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
August 22-28, 2001 : Vol. 17 ; No. 34). (http://www.khalistan-affairs.org) It
was also published in the third week of August 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. It can be
viewed on the Khalistan Affairs Centre web site (http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/main/k_calling/kc08212001.htm). The Overseas Sikhs, unlike their 20 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 August 21, 2001.
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Is Chief minister Badal engaged in duplicity (Nura Kushti)
over the SYL canal issue a la Udham Singh Nagar?
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Indian Supreme Court orders a 'Hindu solution' of the
30 years old SYL canal 'dispute' by September 09, 2001 !
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PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER BADAL CHALLENGED
TO COME CLEAN ON SYL CANAL ISSUE
BY
Dr. Amarjit Singh
956-National Press Building, Washington DC 20045 USA
Tel: 202-637-9210 :: Fax: 202-637-9211
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Washington DC: August 21, 2001: This
column - Khalistan Calling - endorses the challenge issued yesterday by the
Ludhiana-based Sikh League International (SLI) and International Human Rights
Organization (IHRO) which puts the spotlight on Punjab Chief minister, Parkash
Singh Badal's shenanigans, by giving him a chance to redeem his honour, by
calling upon him to declare; "as null and void all the 'secret agreements'
on river waters, by passing a resolution in the Punjab assembly, to prove that
he is not hand-in-glove with his Haryana counterpart in this regard," and
that his government and party has not entered into any backroom deal with
anybody over the SYL canal in particular, and Punjab river waters in general,
for the sake of pelf and power. How about it Mr. Badal as this is a very fair
challenge in the interest of every Sikh?
According to yesterday's issue (August 20, 2001) of the Times of India
IHRO Chairperson and SLI President, Mr. D. S. Gill and IHRO general secretary
Mr. Mohinder Singh Grewal have, after a meeting of the organizations, issued a
statement in Ludhiana, which has expressed dismay over the leadership of SAD
(Badal) and the Panthik Morcha. The statement has urged the people of Punjab to
differentiate between puppets of the Centre and genuine representatives of the
Punjab and the Sikhs. The statement said that those; "celebrating the
death anniversary of Longowal (who was assassinated within days of his betrayal
of Punjab's national interests) were puppets. They regretted that Simranjit
Singh Mann too had joined the bandwagon." They asked in the statement
that; "Was it not Barnala, who had then agreed to complete the
controversial SYL canal and allowed troops to enter the Golden Temple in 1987
(Operation Black Thunder) at the instance of the then Prime minister Rajiv
Gandhi? It was again the Barnala (and Badal) coterie which had betrayed the
Punjabis settlers by agreeing to include District Udham Singh Nagar in
Uttaranchel state just to serve their BJP masters in Delhi who have now rewarded
Barnala with the governorship of Uttaranchel." The statement concluded by
urging; "Badal to challenge the newly passed Inter-state Water Disputes
Act 2001 in the Supreme Court." How about it Mr. Badal as international
riparian laws support Punjab's just case?
The sinister 'SYL canal' conspiracy against Sikh Punjab's future
generations, which was brewing for some time, started unrevealing on August 09,
2001 when a Division Bench of the Indian Supreme Court, comprising Justice G.
B. Patnaik and Justice Ruma Paul, issued an unprecedented directive ordering
the Indian Prime minister to; "broker a mutually acceptable solution to
the SYL canal issue between Punjab and Haryana within four weeks time and if no
settlement was arrived at within the stipulated time, it would announce its
order as the hearing on the suit filed by Haryana in 1996 was over." The
1996 Haryana petition to the Supreme Court sought direction to the Punjab
government to complete the SYL canal as the Haryana part of the canal was complete
and tax-payer's money amounting to 600 crore had been spent for this purpose.
Incidentally Shubhadeep Choudhry's report in today's, August 21 Tribune,
Chandigarh, (headlined;"SYL: Sampat's No to out of court settlement")
has deepened the conspiracy. It points an accusing finger at Punjab Chief
minister Parkash Singh Badal when it reveals that on August 09, 2001 (when the
directive was issued by the Supreme Court) Badal along with Haryana Chief
minister Om Parkash Chautala met Prime minister Pundit Atal Bihari Vajpayee in
New Delhi." Some coincidence! Some Supreme Court! Some Nura Kushti!
According to another report in today's Tribune headlined;"SYL:
Centre summons Punjab, Haryana," by Sarbjit Dhaliwal, the Union ministry
of Water Resources is holding a meeting today (August 21, 2001) in New Delhi,
pursuant to the Supreme Court's order, in which Punjab will be represented by
an unknown, one Mrs. Surjit Kaur Sandhu, a lowly Secretary of the Irrigation
department, who the Hindu-owned newspaper claims, will "stick to the
earlier stand that (non-riparian) Haryana has no right (unlike non-riparian
Rajasthan?) over the Punjab waters as per the riparian rules and hence no water
could be given to it through the SYL canal." Obviously this is a
deliberate attempt to put forward a weak low moral ground argument (as
non-riparian Rajasthan draws more Punjab water than either Punjab or Haryana)
when stronger high moral ground arguments are available to the Punjab. For
example International Law and practice supports Punjab's stand which needs the
water for ground water recharge and water management purposes as ground water
is dangerously low in half of Punjab including Chandigarh. This is a much more
logical, moral and legal argument then what Mrs. Surjit Kaur Sandhu is reported
to be trumpeting.
Yet another Jalandhar datelined report in today's Times of India (August
21, 2001) headlined;"Gave Up Water Share: Congress," says that Mr.
Sukhpal Singh Khaira, secretary Punjab Pradesh Congress committee, has alleged
in a Press note issued yesterday that;"keeping in view the approaching
Vidhan Sabha elections, Mr. Badal is likely to surrender a large chunk of the
share of waters to Haryana in lieu of the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab. If
that was not so then why did Badal and his coterie not oppose the recent
amendment to the Inter State River Waters Dispute Act of 1954 under which
amendment the authority being vested with the Rivers Waters Tribunal would be
equivalent to the Supreme Court, with no further appeal to its order?"
Indeed why was the above mentioned amendment not publicly opposed by the
Badal government and why is Punjab being represented in today's crucial New
Delhi Water Resources ministry meeting by a 'nobody', are valid questions that
come to every Sikh mind? Mr. Badal's intentions have become obvious as his
evasive 'done deal' behavior pattern on the SYL canal issue seems to be
identical to the Nura Kushti he engaged in two years ago when he let down the
Sikh settlers of District Udham Singh Nagar after secretly selling his vast
land holdings there at a profit. It would be interesting to find out what Badal
and his cronies are buying and selling in Chandigarh these days under the
'umbrella' of this crisis?
By a strange coincidence the Times of India carried a story by Jyoti
Kamal on August 20, 2001, headlined; "one-fourth of Punjab water
logged." This statement was made by the Chairman of the Central Ground
Water Authority, Ministry of Water Resources, Dr. D. K. Chadha. While speaking
at the Punjab university he blamed the canals networks, which he said, leads to
the water of the canals percolating down, which in turn results in water
logging for miles around the adjoining areas. Dr. Chadha said that a major
social fall out was that water-logged farmlands in one fourth of Punjab had
become non-productive and banks have notified these areas for non-disbursement
of any loans. The farmers, who are mostly Sikhs in the Punjab, as a result are
suffering as they are doubly hit which should explain the high suicide rate among
them. Most of South Western Punjab is a water logged area (thanks to the Indira
Gandhi and Bikanir canals which carry Punjab river's water free of cost to
non-riparian Rajasthan state) and as a result of the theft of Sikh Punjab's
natural resource has forced many a Sikh farmer in the recent past to commit
suicide in desperation.
We hope Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who should thank Wahay Guru
for his remarkable recovery from his recent terminal ailment, will pay heed to
IHRO chairperson D. S. Gill's noble suggestion of passing a resolution in the
State assembly on the lines mentioned in paragraph one above, so that the
'finger of suspicion' stands down, which at this point in time points in his
direction. Badal should also make amends and seek protection under
International Riparian Laws and Practices for beleaguered Punjab and remember
that the future of our children and their children is at stake if Haryana
succeeds in stealing Punjab's river water via the SYL canal a la Rajasthan's
Indra Gandhi canal.
We also hope that Mr. Simranjit Singh Mann
has recovered from his operation and still remembers the courageous and
patriotic resolution passed by his party at the Hola Mohalla conference on March
02, 1999 at Anandpur Sahib in which it was resolved to muster support and carry
out a symbolic filling up of the SYL canal.
See http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/main/k_calling/kc031799.htm
. "One gets from the symbol the
meaning he puts into it," is a truism we all should remember!
KHALISTAN ZINDABAD - LONG LIVE
KHALISTAN
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