Patiala, India, July 05 (KMS): Taking at dig at Indian government for terming the nine Sikhs associated with the Khalistan struggle as “terrorists”, the Dal Khalsa and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) have asked the Indian home ministry to rectify its error.
The Dal Khalsa President, HS Cheema and SAD (A) General Secretary, Mohinderpal Singh in a press briefing in Patiala called the government’s move an attempt to paint the image of Sikh nation worldwide with terrorism brush, which is totally unacceptable and intolerable.
The Dal Khalsa General Secretary, Paramjit Singh Tanda, SYP President, Paramjit Singh Mand and SAD (A) leader, Harbhajan Singh Kashmiri were also present on the occasion.
“Continuing with its anti-minority policies and mindset, the Indian government under Narendra Modi has designated nine sikhs associated with Khalistan movement as ‘terrorists’ under amended draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967,” a Delhi-based newspaper ‘Times of India’ quoted HS Cheema as saying.
“We don’t see any justification or logic behind government’s provocative and illegal move. The timing of New Delhi’s move to target Khalistani Sikhs has raised eyebrows. The move looks like Modi Govt’s smokescreen to hide its failure to address disputes with all neighbouring countries and to face the Chinese aggression,” Cheema added.
According to the organization, there are presently 13 persons figured in this list- four of whom are Muslims and nine are Sikhs.
“They took SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) and Akali MPs to task for not raising their voices and succumbing to BJP’s anti-Sikh tactics,” the organisational head said during the press conference.
“We stand by the goal of Khalistan through democratic means and are of the opinion that referendum or plebiscite is the only peaceful method to resolve conflicts. Being a main indigenous faces of the political movement for a sovereign Punjab or Khalistan, we have presented the Sikh case for referendum for Punjab under the aegis of the United Nations at national and international fora a number of times,” the newspaper quoted the members as saying while making their opinion clear.
Condemning the state police for harassing Sikh youth under the guise of tackling the referendum 2020 campaign they said, “The youth are being called to police stations, their pictures are being clicked, forms filled only to instill fear in their minds, which is totally undemocratic and illegal. KMS—5A