Vol. 35 No. 36 5th May, 1986 Price Re. 1-

DECLARATION OF "KHALIST AN" REMAINS A DAMP SQUIB

'Absured, Senseless And Sacrilegious', Says Barnala Wbat did five members of the so-called "Panthic

committee", who had been appointed by the Sarbat Khalsa sbow at the AkaU Takbt on Januarv 26 ·tbis year, gain by declaring tbe formation of "Kbalistan" Oil

April 29 ? Notbingl

time and allow the militants to realism and good sense after say­ing goodbye to boastful brava­does and rpeaniDgless antics,

Secondly, beard the lion in its own den with firmna.s and promptitude.

The first course was fraught witll dangers. as the mililants had ta ken previous leniency and large-heartedne" a. a sign of weakness. So the .unwelcome decision to send the police and para·military force. ioto the Golden Temple complex could no looger he delayed.

This decision was implemen­ted with cool heads. The police entered only Guru Ram Das sorai, Akal rest house and Guru Nanak Niwas . .It did not set it. foot on the holy preciocts of the Harimaudir. Thus, no one can say that the holiest Sikh shrine has been subjected to sacrilege.

The formation of "Kilalistan" has been condemned by leading

(Continu pd on lasl page)

However, the timing of the announcement gatllers impor­tance. For 80me time the "Panthic committee" had be~n reduced to a non' entity. as its credentials were challenged by "united" Akali Dal and AII·lndia Sikh Students Federation (Maojit Singh group). It tried to re­establish itself in some Sikh eyes by leaning totally toward Dam­dami Taksal and Kahlon faction oC AISSF. But these moves did not cut mach ice. Its members were also torn by mutual rival~ lies.

Punjab Congress Must Clarify Stand On Villages To Be Given To Haryana

Thus. it needed .ome dramatic move to draw attention to itself and send a shock wave through­out India, if only to make its existence known. And the "Khalistan" dream became handy.

Its thinking also was that if the police entered the Golden Temple complex to ferret them out, they would be recipients of widespread sympathy from Sikh masses and the govemment would automatically stand condemned.

Four of the five member of the Panthic committee did not display courage expected of them as brave Sikhs. Instead of staying put in the Golden Temple com­lex. they fled a few hours after the anDouncement of "Khalistan" was made, leaving their minions to face th~ storm. This was sheer cowardice almost belrayal.

The Barnala ministry was left with two hard options:

First, wait for some more

So far we had held that a handful of Punjab Hindus of the old Jan Sangh brand or present BJP stamp, were rank communalists and would not hesitate from doing anything mean to embarrass Sikhs. Now to their category must be added a few Congress (1) men also.

on They fatten themselves Punjab resources and yet do oot mind stabbing it in the back.

In other words, they traitors ·to their own state.

are

The latest instance is provided by Mr Sat Pal Kapoor, a .enior Congress (I) leaders and member of AICc (I). He has led a deputat'ion to Mr Justice E.S. Vankatararniah, pleading for the transfer of Patiala, Samana and Rajpura tcbsils of Patiala district to Haryana in lieu of Chand i­garh.

It is, therefore, in fitness of things that senior Akali leaders hava asked PPCC (I) Chief Beant Singh to clarify the stand of his party on this vital issue.

H Mr Kapoor is not expelled from the party. the people of Punjab would be justifi.d in presuming that the state Con-

gress (I) is hands in gloves witll anti-Punjab and communal forces to harm the Slate.

Perhaps Mr Kapoor wants to re-establish himself in the eyes of Hindus of these areas by taking a atrident stand so that he can win the nexl Lok Sabha election.

Th. statement by a rew Hindu leaders of Patiala, who have been notorious for their communal outlook and anti·Sikll postures, backing Mr Kapoor's demand is understandable. Some others have asked for replacement of Puojab police by CRPF so that the people of the areas "cannot be pressurized by Punjab ministers into declaring PUBjabi as their mother tongue."

These leaders claim that the dialect of theae areas i. akin to that of Ambala and Kurukshetra

districts . This is a fallacy. According to various linguis­

tic surveys. people tllere speak pure Punjabi in their howes and bazars . .... mother tongue is what a child learns from his wother or wllat an illiterate person speaks. And Punjabi comes Out victorious in {bis test. .

These Hind u leaders should !lelve deep into tbe plight of Punjabis already settled in Haryana. Tbey are being treated as pariahs. Punjabi farm"s in Guhla area. both Hindos and Sikhs, are being uprooted. Government jobs to Punjabis are denied on tbe basis of not being sons of the soil and, therefore. outsiders. Liceoces for factories and transport are few ' and far betwccn to come by. No wonder, residents of 40 odd villages, which Barnala ministy hadi offered to Haryana before the Mathew commission, have­submitted a joint memorandum · to oppose their merger with Haryana. Ihis in itself should be an eyoopner . to Mr Kappor anll menoC his ilk.

i iiB " ,SPOKESMAN" WEEKLY 2

Disenchantment With . Rajiv Gandhi Growing . ---Remedial Measures To Refurbish Coogress(l) Image Needed

Congress(I) is in ferment, and the signal of dissi­dence, which has been muted so far, has become loud ar.,d clear, But it is too early to conjecture that a serious challenge to Me Rajiv Gandhi's leadership has been mounted .

The I~test is the letter which the working president, Mr Kamlapati Tripathi, wrote to

(Continued on previolls page) Sikhs in India and all natioilal pol itic, \ parties. .. ..

Punjab Chief MlDlst~~ Sur)lt Singh Barnala called tt absurd, -senseless and sacrilegious". For­mer Chief Minister Prakash Singb Badai described it as IIsbockingH and • 'asainst the interest of Sikhs" .

The Punjab cabinet in a reso­tion adopted at its emergency meeting on April 30, reiterated ilS resolve to launch a figbt;o the finish against "secessionist elements" wbo could not be allowed to "challenge the sovereignty of the countr(' '. It said the move exposed the SIDlster game of foreign forces who $ou.ht to "destabiJi,e and di,rupt the unilY and integrity of Indian people through the mercenary mafia of murderers and marauders In unauthorised possession of the Golden Temple",

But New Delhi would do well to have a close pee'p into the causes which led the "Panthic committee" to dec1are '4Khalis~ taD" .

Mr Gandhi hist week in which he did ,not .mince any "ords, He spoke of "serious deterioration in the functioning'of-the organj" satioD. Of of "various irregularities and bogus membership," and, finally, of the "danger to the party" and, therefore, to the country,

Mr Tripathi had long ceased to be a man of any consequence. Even rhe appearances became irrelevant, .speciallY after Mr Arjun Singh "as brought in to run party affairs as vice-presi­dent. Tbe interest in the latter, thus, is about the specula tion it has generated regarding its inspiration and likely implica­tions.

His protest is being invested witb a national import It is being deduced tbat he spoke on bebalf of a large number of seaior Congress(l) politi cians who were once prominent and powerful and are now out in the cold.

The expUlsion of Mr Pranab Mukherjee, former union finance minister. and suspension of tbree otbers-Mr A.P. Sbarma, a ' former union minister and governor; Mr Srip,ti Mishra, a former UP chief minister; and Mr Praaasb Mebrotra, a former

governor and , high commis­sioner to UK-for anti-party activities are meant to warn other critics of Mr Gandhi's way of curbing poosible revolt.

He has. nonetheless, to ensure a correct balance between requirements of governmental administration and party's politi­cal ,conuq!. He ha. b,een I,eaning , beavily on his "computer boys" and bureaucratic aides, There is notbin! novel about it. His mother also functioned in a similar manner. There is truth in the complaint that officials, both senior and junior, of AICC(I) secretariat are uied as errand bol s of administrative decisions.

The party organisation itself ~hows no signs of improvement. The distance between the leader and h is followers is bv no means being reduced, If disappointment is growing, it because of a deeper uncertainty about Mr Gandhi', seD~e of purpose and direction .

The resounding phrases heard in Bombay have begun to look like tired rhetoric of the past It is ironic that a reminder should have come from an old man who, instead of sulking, should have gracefully resigned long ago, But in India politicians seldom retire.

It would be too much for Mr Gandhi to believe that the purge would end dissidence . He has to take compensatory action to refurbish h is government's image of dynamism, modernity. equality and cbange. • It is symptomic or the deep

frustration wh ich has gripped Sikhs. The area. in which "Sikhs would enjoy tbe glow of free­dom." promised by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1 Y46. has never been in sight, The solemen pled.es given to Sikhs by Con­gre,: leaders during 1946-47 negotiations with the British were thrown dow~ :he drain cn the morrow of ind~p~ndence afrer Sikh, had cast their lot with Ino;' . The" every effoct was lilJoe to make Sikhs look small, almost s!cond-c1ass I; itizens. Their keen desire to maintain separate religious identity was denounced as separatism while honest difference of opinion, so inherent in a democracy, was decried as sed ILion. Despite numerous sacrifices made by Sikhs, ber"r. and after indepen­denc~, they were looked down upon as an untrustworthy lot, almost disloyal. Even their geniune demands, which were meant to benefit botb Hindus and Sikhs of Punja b, were not met.

Guru Nanak Institute for comparative study of religion '

The Rajiv-Longowal accord of last year did make amends for past government acts of omission ,and commission. But its imple­mentation has been plauged by so 'many fiu and,starts.

Guru Nanak Tnstitute for Comparative Study of Reli!lion is a kind of an acadeu\Jc Instrtute which is a recogni zed research Centre for advance studies in tbe fie ld of Sikhism and Com parat ive Religion, by Punjab University, Chandigarh and Punjabi Univers­ity, Patiala both, This in,ititute is managed by Guru Nanak Foun­dation-a leading body of the Sikhs . Scholars who are genuinely interested in Research are appointed as re.earch Fell~ws for tilree years. After completion of their research, they aro aWar­ded Ph.D's in their relevant field. The Institute also houses 'a big

, library equipped with rare mate­rial - traditional a. well as modern in the field of Sikh Stu­dies and Comparative Religiop.

The Institute has also pioneer­ed in circulating a monthly bibliograpl,ly entitiled 'Documen­tation on Sikh Studies' which covers more than a hundred entries comprising articles, essays and edi :orials from different researeb. journals, magazines, periodicals, weeklies ani dailies.

Tn tbis, attempt is being made to cover all tbe aspects of Sikh Religion and the Sikhs including Punjab Affairs. The, compil:rs of this bibliographical format are Dr. Rajwant Singh and Saldar Amarjit Singh - Senior Research Officer of the Institute, Till now three volumes have already been circulated all over India and abroad.

. Further more, it is worthy of note that Guru Nanak Founda­tion has already published nearly twenty five titles of eminent scbo­

'lars and writers, Side by side, the Institute is alrtady pUblishing a leading bi-annual research journal called 'Studies in Sikbism anil Comparative Religion' whfch bas acquired a wide circulution , Almost 8 volumes of this journal have already been published, The Editor of tbe Journal Dr . Mohin­der Singh who is Director of Guru Nanak Faundation and his assis­tant colleague Sardar Amarjit Singh-SRO are conjointly putting in their efforts in accomplishlDl a job of this nature.

5th May, 1.986

7th May, 1956 AKALI CAMP

AT BABA BAKALA

(An editorial) , Til'; Akali 'Dal did we 11 in

holdmg a camp at Baba Bakala on 27, 28 & 29th of A priJ. Such camps serve very useful purpose. The workers and leaders have opportuDltles to come together and know each other more inti­mately. The workers have close contacts with the masses and they can bring fresh trends to the nolIce of the leaders. The policies of the party can be adjusted or modIfied to the circumstances The .field workers may hav~ expenenced some diffi CUlties in carryIng Ollt tbe programme of the pany When these workers meet In such campo' then the leaders are po. ted with such eJpenences and future policies or changes ID programmes can b. made accOrdlDgly. Tbere is also an opport unity for introspection and self-examination. The past is reViewed and the future is pro­grammed. The workers go ba ck revllahsed anti inspir d. The party gOlns strength as the !oya­Ity of the workers is reassured

The present camp at B~ba Bakala bas another and addition­al slglllficance. The evi! of the use of Alcohol is very rampant among the Sikhs. To be more speCIfic the Sikhs are defamed and maligned as drunkards though m fact, If a comparison were made, they are not worse tban tbelT other countrymen in vallo'!s regIOns. Yet on account of their vlflle nature, there is. no doubt~ good number of crime. commItted under the influence .r Alcohol. The Akali Dal is deter­mt.ned to root out .uch social eVIls. A regular compaign has been started and those, the leaders and tbe workers alike took a solemn vow to abstaj~ from tbe use of Alcohol in future.

There w~s general suppOrt for the resolullon of the general CounCil, adopted at Amritsar in respect of the regional scheme. SOJ.De concern was shown on the attItude of somo of the JulJundar HlDdus. l~d by Jan Sanghis, Tbere was OplDlon i\rowing that if thi. atlltude COntlOues and develop. furthe~ then th~se elements would make It ImpOSSible. ,for the two commUDllles to live together pea~efulJy. However it was deCIded that an an out effort be made to brlDg . about unity bet­ween the two sister communities and the workers were enjoined to exert themselves for that end.

TIlE "SPOKESMAN'" WEEKLY

----.-:-----------t A THOUGHT FROM GURBANI • Withont, meditation on the True Name, t I have no other miraculous power -Guru Goblnd Singh $

~.e_ ... ~~~~~~~~~..,..~~~

VoI,35 No. 36

SPENT FORCE

Prlee : " Re,I/-

Baba Joginder Singh's 'united' Akali Dal can be written off as a spent force, not because of sabotage from outside but sheerly due to corrosion from withini From the very outset, it was a conglomeration of diverse. elements who were burning with personal grievances. Some were sore over having been denied plums of office by Shiromani Akali Dal highbrass; others ' felt aggrieved at poo~ prospects of harvesting money; still more wanted . to make capital out of the charisma which Babaji carried '

as father of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale, daydreaming · that Sant Harchand Singh Longowal would be no match for the old m \D. Babaji created the 'United' Akali Dal through wily manoeuvres, if not outright ruse. He made use of the letter which the Sant wrote to him .to work for unity between Shiromani Akali Dal and Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi's rump. Instead of making the tIVO warring leaders sink their differences, which .were personal than ideological, Babaji dissolved the two fac­tions and brought into being UAD with himself as its "acting convener." Soon he was joined ' by some dis· gruntled elements from . Shiromani Akali Dal which maintained its original entity.

This UAD assemblage of discordant voices playing their own different symphonies, got the first shock when Babaji decided to boycott the Punjab assembly . elections last year and called upon all Sikhs to stay away from polling booths. But the turnout was much more than ever before, thereby demonstrating with6ut any shadow of doubt that Babaji's call had gone completely unheed­ed: Soon afterwards, desertion began, in the beginning in trickles, later in torrents. The main complaint was that it was height of foUy on Bablji's part to ignore the voice of the mass",s and force a boycott down their throats. When Sardar Surjit Singh Barnala formed the ministry, after having won a massive mlndate from both Sikhs and Hindus, Bablji's flock began to dwindle further. His denunciations of Sardar Bunal'a and his ministers as "traitors to the Panth" did not fiad aay echo·; Even the show of Sarbat Khalsa ,on January 26 this year within the Golden Temple complex did not help rehabilitate UAD in the eyes Iof Sikhs. ' .

Rather, more fissures appeared, largely as a result of wrangles among the UAD, Damdami Taksal, AIl­India Sikh Students Federati9n (Manjit Singh faction) and the so-called five-man "Panthic Committee" appoint­ed to run the community's "political and religious affairs." Each claimed supermacy and denounced the others ; Then came cracks within AISSF which, led by young and educated men of zeil and devotion, was Babaji's main ·prop . . Sardar Harinder Singh Kahlon; backed by Damdaml Taksal and Panthic Committee, hoist~d: his flag of revo~t against Babaji who stuck to the rema1010g AISSF debflS; Now he has been left high and dry on the rocks by more desertions: Babaji shall live to rue the day w~en he chos.e to e?ter .politics and tried to steal the. lImelIght. Rama!D!ng 10 hIs Rode village he might have been still revered as a father-figure · co~mon to all and p.artisan to·none. But it was not to be.

3 Sm. M&y, 1986

? • What Js a Sikh By : Sardar Raghhir Singb 'Bir?

Literally the word '"Sikh'' ' super·consciousness and these means a ;tudent, one who is two levels are poles asunder. anxious to learn, a seeker of This gap has to be bridged and Truth; a seeker of divine kno· all tbe distance in between to be weldge. Tbe true Sikh grooms bis traversed, Tbis c.nnot b. done in body' faces aU temptations, all . a day or" tlVo-it would be a rare allur~ments of mammon, eaTn his piecc of luck if tbe objective is living with t!:le sweat of his brow, . reali~<d in a lifetime, . Patience meets hi. domestic commitments, and Caltn are, tberefore. his cons­serves his family, his patents, his tant companions in bis journey. kith and kin and friends, hIS country and the human race­and yet, in tbought, stands unaf­Jected and disentangled. And in the coune of his daily routine, he gives tbe first and foremo,t place to the problem of knowing his real Self. Wbichever rol" he plays; the desire to understand tbe mystery of life keeps him fully occupied. He has full faitb in hi' objoctive, He is, therefore, an embodiment of optimism and unshakable resolve.

N~ attractions of the world, no temptations, uo allurements, no hurdles can dell:ct the innate desire of the true Sikh to realize

' God , He migbt - s\llfer defeat tempo'rarily, but be cannot. be entirely conquered.

The Sikh has full faith in Guru Nanak-'-the same faith tbat the child has in its mother. He believes that while boldinl fast to Guru Nanak, he can find his way through tbe Vanity Fair, through 'the milling multitudes, through tbe dust and din without losing his way. He has full faith·-not blind faith-io tbe World of the Master. He strives to fully grasp the World of the Master;- He

. know. that without undersand­ing, and lVithout diyine knowled­ge, our deeds cannot b. lIawless. 'Fhe Sikb, tberefore, . despi'te hi. f.ith in tho trutb 'of tbe Word, is daring enougb to try .to under­stand it and to act upon it. He tests it on tho touchstone .of · his own experience.

Tbe Sikh knolVs, too. tbat his 'research is the most arduous . of all researcbes in the world. Impa­tience aud restiveness will not lead anywhere. He is, therefore, firm and uushakable as a rock in his perseveranee. He pauses where he fails to follow the Master's Word: He prays for · .Light humhly, heseechingly, reverently, and ' waits patiently for response to his prayers. He knows that God's storehouse is bountiful, but each one · of u. receives gifts according, to our individual circumstances, and fair needs, The Sikh, therefore, waits and watches like tbe true lover.

Hafiz has well said, "Some day you will,be at one with God, if you have patience enouch." The Sikh knows that he i. to rise

. from tbe human level to tha t · of

Failures do not deter the Sikh. Thc b'ptism of steel makes him a perfect soldier. He can resist, with tbe force 'of arms, falsehood; oppression & injustice. Similarly, he is constantly at war with his own Self, bis lower nature, with his frailties and the manifold misfortunes that arise from such lVealenesses. H. hacles his way through sin, trampling it -to forge his way ahead. The Sikh's mind is a baltlefield where he ever battles wiih 'the old · Adam in him .

Baptism, Sikh discipline, aT' moryada, recitation of tbe Word, Kirtan, or cbanting and listening' to God', praises, are all neces· sary. But the true Sikh mu.t alse> know that all· these are means to> an .!Ond; they are not in them­selves tbe goal. The central aim

. and aspiration of the Sikb is te> see God, realize God to be one­witb God. He wbo is perfectly conscio.us of his end and aim, must, sooner or later, realize his. objec.tive.

At one time, I "gard.d tbe-. study of Sikh bistory. and listen­

ing to the tales of" Sikh martyrs. , as the core of Sikhi~m aD'd wn prODe to quiz and twit the reci­ters of Ihe Word and ' lovers of Nam. As I advanced in spiritual enlightenment, I took moro­delight iIi the sacred W <lrJ thaD in tbe old Sikh chronicles. I left contented with listening ' te> Klrtau . . with . Word-recitation. with Gurdwara' goiog, and witb formal porinJ over tbe sacred Book, But thi' did .. not fully satisfy me. My soul hue gered thirsted for abiding bliss.

He who was, is, and ever shall . ·be witb us;

My soul yearns for Him, faT' Him alone

Love for God ever abides. witb us,

The Perfect, Merciful One­ever sustains us,

He fades uot, nor can w. do> without Him,

He dwells in all we see, Oh, the Beautiful. All-wis ..

Sustainer of Beings !" God is Father, Brother ..

Mother, and Son, . He is Life of my life: may all~ ' 1 loved Him and He dwelt ,in.

my heart. (Continued on next pagt) .

THE "SPOKESMAN" WEEKLY 4 5th May, 1986

Bhai Lehna was tbe son of Pheru, a merchant of Mate di Sarai. He was a young man with a high sense of duty and posses­sed great pbysical strengtb. He was a worsbipper of the mytho-,

Guru Angad Dev It is .true, Nanlk, where . God givelh him the food there man eateth.

(Guru Angad : So,ath) Tbe Birtb Anniversary of Sri Gnru Anga4 Dev Ji falls on May 9,

The' Guru further says thai , fate is providence, the beneficent care of God for His creatures. He allots our sbare and also "wat­cheth over our actio.ns and looketh after oui deeds".

logical deity, Durga or Latan engaged in farming at Kartarpur, Wali. He visited tbe goddess Bhai Lehna carried muddy grasl every year, sang hymn. in her on his head to feed the GUru', praise, and danced in a frenzy of cattle. while other Sikhs had devotion. But witb all his religi- shrunk away detesting tho task. ous fervour, he fel t an unsatiable The dripping of the moist mud hunger in his soul that aggravated from .the grass soiled his new from year to year. clothes. Once he brought a heavy

Once, at Kbadur. he happen- load of salt from Khadur to cd to hear Guru Nanak', hymns ,' Kartarpur for the Guru's langa, in 'Asa Di Var' from Bhai Jodha. without feeling any sense of They awakened bis emotions. He indignity. He would wash his decided to visit Guru ' Nana k at Master's clothes at night and Kartarpur and when he met him have them dried before the' crack there be was very much impre.· of dawn. On Guru Nanak's ask­~ed by bis teachings and decided ing, he did not object to the to stay witb bim. Many incidents eating ·ora corpse thai lay veiled are narrated regarding Bbai on a pyre. Tbe corpse, it is said, Lehna's devotion to the Guru. became a heap of delicious pud- ' Once, wben . Guru Nanak was ding. as soon as Bbai Lehna came

(Continued previa"" page) The Merciful One snappe<j as

under the bonds ofillu.ion, He casf His Gracious Look

and made me His own; I remembered Him and a II

my iUs were at an end, I dwelt at His reet and all was

biJss, The Perfect One ever young

and fresb He sustains us within and

witbout, Nanak 'has found God, Tbe wealth of Nom bath God Vouchsafed to His devotee.

-Guru Arjan-Glodl. adl madh jo ani nibahai so sajan meTa man chahai harl ki prit sada sang chal. dlaal pa,kh puran prltipalai binsat iwhi chhad no ja; jah pekha tah rahia saluoi sundar .ugharil chatar jia data bhal put pita proM mata jiwon pran adlzar meri rast prit lal kaT ridol nivasl maia silak kat! Gopol kor apno lina nada, nlhal simar sima, kate sabh rag 'charan dilion sarab sukh bhog puran purakh navtan nit balo hori anta, bahor sang rakhvala kaho Nonak ha,; pod chin sarab so ."am bhagat kao din

-Guru Arian - Gaudi. Then I began to read one

Word in a different ·manner. Intelligently and lovingly, I read the Sacred Book from end to end · half a dozen times and I found two central, essontial points, namely, God, and His realization through Nam. I should not say 'bat it was an easy job; or perfec­tly smooth sailing. -But all my labour, all my plodding was but

11 trifle as compared to tbe peace contentment, and bliss that I ·experienced. Whea I see people drudging and slaving. for mate­

'fiali.tic trifles, I cOiltratulate myself on my rare. good fortune to-have obtained a 'priceless hoOIl :for my efforts, which were by no means Herculean.

forward to eat it. Onl winter night, wben it Was raining, Ihe

. Guru asked his Sikhs 'to repair a , part of tbe wall of his house which had collapsed. Everybody was silent except Lehna. He ' erected the wall 81Ogle-handed. The Master expressed his dissatis­faction over the .. 'ork he bad done, and asked him to re-build tbe wall. Lehna obeyed the orders without grumbling. .

Onc day during a Sikb gather­ing, Guru Nanak 'seated Lehna on his gaddi, placed five pice and a coeonv.t in fr ont of bim and. said to Bbai Buddba, "He is' my .ueeessor: put a tilak on bis forehead in token of bis appoint­m~nt to _the Guru.hip." This beIDg done, tbe Guru instructed bis people to serve Angad, who. he said, was his very ima&e. Guru Nanak's sons weie unhappy over tbe decision, but they di d not deserve the exalted position because of their self·centeredness. Guru Angad was worthy of the Gurusbip by virtoe of bis spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to duty. Guru Nanak directed him to return to Kbadur . .

Bbai Lebna's evolution was perfect. He no longer remained separate from hi. Guru-God and became' a part and .parcel of him.

Bhai - Gurdas tbus describes the succession of Guru Angad :

. Angad got tbe same tilak, the same umbrella over .his bead. and was seated on the same true tbrone as Guru Nauak. '

The seal in Guru Nanak's hand entered Guru Angad's and proclaimed his soverei­

gnty. He left Kartarpur, and wenl

and lit the Gur~s lamp in Khadur. .

What. was sown in the begin-, ning h . th germinated in this world; to offer another opinion was false clev_flIesl. Lebo. obtained the gift from Nanak, IIlld it must

descend to the hou.e of . Amar Dass.

Shortly after the appointaient of Guru Anlad, Guru Nanak departed from this life on ' the tentb day of the light-half of the month of Asuj, Samvat 1595 (1538 A.D.) at Kartarpur. So N.nak. in a sense, actually incarnated in the body of Guru Angad.

Gnru Angad cultivated humil­ity and unflinching faith ' in the existence of God, He "'35 an ideal diseiple, who, with the belp of Almighty God rose higher and higher. He confirmed and organized the system of langar the commOn 'community kitchen:. _ This institution was a lesson in equality of mankind .

Sikhism is entirely based on spiritll31 considerations. Accord­ilJ.g to Guru Angad, nearness to God cir distance from Him . -depends on our own actioDs :

What men give tbey receive, What tbey receive they had

given . Thq are born in ' hell or

heaven according to their deeds.

(G~ru Angad , Sarang KI Var)

According to ' him virtue becomes its own reward a~d evil its own punisbment. Those Who are given to evil ways are failure. and thus earn pain aod sorrow.

Even if one were to act in l ecrccy,

It shall be known all over tbe world,

One who acts in rigbteousness is known as righteous, and the sinner is known as sinful. . . (Guru Angad : Var·Majh)

and Tbough m'an is driven higher

by the force of hi. acts, the nose-string is in the hands of tbe Master.

Nanak. be not anxious for Thy living.

Anxiety far u~, is that of the Master,

Who c!eated living beings aven In water.

And there gave theDi their . sustenance. .

No shop i. open tbere and no one runs a trade.

No commerce is there and nor­any traffic.

Animals are the food ' of animals,

Such is the food that is given to them:

He taketh ca~.. of tho crea­tures He created in tbe sea.

Nanak, feel not anxious for Thy sustenance.

Anxiety is for the ' Master '" ho Gave Thee Life.

(Guru Angad : Ramkall)

Guru Angad passed away from this transitory world ' in

. I 552. He carried on the duties of the Guru for twelve years, six montbs and nine days. During Jiis GurU,blP,' be asked bis _ followers to serve and love their Guru and

. worship God'. He popularized the Punjabi .cript, called Gurmukhi ' and recorded tbe utterance. of Guru Nanak. Later ' on they along with his successors' .wer~ included in the Adi Granth. H. made the Sikbs independent of

. the Hindu priestly class and contributed significantly towards the emergence of Sikhism •• a distinct . faith, separate from Hindui.sm.

He apPoinied Guru Amar Dass his' successor_on tbe . throne of Guru Nanak and instructed him to live at Ooindwal and guide the Sikh community.

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THE "SPOK.ESMAN~ WEEKLY

Deliberate Distortions ot · Sikh History-v (A Rejoinder to the B,ook of Mr Kshitish "Storm in Punjab" by Sardar G.S. Chadba)

On page 45 of his book Mr. Kshitish hRs marle aoother absurd remark "Before his death Guru Gobind had indicated his prderence for Banda Bairagi as his ,uccessor. Baoda's heart was filled with hatred and revenge" (underlining is mine). It i, a hard fact that Guru Gobind SlDgb had never appointed any succes­sor. He bad issued an edict to his followers to worship Guru Gr.ntb Sahib as their Guru. According to some chronicles like Mah .1 Parkash tbe Guruship was passed on to the Granth Sabib. According to Gur Sobba, the Guru said" I have bestowed the physical (or secular) Guru­sbip on the Kbalil" and "The True Guru is the infinite Word, cont.mplation enable one to bear the unbearable".

Tbe Great Guru further exhorted the ~ikbs to have full faitb in the Granth Sabib_ According to him whosoever wanted to have his darsban he wouid searcb the Guru in Grantb Sahib containing "the Eternal and limitless Word uttered witb the Lord's light and is our Supreme Master".

Furtber, it is absurd to say tbat Banda's heart was filled with hatred and revenge. The Guru was not only a warrior but a holy man and a saint soldier also. How could be preach hatred for anyone? In his hymns he had preacbed Saach kahon sun lio saMe jin prem kio tin he prabhu paeo (I say trutb that whoever loved (the humanity) be had attained the Kingdom of Godl.

The Wages of Oppression He bas made tbe following

hasty comments whicb have depicted bis jealous beart: - "It seems tbat as long as Sikhism was confined to spirituality, not only Hindus but even Muslims respected it and accepted it with full faith. But when it .tarted taking interest in politics, it became tbe target of Muslim fu ry. Guru Gobind Singb did not get full support of tbe Hindu Kings of the hills because bis troops tried to forcibl y bring tbem round to bis side. The Hindu popUlation was looted and harassed. A. a result tbe Hindu kings of Bilaspur, Jasova, lasrot.. Nalagarb and D.d",al collected! 0,000 troops and join­ing Fateh Shab of Srioag.r they engaged the 2000 Khalsa of Gobind Singb at Bbangani. If on tbis occasion, tbe Sadhora Governor Sayyad Shab had not hel ped the Guru; be migbt b.a v. lost bis life .. , . .. After the Royal troops bad witbdrawn the Kbalsa again started harassing

Hindu kings in order to enlist them 00 their side. Tired of this barassment, the Hindus coliected 20.000 troops and with the help of tbe Sirhind Governor attacked Garbi in Anandpur and Keerat­pur. Guru Gobiod Singh had to take shelter in Anandpur fort".

Any person ~ ho is conversant with the Sikb history would never dare to make such wild and silly comments . It Seems that either tbe said autbor of Srorm in Punjab does not know the Sikbs' history or he bas tried to malign tbe Sikbs with a malicious approach and denigrate tbis com­munity'S chivalry by distorting parts and misquoting episodes of bravery and thus prejudice tbe Hindu. .nd Muslims who had very cordial relations with the Sikhs. Guru Gobind Singh had never harboured any enmity with any body. His struggle was always against injustice and tyranny, irrespective of the posi­tion of the perpetrator. This is proved from his own verses :-

"The House- of Baba Nanak and that of Babar,

Both derive tbeir aUlbority from God Himself,

Recognize the former as supreme in -religion;

And tbe latter as supreme in secular affairs".

This cerrainly is not the language of'a man who thinks of the Moghal Government as an enemy, apprehends attacks from it, and thinks 01 radical cbanges in socio·religjou~ ma.tters as essential for self defence against such an enemy. But his expe­rience of contact with tbe Hill Raja$ probably taugbt him two tbing;: tbeir persistent hostility and the urgm cy of putting bi. own house in order. Here we bave tbe real b,cK ground of tbe creation of the Khalsa in t699" (Refer to page 205 of "-.C, B.nerjee.'s 'Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh)'. -

Tbe factual position is that tbere had cropped up some misunderstanding in tbe minds of Hill Rajas due to tbe fact that Guru Gobind Singh bad started using Ranjit Nagara (Drum), increased bis armed adherents, improved tbeir d iscipl in~, the construct ion of forts and collec­tion of money etc, wh ich appear­ed to tbe Hill Cbiefs as symbols of his political ambilion. They thought [nat the Guru aimed at Mulkgiri and jabandari (Umdat­ul-iawarikh, Vol I, p. 62). This suspicion bad created trouble between Raja Bbim Ch.cd (Raja of Kailiur state) aud tbe Guru during tbe latter's reside.nce at Makbowal. Depite the Hill cbiefs internal intrigues and conflicts

tbey were not prepared to tolerate the presence of a strong rival inside their territorial base.

Besides those political rivai­ries there had appeared social and religious misgivings also. Ortbodox Hinduism was d<epJy rooted in tbe Kangra bil's; it had virtually remained unaffected by Islam, for neither Muslim political autb<;>rity nor Muslim preachers ever found a bospita­ble field in tbat regiol!. Tbat society was dominated by the traditional caste system, wbich Sikhism bad rejeeted . Late< on , the differences between the Guru and tbe Hill Rajas were sharpen­ed by the creation of the Kbalsa. As stated earlier the dll rajas bad barboured a rivalry against tbe Guru', House. Tbe marriage of Bbim Chand's son witb the daughter of Pateh Sbah bad approached. He sent an invita­tion to tbe Guru, wbo did not personally go but sent Diwan Nand Chand with presents . The Raja did not accept tbese pre"nts. Fateb Shah was told by th. groom's party to reject tbose presents of tbe Guru and also .. ked him tbar unless be joined hands witb his brother princes to figbt the Guru, tbat marriage of bis daugbter would be canceiled. Then these bill chiefs prepared for a major attack on tbeir way back bam •.

When tbe Guru beard of that he marcbed his troops si. miles abead, towards a place called "Bbangani". Tbe pathans wbo had joined the Guru's fOIces deceived him at the eleventb hour and joined tbe enemy's forces. The Muslim divine, Pir Budhu Shab wbose disciples were tbose Patb,DS, got so much sbocked that he presented him­self for service along with his four sons, -a brother and seven hundred followers. Both Hari Chand and Fateb Sbah were killed in tbe battle. It is a recorded fact that Fateb Sbab had provoked the Guru without any cause.

This battle was fought and won by tbe Guru in April, 1689, Raja Bbim Cband felt very jealous over Guru's growing power. However, he was advised by bis counsellors to seek a rapproaobment witb the Guru in the interest of peace witbin his dominions and to put up a joint front against the Mogha!s. To an envoy sent by tbe Raja, tbe Guru informed tbat "I have no quarrel with anyone. I wa.nt only to be left in peace to pro­pagate the cause .of 'Dbarma'. My father gave his head to pro­tect the religion of Hindus, But here am [, trying to infuse a new

5th May, 1986

spirit in this dying race, being . refused cooperation from Hindu cbiefs, and even resisted and attacked without any cause . My followers can not even buy for casb wbat tbey need from the surrounding villages. Such is an hostility generated against us. We ha vo not aggressed against anyone even once . BUI. certainly we mean now to defend our bODourH

•

Again to that envoy tbe Guru told "In my bouse whosoever comes with friendly intent and in humility is received with open arms. We do not harbour grudge against those wbo seek to he friendly. Once a Brahmin Com­plained to tbe Guru tbat sOll'e Patbans had abducted his bride. The Guru sent an expeditionary force of one hundred cavalry under his young son Ajit Singh, to restore the Brahmi,,'s bride. Ajit Singb fell on the Pathan in the nigbt like lightning and pro­duced tbe culprits along with their booty before the Guru. The woman was restor~d to her bus band and the Pa th, ns punisb­ed for tbeir misdeeds. Tbis is bow tbe Curu bad belped the members of 'other communities and especially tbose who were in need of help. There was, there­fore, no question of barassing the Hindus by Guru's Sikbs at any stage.

Attack On Identity "Hunger f iJ ( pGwe r: Under

tbi. headi~g Mr. Kshitish (author of the Book under review) bas tried to fabricat, many tbing. to belittle the identity of ,he Sikb religion and betray bis own conscience by misreprrsenting facts. The nasty remarks print,d on page 32 of his book are reproduced as under:

"It is not necessary to repeat tbat of tbe 10 Sikb gurus only Gobind Singh had long hair, and even be did not issue any edict tbat in future only long haired would be c,l/ed Sikh •.

Then wby is it in the S.G p.e there is not a single Sikb with norma! hair? Tbere is not a sing1!! normal baired grantbi (priest) in tbe gurdwaras. not for appea­rance's sake. For purposes. of census and conscription in the Army., w~en the British defined Si khs as tbose keeping long hair, why was this definition not opposed OI critiCized? A Sikb with normal hair is not coasidencd a Sikb at all."

Before I deal witb such "­fallacious, baseless atid insultiug statement made in a most irres­pODslble and conte-mptuous man­ner I must make a prot,st to. . . the S.G.P.C. Amritsar, dealing _wilb. gurmat, as to wby no actiOli' 'iias

(Continued on page 8)

THE "SPOKESMAN" WEEKLY 6

Menace of Corruption in Universities

Tbis is a true story ; only tbe identity of tbe university is not being revealed .

As bappeDS ever so often, tbe vice-chancellor's son was an undergranduate student at the same university where the father was tbe chief executive and academic officer. There is noth­ing odd or unusual about it. In any case one cannot expect the childr.·n of the vice-chancellor to go to anotller university just because their father bappens to be occupying a pHticular posi­tioil. But one does expect of the vice· chancellor to keep scrupul­

ously clear of any action, overt or covert, where his name C1U be linked with that plft;cular eX­aminatioa for which any ODe of hi' children is a cindidate.

Tbis is an elementary precau­tion and is o~served by almost anyone who wishes to avoid cont ro versy. In this particular case however it was not observ­ed and, as could have been anti­ci pated, lh!re was a whispering campaign to start with and a little later it acquired tbe dimen' siano of an academic scandal. Once tbat happened, tbe chancel­lor had no choice e<cept to have the mltter enquired into. A retir­ed judge of the high cOllrt from a distant state was asked to conduct the enquiry and it went ag.inst the said vice-chanellor.

Several months went by however and DO action was bken. Meanwhile the student mov~d from the undergraduate to the l",stgraduate stage. Since the university followed the semester system at tile postgraduate level, there were further compiaint'i against th't student within the fi rst si< months. Still no action was ta ken . A stage came when Ill' students w,,,t on strike and so did the teachers. Eventually the whole mattl. r went out of hand, so to speak. Even then the vice-cbanc~llor was not asked to go.

He did go however, some­what belatedly tbou~h, when a successor to him was appointed at the expiry of his term which was allowed to extend itself by quite some month,. A visit to that university today would

COD vince even a casual visitor that nobody has the slightest respect eitber for the officers or the vice­chancellor or tbe chancellor of the university. Eacb one of tbem is looked npon as a crook, to put it bluntly, and if students conti­nne to study and teacher conti­nue to teach it is more out of compulsion or babit tban a freely exercised cboice.

By Dr, Amrik Singb

The quesi(}n to ask is bow long can one go on with tbis kind of thing. We seem to be function­ing in a kind of SItuation where everybody seems to be cheating everybody; he wbo does not cheat is looked upon as someone wbo does not know bow the game is played. This may be putting it somewhat strongly but feelings like tbis are fairly widespread and this fact needs to be acknowledg­ed. It also needs to be acknow­ledged that the source of this st.te of affairs is the way political life is conducted. Has anyone ever beard of any politician being convicted of any major or minor offence, even tbough it is widely b,lieved that quite a number of them' are guilty of serious lap,es ?

In this particular case, tbo vice-ch.ncellor was not bauled up and indeed let off tbe hook for the simple reason that he had strong political backing. That is how he was appointed in the first instance and that is how he managed to survive in office despite all tha t could be proved (in terms of legal requirements) to convict him. When this hap­pens day after day and in institu­tion afte-.r institution, most paople draw their own conclusions. The most abvious of them are that what you do or do not do is not important; what is important is who you ar" and who patronises you. When decisions get taken on tbe basis of such calculations, social and political life is bound to get poli ticised. Equally inevita­bly, some of the academics who are interested in a quick rilje in their career are bound to feel tempted to play politics. Their assumption seems to be TI10re or less along these Jin es; if other can do it, why DOt I ?

What is to be done in tbis si tuation? Evidently what is hap­pening in the universities is a part of tbe wider social and political process that has been taking place for quite some time. The polity is collapsing, if one may put it tbat way, and one can see it happen­ing in front of one's eyes. Instead of there being any improvement, tbings are getting worse and worse. This sounds like a counsel of despair but it is only a reco­gnition of the reality wbich we encounter everyday. Whether we can recognise the reality for wbat it i., a matler partly of percep­tion and partly how optimistic or otherwise we are. Some people are more optimistic than others. They like to believe that, some­how, we would muddle througb. Tbey may be right but my own perception is that tbings are not getting belter. Not only that, the

country is in th~ grip of a social and political crisis. How the crisi.s manifests itself and how long it will take before the breaking point is reacbed are matters of detail. Wbat needs to be recognis­ed is that wbat is happening in . the universities is a part of the gene' ral political crisis.

If this line of argument is correct, it gives us some under­standing of what is happening. Understanding i. one thing how­ever and deVISing a strategy to cope with the situation IS another. Even after having understood t~e nature of the problem, the ques­tion still remaim how to cope with the situation. Can one co­exist with the situation as it takes an ugly turn day after day or can one step aside and try to look at the pwblem in a somewhat detached manner? Equ,lly important, can one b, really detached in ". situation like this?

The plain answer to tbese questions is that while detach­men t in any degree or manner is exceedingly difficult, an academic bas no choice except to detach himself from what is happening around him. Most other activities of life can be carried on even while f<cling frustrated or cyni­cal. Teaching however is diffe­rent. Teaching demands involve­ment as well as commitment. To some extent every professional activity demands theso qualities. But teaching is different from each one of them for the simple and decisive reason that other activities can be carried on in a slipshod manner or slowed down or performed indifferently with­out anyone all the time sitting in judgment on what is happening.

1n the Clse of teaching, a remedy is available. It is not said with reference to students with­drawing from the tcacbing situa­tion, That does not happen and is not to be discussed seriously. The real unnerving experience in teaching is when students attend the class but show no regard or respect for tbe teacher. There can be no worse humiliation for a teacher than the fact that even thougb in formal terms he is performmg in the classroom, in real terms his performance is not taken seriously.

The growing menace of cor­ruption in univenities must be seen in this light. Corruption is a fact of life almost every wbere. As could have heen anticipated, it has now spread its tentacles into university life also. In a sense, corruption and politicisa­tion are two sides of the same coin. Witb growing corruption

5tb May, 1986

enters politicisatioll and the two reinforce each otber. Another way of saying tbe same thing would be that politicking cannot be controlled witbout cnrbing cor­ruption.

Whetber as a result of ex­traneous influence or in pursuit of tbeir own interests, quite a number of academics choose to indulge in politicking. Their mode of functioning without question puts the university on the same plane as the market-place. Once this starts happening, corruption is not too far bebind.

Can tbe situation be reversed? The plain answer is in the nega­tive. This answer may be quali­fied somewhat however. It is possible to bring about some m~rginal changes. For instance, thmgs were not so bad a couple of decades ago. Tbrough a little concerted effort one can go back to that situation. nnsatisfactory thougb it was, The difference between tbe situation then and now is that a couple of decades ago wbile politics was beginning to penetrate tbe system, it bad not yet led to tbe next stage of deterioration wbich is the existen­ce of widespread corruption. Therefore, if corruption can be controlled and indeed combated, we would have taken the first important step towards recovery. It is in th is sense that corruption is tbe most immediate danger to academic life.

While the general atmosphere in which politicking takes place is created by politicians. corrup­tion in academic life is introduc­ed through the instrumentality of academics. Wbat needs to be understood however is that while acadmics may sometimes be the instruments of corruption, they are invariably its victims in tbe long run. Some individuals here and there may stand to gain from it but as a whole it is the profes­sion whicb suffers in prestige and public esteem. Furtbermore nobody else has a vested interest in curbing corruption. Wbether they are clear· sighted enough to recognise their own interest is a question that needs to be answer­ed by everyone in the profession .

Courtesy-uTelegraph", Calcutta

POPULAR FOR

, -

n;E "SP<JKESMAN" WEEKhY 7 5th May, 1986

Mishra Panel's in-Camera Hoax November 1984. For three '

. days and three nigbts we watched our city in flames. We saw shops, godowns, schools and homes (If Sikhs being looted and burnt. And we saw gruesome murders of whom were very poor and lived in resettlement colonies. Most of us remained si lent spectators to the violence which left more than 2000 dead and 50,000 homeless. However tbere were a significant number of citizens wbo tried to intervene and stop the murders,

·tbe looting and the arson and others who tried to use their contacts in high places to get official help. There was no response from the police, the administration or the Govern­ment. Even tbe army seemed unable to impos ; curfew.

On tbe second day some con­cerned citizen. tried to mobilize people for a peace march and

.tbese citizens formed themselves into tbe Nagrik Ekta Mancb. The mancb helped start relief camps, gatnered clotbe., rations, contac­ed doctors and talked to tbe victims. Again and again we were -struck by tbe fact tbat the victims clearly remembered tbe persons who had looted and set fire to their homes. They remembered the faces of those wbo had murdered tbeir husbands, bro­

·thers and sons. They rccognized the criminals and knew their names.

We started to collect the names and cross check wi th others. One research scbolar made a systematie list of the accused with tbe names and addresses of the criminals , the source of infor­mation and a cross reference. These lists, made independently by various volunteers of the Nagrik Ekla Mancb .nd others 'had one thing in common-tbe names were ifivariably of local metropolitan councillors. com­munity le.ders, members of Parliament and a minister or two. All of Ihe.m from the ruling

party. The question arose in our

minds: Could that terrible violen­ce have been organized? Was it planned?

Six different fact-finding teams carried out independent inveltigations to try and answer tbat question. The first report to be published was based on a study of tbe violence of Sultan· puri by four professors of Delhi University: an economist, a politi­cal scientist and a psycbologist. The four bold very different political views but 0n this they were unanimou9, that important and senior melllbns of tbe ruling

• By : Nandita Haskar

party were actively in'folved in tbe carnage. .

Tbe Nagrik Ekta M~nch produced two reports based on the findings at two of the relief camps they had been running. The reports were not released to the public. Both reports have listed tbe names of persons involved in the looting, arson and killings, and the.e person. were members of the ruling party.

In November tho Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) and tbe People. Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) rele.s­ed their findings in the now famous report entitled Who are the Guilty? This report clearly stated tbat the anti-Sikb violence was not;1 spontaneous riot but "the outcome of a well organized plan marked by acts of both deliberate commissions and omis­sions by important politicians of tbe Congress (I) at thc top and by authorities in the administra­tion." And in support of its find­ing there is a list wbich is annex­ed to the report of more than 200 persons alleged to have instigated violence or protected the crimi­nals . Tbe list includes names of MPs and min isters.

In Jan .. ary 1986 two more report. were published and releas­ed to .the public, botb of which concluded that important mem­bers of the ruling party were involved in the carnage. These two repons were based on the investigations by prominent citizens of our country, inc1udino a former chief justice of th~ Supreme Court and retired ICS officers.

The demand for a commission . of inquiry went unbeeded . Why did the Government not want to know the cause of death of more tban 2,000 citizens 1 After all commissions of inquiry are set up with sitting judges of the high court even in cases of one eleatb. The Government was strangely Silent but members of tbe ruling party were busy issuing .tate­meDts in the press denouncing these reports and calling us either CIA agents or anti·nationals. There were threats of defa mation suits and even physical revenge.

However, under pre.sure tbe Goverment did order an inquiry into tbe role of the police, to be conducted by the then Additional Commissioner of Police (CID), V.P. Marwah.

The PUDR and th. PUCL filed a writ petition in tbe Delhi High Court asking the court to appoint a commission as is done in public intereltlitigation cases.

Annexed to our affidavits and statements of victims and' othels. setting ou\ the facts and naming the people involved. We­Gobinda Mukboty, senIOr counsel and I - appeared day after day to face every kind of inlult and humiliation. The judges would not believe our affidavits, one of them questioned our bona fides and those of our organizations and finally tbey dismissed our petition in a 57·page judgement ending with a Sanskrit sloka: "Mother and motherland are greater than heaven."

Tbe campaign against tbe PUDR and PUCL continued and it began to appear tbat we were responsible for the state of affails in the Punjab. We were blamed for provdiing a hit list to tbe ter­rorists . The reports could not be printed because the printer got a mysterious visit from a police­man. B.)t we we Ie overwbelmed by tbe warm response we . got from Si kh., both in the villages and in towns. They said our report was largely rcsponsibl< for convincing them .hat tbey were not victims of Hindu violence but of the ruling party's bizarre politics.

And then all of a SUdden the Government announced that it was setting up a . commission of inquiry under the Commission of Enquiry Act. Justice Rang.nath Mishra, a sitting judge of the Supreme Court was appointed to look into the al 'egations with regard to the incidents of organis­ed violence which took place in Delhi following the assaBSination of the late prime minister. Indira Gandhi . That was in July, 1985.

Eighteen long montos had pas­sed since the November violence. N ooe of the a ccused bad been punished and the victims were living in constant fear. All those who had been active in relief and rehabilitation work relt it was their responsibility to assist the commission. They took time off from their work and collected affidavits, and gathered matena1 to place before the judge. The PUDR-PUCL filed an affidavit annexing their report and stating that tbey . would be will ing to assist the commission. Senior citizens formed the Citizens Jus­tice Committee headed by former Chier Justice Sikri with the sale purpose of helping the commis­sion arrive at tbe trutb.

Justice Ranganath Mishra did not want our help. He did not allow either tbe PUDR or PUCL to be oarties on a technical ground and Nagri k Ekta Mancb wa. given mere observer statu ••

The Citizens Justice Committee was allowed to be a party. But be allowed three pboney organi· zations to intervene despite the ract tbe tbey could not establisb tbeir bona fides. Tbese were: Vidbi Chetna, Citizens for Truth and Citizens Committee for Harmony. He also allowed tbe Arya Samaj to be a party .

Nellt, Justice Misbra declared that the proceedings before the commission would be in camera. The press was not allowed to report.

It was with tbis background that the commission began to record the testimonies of citizens in January. I represented the Nagrik Ekta Mancb .

There were nine sessions altogether in IIohich witnesses (victims and others) were called to give their evidence. Tbe Union of India and the Delhi Adminis­tration failed to prod uce any witnesses. Only the Citizens Justice Committee and Nagrik Ekta Mauch witnesses came.

The other parties also failed to adduce a scrap of evidence. Tbey had filed hundreds of affida­vits, all of whicb stated tbattbere was no incidence of organized violence and that the local Congress (I) leaders helped in maintaining peace and harmony. No witness came in support of these 'affidavits, except one. And he came to tell the commission tbat he had not filed the affidavits and the signature at the bottom of the affidavit was not bis. Justice Mishra ordered an inquiry into the incident. Tbree months have passed.

Only a few selected Nagrik Ekta Manch witnesses were cal­led. The advocates for the Union of India and the Dolbi Adminis- ' tration spent their time in ques­tiOliing the witnesses about their bona findes and tbose of the Nagrik Ekta Manch. Neitber they Dor tho judge asked anything about the material placed before them with regard to the organized nature of violence. On one occa­sion when a witness (the wife of senior naval officer and a volun­teer in the relief camps) said sbe would like to explain how she bad compiled tbe evidence. Justice Mishra said he would call ber to bis chamber some time later. So he seem. to be conducting an in­camera inquiry witbin an in­camera inquiry.

And after nine sessions, with­out calling all the . witnesse., Justice Mishra asked tbe Citizens Justice Committee to address their final arguments. He' said hi. investigation machinery bad

(Continued on page 8)

THE "SPOKESMAN" WHEKL Y

(Continued from page 7)

carried out au independent inves­tigation but the results of this were not given to the Citizens Justice Committee.

The Citizens Justice Commit­tee asked tbe commission to lummOn thole who had been named as being involved in the violence 50 that the committee CQuld cross examine thero. Beside, Section 88 of the Com­mlssion of Enquiry Act makes it compulsory for the commission to hear all " persons likely to be prejudicially affected." Neither police officers nor the poUticians alleged to be involved bave been summoned.

The Citizens Committee was not given access to vital docu­ments and was told that Ved Marwah's report was never completed.

Under these circumstances the Citizens Justice Committee decided to walk out after submit­ting tbeir reasons in a 17-page document wbich ends thus: "The CJC was infor,ned th>t in tbe mon th of April '86, it would be required to address its arguments. Tbe CJC is really at a loss as to how it can discharge this duty when it Iinds that in ail vital fields of inquiry the CJC is boiog excluded from its course and conduct . "

Even the PUDR and PUCL bad not been called to give tneir eVIdence. Tbal left the N'grik Ekta Manch. We were comm ![ted to the inqUIry. We wanted it. But under tbl:: circumstances. the Nagrik Ekta Manch could serve no useful purpose except to pro­vide legitimacy (0 a commission which had been viOlating all principles of natural justice. I was instructed to W.ilk out.

1 submitted the reasons in a small application. As 1 walked out 1 felt very IIred and empty. I But my conscience was clear.

CourtesY-"Sunday Mail"

(Colltinued from page 5) been so far taken against such defafrlatory and derogatory remarks . Democracy does not enjoin upon any person to assail the identilY of tbe faith of a puticular community . And in tbe case of minority communities they can only exist if necessary protect!on is afforded to their memb<rs for keeping tbeir funda­mentals alive.

Unfortunately, what is hap­pening is that Sikb community is constantly being attacked by Hindu hnalics without any cbecking or curb from the Governmtnt . It is preposterous to say that long hairs were not kept by first nine guru, . Before the regime of Muslim rulers every Hindu used to keep long hair. Shri Ram Chander, Krishna and Paras Ram hod long hair. During Ram Lila long hair of these Avlors (gods) are quite visible.

There is a legend that when R,m Chander Jee returned home afeer winning Sita in the 'Swama­bhar' P.ras Ram who got eorag­od came to fight against Ram Jee. Lakshman got angry and loudly uttered" tell me w"etber I should kill you, deport you or cut your knot of long bair". Cutting of hair knot was tantamount [0

beheading. This proves that PQras Ram had also grown long hair. Take the cas. of Balmiki and two sons of Shri Ram Cilander, all are shown With long hair on their head. How is it 7 Wby are they sbown with long hair not only during Ram-Lila but in their picture, also. All the Rishis used to have loaa hair.

.In fact the Guru bad issued edicts for keepiDa in tacl all the five 'kakkas' and the myth is created by the said author with an ulterior motive to sow the seeds of bat red against the Sikhs by making false allegatioDs.

(To be Continued)

8 5th May, 1986

Sub-division status for Abohar

. Abohar, a sub·tehsil of Ferozepur district wbose linguistic link with Haryana [n tem,tonal dISpute ,,:[th Punjab was snapped by' M~thew CommISSion s recommendatIOn, was raised to a lub divisio at a function presided over by tbe Chief Ministcr, Sardar Su/~. Smgh Barnala. ][

Tbe higher administrative statu, of the biggest cotton maudi of the state was evidently a gift to the peopl~ of the area who came in a Jarge number to listen to Sardar Barnala at a public meeting, he addressed later.

The inaugural function of tbe subdivision and the public meel­ing was an Akali Dal-BJP affair witb the Congress virtually stay­ing a way from the proceeding'. Abohar is tbe home town of the Lok Sabha speaker, Mr Balram Jakhar, whose son, Mr Sajjan Kumar, wa. unseated in the constituency by Mr. Arjun Singh, BJP, in the Vidban Sabha election last year.

Sardar Barnala said he had fulfilled the promise he had made to Mr. Arjun Singh two mon­ths ago. The sub·division statu. would open the gates for piosper­ity for the town.

ne said Haryana's claim over tbe Abohar-Fazilka areas had created "apprehensions" in the mind of the people "but we were never worried. We knew tbat the areas bad no linguistic contiauity to Haryana,"

Tbe Chief Minister said Punjab Cought the territorial battle not with swords but with arguments and .. on. Ab"har was a part of Punjab and would remain so in

\?UlUr/A ~OOU1rn~~~ ~m~l1]~rn~ ~rnB

future despite the "tactics" oC its cla[mants .

Referring to demands made by Mr. Arjun Singh and others for development works in the are~, Sardar Barnala said a big frurt'processmg project would' SOon be launched at Abohar. He would take up with tbe Centre the d~mand for rail link between Faz[I,," and Abohar. The town would have a government College prOVided land and bUilding were pr,)Vldfd for [t by the residents.

~he Chief Minister said Punjab was fighting anotber battle for every drop of its water The pe,,?,,I. ofPu~jab were upset at the snatcbmg' of its water by' o.thers. So rar as Punjab's calcula­!tons were concerned the state had no surplus. The water 0(' Punjab would benefit its land ~ore tban tbat of the neighbour­JOg state.

Sardar Barnala said he would not mind raising the status of' Abobar to.a .district when Punja!) got 100 adJo[Dlng villages from Har~aB~ on the basis of linguistic contlgll[ ty.

He alleged that Haryona demanded Punjab's areas on th .. ba.is of religion creating com­munal nfts, the Punjab Govern­ment would make every arrange­ment to teach Hindi in tbe area.

THE"SPOKESMAN" WEl!KLY

Projects in memory of M.Ranjit Singh Statl:l8 to be installed in Delhi

The Punjab government has approved a number of projects to bighlight the secular character of Maharaja Ranjit Singh with a view to strenstlien the national integration programme in the country.

At a l11~eting ,of organising -committee to observe Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death anniver­-sary falliog on June 29 next held in Chandigarh on April 24, under the president­'ship of Sardar Surjit Singh Barnala, chief minister de,cided to lIeek the help of political parties" social and voluntary organisations in propagating the secular charac­ter of the administration during Maharaja Ranjit Singh's regime.

A Ranjit Singh chair would be set up at Guru Nanak: Dev university at Amritsar. A -renowned historian would be enaaged to deliver lectures in ,different uoiversities of the coun­tryon the life aod times of the Maharaja.

A sub·committee consisting of Sardar !-latha Singh Dalam,

minister for public relations, Dr -ourdial Singh Dhillon MP, ' Mr Brij Bhushan Mehra MLA and Sardor Kirpal Singh MLA would 1:ontael Ihe Lt· Governor of Delhi 'Seeking aUotment of a suitable site at Delhi to instal statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Sardar Baraala had desired, that a site near Gurudwara BangIa Sahib would be appropriate,

The Chief Minister told the meeting that the Ranjitgarh project for setting up a modern town near PhiU;IUr 'would be,acce-

lerated by inVOlving private organisations.

Sardar Dalam disclosed tliat a light and sound programme on different aspects of Maharaja'. life and sec;ular outlook would be held at different plaeel in Punjab and also in D.lhi. ,

Four books authored by Dr. Gobind Singh Mansukhani, Sardar Khushwant Singb, Mr F.S., Waheedudin and by Marg Publi­c.ti,ons of Bombay on Maharaja ' Ranjit Singh would be distributed in large numbers to fibraries. ,

Sard.t Dalam said that a nation.llevel football tourn.ment would boorg.nised.

Those whu attended the meet­ing included , Dr Gurdial Singh Dhillon MP, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Mr Hit Abilashi. Mr Mohan Lal, Sardar Harbhajan Singh, all former ministers. Dr Baldev Parkash, president Punjab BJP, Mr Brij Bhushan Mehra MLA, Mr Gopi Chand, president Durgiana committee~ Amritsar, Sardar Kirpal Singll prelident Chief Khalsa Dewan, Sardar Jagjit Singh MLA, Lt-Gen. Gurbachan Singh, Lt-Col. Gul­charan Singh, Dr S.S Ba!, Vice­Chancellor GND University. Mufti-Fuzil·ur·Rehman, Mr Veda Vyasa, Mrs Mona Ghulam Qadir and Mn Phoolan Rani.

Congress Leaders Fanning Communalism

Eleven Akali M.LAs and senior Akali leaders Surjan Singh Thekedar and Manjit Singh Khaira asked Punjab Pradesh Congress chief Beant Singh to explain the stand of the Punjab--€ongress vis-a­vis tbe interests of Punjab.

Reacting Sharply to reports about Mr Sat 'P,al Kapoor, a senior 'Congress leader and member of t,be AICC, having led a delegation to Justice E.S Venkatramiah pleading for the transfer ofPatiala Samana Ind other Punjabi·speaking areas to Haryana, tbey said th~ action showed that an influential faction of the Punjab Congress "'as , actively working against the interests, of the State. '

"In connivance with M~ Bhajan Lal, Ihese Congrel" leaders are fanning communalism by , asking Hindu. to give Hindi-as their mother tongue", these.!eaders said adding that Mr Sat Pal ·'is a Trojan Horse" within the Punjab Congress. If he was not immediate­!y expell~d from t~e organisation, t.ho people of Punjab would be Justified In presumlOg that the Punjab Congress "'as hand in glove with Ihe anti-Punjab and communal forces .

. The sisnatories to the ,,:~iften statemeDt, were beside. Surjan lhngh Thekedar, Sardar Man)lt SlOgh Kh.lra, general secretary Akali Dal, Sardar Hari Singh Zira, Prof. Prem Singh Chaodumajra' Sardar Gobind Singh Kanjhla, Capt. Kanwaljit Singh, Sardar Jasde~ Singh Sandhu, Sardar Kundan Singh Patag, Sardar Baldev Singh Mann, Sardar Bachitter Singh, Sardar Arjan Singh Litt and Sardar Amarjit Singh.

9 5th May, 1986

Dr Johl takes over as Vice-ChantJtllor of PAU

Llldhiana, April 23: Dr S.S. ments to complete this process at Johl, Senior Professor of Econo· .. the earliest possible. He has also mics has ' taken over as Vice- constituted two committees for Chancellor of the Punjab Agri- improving the working of the cultural University today for two University Library and Store months. Purchase Organization.

Dr Johl was forl11ally intro- Dr Sukhdev Singh stressed duced by Dr Sukhdev Singh to that all the officers and Heads of the officers and head. of depart- Dopartments must take keen ments in a specially convened interest in the administration of meeting. He expressed the hope the University and ordered to that Dr Johl will get full coopera- implement the concept of decen­tion from the faculty of the tralisation of power. He disclosed UDiversity. ' that more emphasis will be laid

While add;essing the meeting to strengthen the regional re.ea­Dr Sukhdev Singh emphasised rch station. in order to provide that this Univei.ity should switch solutions to be specific problems over to Semester System of teacb- of agriculture. ing in place of the present Dr Sukhdev Singh will be on Trimester System, He adv;'ed the leave for two ,months ' and is the Deans, and Head. of Depart- going abroad.

AkaU Oal meeting 00 May 9 It has been decided to make Sardar Gordev Singh, said that 'at

functional the Akali Dal head the meeting a strategy would be office in the Golden Temple evolved with regard to the hold­complex in Amritsar as part of ing of public meetings in' different the efforts to strengthen the party districts to increase the party'. and its wings. , influence. '

A meeting of the party', After the formation of the officebearers, district Presidents Akali Government, the party (there are 18) and conveners oC head office has virtually fallen hllf a dozen wings ' hag been into oblivion and the centre of called in Amlit.ar On May /}. activity has 'hifted to Chandi-

The party', OffIce Secretary, garh.

India Book House Education Trust to donate bookS

India Book House Educ.tion Trust will give away book. worth Rs 8,00,000 to schools, ·ball bhawan., public libraries and government hospitals. '

Under the scheme, any recog· nised schools, bal bhawan"public library or paediatries department of hospitals (where children spend a lot of time during convalescen­

' ce) can receive a cift packet of books worth Rs. 200/ -Jree of charge.

The 'delivery of the packets can be taken from the office of

Musical "GaYakee". an organisatIon

ofIndian music lovers,-in colla· ' borationwith ' Urdu Academy, Delhi organised a Musical Even­ing of Geet and Ghazal by the v~rsatile singer · Sarda! Sahib Singh, last week, at Himachal Bha wan, New Delhi, under the presidentship of Shti T.P. Jhun­jhunwala. The famous urdu poet , and patron of literature, Kanwar Mohinder Singh Bedi, while inaugurating the function com­mended Sahib Singh for his devotion to improve his talent and provide best compositions of the best writers. ' Sardar Gurdial Singh, High_ Commissioner of Uganda in India was the , chief guelt.

India Book House Trust, Maha­laxmi Chamebrs; Bhulabhai Desai Road" Bombay 400 026 or from any of offices of India Book House in Calcutta, Patna, Delhi; Ahmedabad, Madras, Hyderabad; Bangalore, Pune and Trivandrum against a receipt on th~ letterhead of the intitulion, library or hos­pital, duly sigued on its bebalf'by a1l authorised signatory.

Those who would like to obtain the copies by post will have to send Rs. 32/-towards postage and packing charges in addition to the advance receipt.

Evening 'Earlier the PreSident of Gaya­

kee, Mr. Mohd 'Shad 'Qureshi appreciated the constant endea­v~urs of Sahib Singh to display hIS excellence' in ' Jndia and abroad. The humorous poet Shd Surinder Sharma compered.

In his performance Sarda'­Sahib Singh did :well to render Geet and Gh~zaf of renowned poets like Dr. Iqbal, Jigar Muradabadi, Chanan Gobin" Puri and otbers to present rare feat of melody and e~pression. MeanlDgflll couplets vibrated between high and low pitch. Orchestra. provided befitting accompanuoent.

-:-Piara Sinah M.A.

THI!"SPOItl!SMAN" WEflKL'Y

Letters to -' = h Ed . t e itor

Punjab Accord: Can it be ? Revived •

Sir, -All well-wishers of P~njab who had set great store by the Punjab Accord must have been profoundly dismayed by the highly dangerous goings-on in Haryana, and the still more dangerous talk by Devilal of abrogating clauses 7 and 9 of the Punjab Accord and reverting to the 1970 a ward of Mrs. Gandlli which had bestowed Chandigarh on Punjab in lieu of the transfer of Abohar-Fazilka to Haryana. Such wild and irresponsible ulter­ings can create grave misgivings in the minds of Punjabis about the future of the Accord, and cannot but cause the most acute distress to all patriotic forces in the country. WIth Punjab Con­gress (I) and Punjabi Hindu. signalling their silent approval of Haryana'. illegitimate de­mands, an . essentially linguistic problem has been converted into a potentially' dangerous com­munal divide which bodes ill for the nation .

Far more ominous and fraught with danger is the fact that what is very much a national issue is being shortsightedly viewed, not only by Ihe Con­Iress(I) but by the opposition parties as well, in terms of Haryana versus Punjab. Herein lies the tragedy of a fast deterio­rating situation which may well lead to the total scrapping of the Accord and ignite our entire North-west frontier to flash­point.

Poor Punjab Accord: Who will not shed a tear for it today? Onoe the darling of the nation, it has been foully abused and persistently and brutally flogged by Bhajanlal. and Devilals. The sad part oC'the story is that there is as yet no sign on the horizon of the 'Centre coming to its rescue. Under the combined onslaugbt of the dark and sinis. ter forces which today hold sway in Haryana, al!d with the Centre, looking on as a passive and helpless spectator, the historic Accord might well, before long, breathe its last. And with all the magic of hi. legendary ' charm, Rajiv Gandhi might find it a trifle difficult to' breathe life afresh into its ashes,

Can the Accord be still revived, or is it already too late? There is but one way ,now to resuscitate the Accord al1d restore to it some semblance of life and credibility. And that is for the Centre to take a firm hold of itself and effect an immediate transfer of Cbandigarh to Punjab in lieu of lome Hindi-speaking

areas other than Abohar-Fazilka being given to Haryana. This, at the moment, looks like asking for the moon. A complete paralyais of will grips the Centre as it toys with the idea of appointing an­other Commission on the lines suggested by Justice Mathew.

A word about the shrill clamour that ' has been building up for some time for President', rule in Punjab. The Congress(I) al a party to the Accord should be doing all itcan t~ strengthen all pro-Accord forces including the Barnala Government. Instead the Punjab Con'gress(I) has boen playing the very opposite of a constructive role, and is right now whipping up .motions to force the Ccntre's hand for the dismissal of Barnala Govern­ment. The plain trutb is that all talk of President'. rule at the present juncture ' i5 not , only puerile and misplaced. but highly mischievous. On the contrary, this is the time for ,extending the fullest backing to tbe belea:uered Barnal. Government which i. tackling the. herculean task of containing and ultimately eradi· eating terrorism in a common' endeavour on behal( of the whole nation. Given tbe realities on the ground, Barnala remains our best bet, his obvious failings notwith­standing-the more 50 in view of the "hidden" alieil hand behind this menace being no longer a matter of specula.tion or conjecture.

And finally, let the cynics and sceptics who never tire of focus­sing attention on Barnala's weak­ness and inadequacy, and who have been insistently and rather loudly prompting him to do something drastic to curb terrorist violence, listen to the voice of sanity, and reason in the cool and calm assessment of the Prime Minister. In a candid interview with a Bombay Weekly, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi has said: "The terrorists did not disappear on the 25th July (the day of the Accord was signed), nor did we expect them to 'do so. J give them at lea.t another couple of ycars" .

If Mr. Gandhi with the might of India and the combined will and resolve of the nation behind him cannot guarantee the over' night disappearance of this terrible phenomenon, why blame poor Barnlla? He js grappling manfully with a situation which is certainly not his own creation.

- Prabhjot Singh Chopra Bombay

10. ~Ih May, i986

Tug of war/words Sir,-I have painfully read

the statemerit.s of Shri Bhajan Lal and Sardar Balwant Singh on the issue of Punjab Accord. One day Shri Lal says, "We will get I2()0 villages in, lieu of Chandi­garh, whereas the next day he offers 24000 acres of land from Haryan. in lieu of the city of Chandigarh . In reply ,S.rdar Bai­want Singh said that they would request the Venkatramiah Com­mission to . award Hary.na an area equivalent to 40% of tbe Capital project, which i. roughly only 8000 acres (according to the ratio determined by the Shah Commission). This tussle of 'give and take' seems to be 'ending in fiasco the principle clauses of the Accord. The Accord has almost become a mockery. Where'will this tug of war end o:1ly G01 ' knows, It is a pity thlt Sliri Bhajan Lal inorder to satisfy his ego has not given up his old

' claim of Fazilka and Abohar and 85 other viliages in that belt. He seems to be more worried to score over his rivals than actually doing anything good to the stale or tbe couimy . .

In his write-up . .. Agenda for Rajiv Gandbi-II" (I .E. 26-4-86) a remarkable statement has been made by M .J.!>. Sethi : "That the

failure to implement the Gandbi­Longowal Accord has been directly responsible for the accentuation of terrorism and build-up of the politiCal crisis" .

, He further said "As the 'crlsis deepens further, the forces pppos­ed JO the P.M. and the Barnala Qovernment will do their utmost to create new difficulties" :

The statement holds to be very t~e. Hurdles ' are b eing: created 10 the smooth implemen­tation of the "Accord". An impartial view of the wbole situa­tion will surely lead us to an irresistable conclusion that Bhajan Lal's statements are doubtlessly fanning communal-, ism. Sardar Balwant Singh does not ,seem to be wrong to say that By "lSlOg such issues Mr Bhajan Lal is trying to build up a blmd hatred for the Sikhs an d' Punjab which lead to strengthen_ ing of separatist forces . I think the best course would be that the Centre should ask these politicd leaders to stop mlking such injurious public statements till the boundary Commission hn not finished its job_

-G.S. Cliadb. New Delhi.

Compensation to Haryana Irreleva tit Sir,-It is not the "clash of

vital interests between Punjab and Haryana which expectedly crealed hnrdle," in the way of speeding implementation of the aceord," as writes Shri B.K .. Chum, (Indian EApre.s, 6 April 1986.) In reality, it is tbe Con­gress (I)'s ' prejudice against Pllnjab that is tlie )liggest hurdle. , 'If one look' bacle, 'it' will be

seen that ever since 1947 , A.D ., the Congress (orany shade) has always worked against the inte­rests orthe Punjab - whether it is the demarcation of a Punjabi­speaking state, the ufe of the Punjab river waters, conlrol of the Bhakra-Nangal Project, allocation of fl'nds, etc.

The Mugha! 'Emperor Baha­dur Shah, in order not to annoy the Muslims, had gone back on the promises he had made with Guru Gobirid Singh before the Emperor's cominl ·to power.

, Similarly, Shri Rajiv Gandhi has not implemented the Accord reached with Sant HarchaJld Singh Longowal for the fear of antagonising his ' co-religionists, because, as Chum correctly WTltes that even he "cannot afford.. (his).. survival to be threatened." Self, therefore, has been coming in the way of national interests.

The Centre's decision "to 10

whole hog to help the Barnala Ministry" is limited to the spokeD word only. In fact Sardar Barnala's hands have been we~kened by the non-implem.n­tatlon of the Accord. .Had Sari Rajiv Gandhi stuck to his word. acted boldly and given Chandi­larh to Punjab on 26th.' January 19&6, the present state of a!fain in the Punjab would not hav"" arisen. In view of the Mathew Commission's report the question· of compensation for Haryana in lieu, of Caandigarh become. irrelevant. But ihem how caD Congress (I) think and act for the good of Punjab I '

- Lt Col. Golcharan Siog~ Jul1undbar (Retd) ,

Panel to Review Gurdwara Act

The ' Governmeat of Punjab­has appointed an eigbt'membel' committee to review the proposed All-India Gurd", ara Act. ThO' first , meeting is sch,duled for May 7.

Other members are Dr Attar-Singh, Sardar G.S. Grewal Sardar Narinder Singh, Sarda~ Ajit Singh Sarbadi, Sardar Manjit Singh Khair~, Giani Lal Singh, and Dr Jasblr SlDgh Ahluwalia_

f>{l! "SPOKESMAN" WEEKLY 11 5th May, 1986

• In Tbe international Scene Mothers have children's

no say career

Indian mothers have little or no say in determining the career for their sons or daughters, reports UNI.

Gross violations of human rights in Afghanistan

The father continues to playa dominant role in Indian fami­lies, says a study on vocational choices of young graduates/post­graduates conducted by the Foundation for Organisational Research.

The \Var in Afghanistan is not just a military strain on the Soviet Union. It has also become more and more of a political burden. Thi. became clear in the U.N. general assembly recently when a large majority of the member nations condemned Moscow for gross violations of buman rights in Afghanistan. The tbird world in particular, wbich on the whole has had a good relationship with the Soviet leaders, reacted to tbe Soviet forces war on the courageous Afghan mountain people.

The study, which covered 4, \08 graduates and postgradu~­tes from all over the country, Ms shown that only 19.2 percent of the respondents made their own choices. As many as i 8.9 per cent of the respondents were guided by their fathers.

A generational change in the educational and vocational pat­terns is also clearly discernible. While 67.1 per cent of the grand­fathers had studied only up to high school or were illiterates, today, 69 per cent of the fathers have studied up to high school or even graduation. Illiterate fathers are now only 7.4 per cent com­pared to 33.2 per cent grand­Iathors.

Occupational inheritance is on the decline. Young graduates are moving a way from tbe occupa­tiun of their parents.

A major change in vocations has also taken place in a shift from agriculture to services. Only 12 per eent of the fathers opted for agriculture compared to 23 per cent grand-fatbers.

The study says that 69.7 per cent of the respondents are not only critical of tbe vocational guidance system, but feel that there is little or no vocational guidance in scbools.

The study took 31.2 per cent of the respondents from the rural areas for the Slmple survey.

Money provides the least source of inspiration to the young people. It says, today tbe most important things young people look for in a job are opportuni­ties to use special abilities and aptitudes, seop" for advancement and utiiisation of creative and altruistic feelings for tbe benefit of society. For the public scbool English medium products, how­ever, social status seems to be the most important concern.

Women covered by foundation give a relatively lower importance to leadership according to the stndy.

Oood luck is considered an important factor in career growth. But not much importance is attacbed to baving contacts or knowing influential people.

The foundation has found that spiritual values among the

Indian youth are on the decline.

Stating that females do not have a passion for achieving things, tbe study says that females show a lower concern for know­ledge and also affiliations like "earning a good name and repu­tation", survival and security and, peace. Nevertheless, the Indian female continues to have a higb regard for moralvalues,

Tbough women are increas­ingly taking to jo bs, the concept that they are not equal to men in occupational fields seems to per­sist in them. Achievement of excel­lence through good performance has not yet become a dominant concern for women.

Those educated in vernacular scbools have greater concern for moral values and peace than the young people who have received their education in English medi­um schools.

But tbe concern for achieve­ment and success is greater among the English medium respondents as compared to those educatell in vernacular medium schools.

The rurai respondents show marginally bigher concern for social service tban the city-bred, the study says.

The basis for the general assembly's front against the war in Afghanistan is an Investigation initiated by the international organization's human rights commission. This is the first time that the commilsion has turned iis critical glance in this way on conditions in a com­munist society. The verdict is a crushing one. In a detailed report, proof is submitted to show tbat the Soviet soldiers are taking part in sometbing close to genocide.

The war is waged primarily in the countryside, where resis­tance to the occupation troops and Babrak Karma!'s quisling regime is greatest. The goal is to subdue the civilian popula­tion.

According to tbe UN docu­ment, the most unpleasant methods are being used. Men and women are tortured with electric shocks. Children are killed and mntilated by explosive

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toys. These objects are camouf­la,ed as "ens, dol/s, barmonicas radios, or match· boxes. The us~ of such bea.tial methods naturally increase. the Afgbans Will to fight and desire for revenge.

On 27 December they will have withstood the Soviet Union and the communist regime in Kabul for six years. Thousands of Soviet youths are dying in the Afghan mountains and valleys to no avail. Approximately balf a million civilians have lost their lives and over four million of tbe country's inbabitants have fled to Pakistan. A military solution is out of sight. But. lately, there have been vague hints from Moscow tbat tbe autborities there are interested in findiDeJ a political way out of tbis mire. None less tban tbe party leader himself, Mikhail Gorbacbev has intimated that an arrange;"ent can be found, on certain condi­tions, that will put an end to the bloody war. During the liummit meeting in Geneva members of president Reagan'~ ~elegation also had the impres­sIOn that Oorbachev is prep'ared to carry out an . "honorabJe" withdrawal from Afgbanistan.

These sin gals have not yet crystalized in concrete actions. And it will not be easy to shape a c~mpromise which prevents the SOVIet Uilion from "LosiDO' Face". But the atmosphere in th~ UN has gradually become so obviously critical of tbe Soviet invasion that it would cost more politically and cost more friends than Moscow can afford in the long run. Oorbachev already has reason to be concerned about t~e ~oviet ynion's falling pres­tlg~ tn the tnternational organi­zatIOn.

Kirtan Samagam at the Sadan

The Kirtan Samagam organis­ed at Bhai Vir Singb Sahitya Sadan, New Delbi on Sunday la.t included melodious kirtan by Sardar Indermohan Singb Kulmohan Singh. After observing five·mtnute Nom Simran, the Sangat was de/tghted by Bhai Vir Singb's poem 'Arti' in which the River Oanga has been urged to carry the Dona to Patna, tbe abode of Guru Oobind Singh. It was rendered into traditional melody by radio and TV artist Sardar Harbhajan Singh Rattan. Tbe tract 'Ourmat Nam' published by Sahitya Sadan was distributed to the Sangat.

Regd.No; D-{C)-85 THE "SPOKESMAN" WEEKLY Regd. ~3/57 5th May, 1986

Fitting Rebuttal Of Bhajan Lal's Propaganda Barrage

National And International Norms Must Followed For Chaodigarh

Be

Punjab Finance Minister Balwant Singh has, solidly and convincingly, deBated . Haryana Chief Minister Bbajan Lars propaganda balloons abont areas' of Punjab wbich are to be given to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarb.

most, such villages of Punjab weich are equal in area to 40 percent of the City Beautiful's area . Notbing more. As the eapital project area comprises

20,000 acres, Haryana Gan claim 8,000 acres only. And Punjab, as a gesture of generosity. bas Offered 13 villages, which have manY times this share.

In his craze for one-,I ~ l\· ~n­ship, Mr Bhajan Lal has offered. Punjab 24,000 acres if Chandi· garh was left to Haryana. This is just a repeat of his earlier antics wben he had offered four villages

in lieu of one villase which broke Hatyana'g conti,uity with Abohar·Pazilka belt.

He also argues that R. 8,000 crores were spent on Chandigarh. But he should realile tbat al\ government property suffers depreciation at rate .of five per­cent every year. In this way, tho present book value of- Chandi­garh is just Rs. 20 croret only.

Befere the Mathew commis­sion, F..ryana bac denuaded ¢U.5 villages. Later. it Was content if 83 v illages and two towns of Abohar-Fazilka belt were given to it. Now Mr Bhajan Lal ask. for 1,200 villages.

Clearly, he bas iost his b~ad,

Perhaps the Haryana leader wants to ,teal the thunder from opposi tion leaders within his sta te an,d. therefore, goes on makin~ wild claims which have no r, l"tion with realities. Maybe he thinks that if he made grossly­exao.erated claims, he mIght suc;;ed in securing a big~er chunk of the cake than otberwlse.

There is no doubt that Mr Bhajan La]'s rantings have the blessings, if not outright suppor!, of some highups in New Deihl, both in the goveroment and the Congress ( \) hierarchY· OtherWISe, he should have b een bridled long ago.

A healthy-chna is a happy child

As we have stressed very often Ihe question of .. compen­sating" Haryana for IIloss" of Chandi~s prep?sterous. It conflicts with both lOteroatlOnal and national norms .

. For instance, Pakistan wa~ not compensated when l'!ew DeIhl remained with Jndia dU!lDg 1947; East Pakistan got Aothmg when Calcutta stayed with w~.t Bangal; and Indian part ofPun]ab did not get a pie or an lOch of land when Lahore went over to Pakistani Punjab.

So far whenever a new state was created in India it got no compensation whatsoever for the loss of the erstwhile capital. Andbra Pradesh got nothing when Madrnl remained with Tamil Nadu and Gujarat drew blank when Bambay stayed in Maharashtra. Punjab was not compensated when Simla waS handed over to Himachal Prade.h. Then why a special treatment for Haryans ?

Chandigarh was built as capital of Punjab, in place of Lahore, on land. belonging to entitely Punjabi-speaking villages . Even nOW 95 percent of property there is owned by Punjabi,. Ninety percent of its population is Punjabi-.peaking.

Tn keeping with Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 which gave birth to Haryana, the state could claim, at the

SlaxD­A , concern l for healtH

Edited , printed and published by CharanJit Singh from 6, Northend Complex, R_K. Ashram Marg, New Delhi-I 10001 , anci printed at Sumcel Pnnters, C-243, Chinyot Ba.Ii, p.harKanj, New Oelhi. Phone Office; 344676. Residenoe: 621717.