign, democratic,
egalitarian Sikh buffer state of KHALISTAN
in South Asia, stretching from the Jumna
river on the East to the Pakistan border on the West, China on the Northeast
and Kashmir on the North.
Khalistan Calling
newsletter dated May 17, 2001.
·
Please E-mail newsletter
to a friend, opinion maker & / or a newspaper.
=========================================================================
AN
APPEAL
TO
US
SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK
TO
BOTTLE THE SOUTH ASIAN NUCLEAR JINNI
-----------
a
nonexistent Missile Defence Shield
U.S.
Sanctions Must Stay Till India Signs CTBT & NPT
BY
Dr. Amarjit Singh
956-National Press
Building, Washington DC 20045 USA
Tel: 202-637-9210
:: Fax: 202-637-9211
INTERNET SITE
INFORMATION:-
Web Site: http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/
E-mail Address:
Washington DC: May
17, 2001: An article (about the
Indian government's reaction to the much talked about American Missile Defence
shield proposal) authored by the respected Indian columnist, Praful Bidwai, in the World Affairs
section of the latest issue (May 12 - 25, 2001, http://www.the-hindu.com/fline/fl1810/18101150.htm)
FRONTLINE (makes interesting reading
for anyone, specially us Sikhs whose homeland of Punjab, has been earmarked as
a battlefield by the morally repugnant, Brahmin-fundamentalist, Indian rulers
for any future nuclear war between India and Pakistan (or India and China) as
is obvious from the just concluded provocative military exercise codenamed "Total Victory" held in Rajasthan
and Sikh Punjab near the Pakistan border. Please see http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/main/k_calling/kc05092001.htm.
The picture becomes really weird
if one were to juxtaposition the above Bidwai article with another article
about the 'National Missile Defence shield' by renowned columnist Thomas Friedman in the May 15, 2001
issue of New York Times, headlined;
"Who's crazy here." (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/15/opinion/15FRIE.html) We Sikhs have a general idea who is crazy here!
Praful Bidwai in his FRONTLINE article
accuses the Indian Foreign Office of 'militarism and hegemonism' for describing
the Missile defence proposal as 'significant and far-reaching'. Bidwai
describes the 'Missile Defence' proposal as follows and we quote verbatim:-
"Put simply missile 'defence' involves tracking down a suspected 'hostile'
missile launch in seconds through high-technology satellites and other early
warning systems, and shooting down the 'enemy' missile either in its early
boost stage or in its final trajectory with yet another missile ('interceptor'
or 'killer'). The technology involves accurately, reliably hitting an ultra
high-velocity bullet with another high-velocity bullet. It has proved extremely
difficult to implement in practice and is still in its infancy. (Two of the
three American tests last year failed completely and the results of the third
one were 'cooked'). The technology makes missile 'defence' undependable. What
makes it positively dangerous is the likely response of the adversary; to make
and shoot more and more missiles so that at least some will penetrate the
'shield' (which is also vulnerable to deception by decoys).... Thus, missile
'defences' would, logically, inevitably, provoke a runaway arms race." End
quote.
Bidwai goes on to say that: "New Delhi seemed to have been seized by a
bout of irrationality, even dementia, in welcoming what have been called
'madcap missiles'. Or else, it would not have adopted a stand that so
self-evidently and gravely undermines global security, regional strategic
balances and its own interests. This must not pass. The government has no
democratic mandate to effect such a draconian, even suicidal change of
policy." Indeed!
Having quoted Praful Bidwai it will be interesting to
see what one of America's foremost columnist, Thomas Friedman, has to say in his article about Missile defence in
today's (May 15, 2001) New York Times
headlined; "Who's crazy here?".
Friedman concludes his article (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/15/opinion/15FRIE.html) by writing that; " It is good to have layers
of defence, just as it is good to have belts and suspenders. But if you already have suspenders, it would be crazy to pay $. 100 billion for a belt of
uncertain reliability - especially if that belt makes it more likely your pants
will fall down." Mr. Friedman introductory comments in his article are,
that; " The Bush team's explanation for why we have to build a national
missile defence shield gets more interesting by the week."
In his article Mr. Friedman did not answer the question
raised in the headline as to; "Who's
crazy here"? It is obvious to us Sikhs that the 'crazy man' in this
particular equation as far as South Asia is concerned is that 'other-in-law' of
Mogul Emperor Akbar, the high school graduate and retired Indian Army supply
Major, Jaswant Singh - the Indian foreign minister - a rootless individual who
has never been elected even as a 'dog catcher'. The man is good at apeing the
clipped British accent which has impressed the Hindi-speaking BJP crowd
(including Prime minister Pundit Atal Bihari Vajpayee) in Delhi, who all
because of an acute inferiority complex equate facility in the English language
with wisdom and have allowed this phony adventurer into the power inner circle.
The Indian Foreign Office
statement describing the Missile shield proposal as 'significant and
far-reaching' has Jaswant Singh's fingerprints all over it. All Jaswant Singh
is interested in, is to somehow con the US Administrations into giving a 'wink
and a nod' to the suicidal Indian nuclear programme (presently under US
sanctions) which will inevitably lead to a conflict with Pakistan or China or
both which India can NEVER win because of 'General Geography" and the squalor that is India. In the process
the lives of 19 million Sikhs and the safety of numerous Sikh holy shrines
(captive in Indian Punjab located right in the middle of India and Pakistan and
a 150 miles from China) are at stake as is the safety of nearly one and a half
billion South Asians. We Sikhs in particular, at this point in time, are
vulnerable to the whims of a coterie of morally repugnant individuals like the
Swastika-worshipping Jaswant Singh who would not bat an eye if tomorrow every
Sikh was killed to further his ambitions.
Having identified the 'crazy
one', columnist Thomas Friedman was looking for, we Sikhs appeal once again to
good thinking people like Senator Sam
Brownback, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relation's subcommittee on South
Asia, that US sanctions against India (and Pakistan)
not be removed or even relaxed till these two countries roll back
their nuclear programmes and sign the CTBT
(Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty) and the NPT (Nuclear
Proliferation treaty). Please see our previous appeal addressed to Senator Brownback
last year; (http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/main/k_calling/kc08162000.htm). Please also see our Open Letter on this subject to
the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell this year. (http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/main/k_calling/kc04042001.htm)
.
Let us hope the good Senator
(Brownback) from Kansas will pay attention again, as any action, like the U.S.
sanctions which help in non-proliferation of nuclear weapons in squalidly India
(where over seven hundred million people have no latrines or clean drinking
water) and puts the 'nuclear jinni' back in the bottle, is in American, Indian and Sikh national interest and more important - it is
doable.
================
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