Gurpreet Singh 

When former Punjab Police Chief KPS Gill passed away in May, the leaders of almost all the mainstream political parties of India paid rich tributes to the deceased and described him as a national hero who according to them had decimated terrorism in Punjab.

At an event organized in his memory, the leaders from both the left and the right side of the political spectrum spoke passionately for Gill. These included Maninderjit Singh Bitta- a self styled anti terrorism activist who vowed to keep Gill’s fight against terrorism alive and those associated with the ruling Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and a Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury.

Gill was the Director General of Police in Punjab that witnessed bloody conflict between early 1980s to early 1990s. It was a time when a movement for Khalistan, an imaginary Sikh homeland was at its peak. The Sikh extremists were involved in large scale violence against Hindus and their liberal critics within the Sikh community. In response, the Indian state gave free hand to officers like Gill to deal with the militants who were often killed by using extra judicial means. The ruthless policemen were duly rewarded with out of turn promotions. Thus, the militancy ended partly because of losing popular support due to excesses committed by the extremists and partly because of police repression.

Those blinded by nationalism continue to see Gill as a saviour, but they won’t see another dedicated police officer who had smashed the network of a terrorism of different kind with the same lens.

The late Hemant Karkare had died during a terror attack on Mumbai in 2008. The attack was blamed on Islamic extremists who had come from Pakistan and tried to take the entire city hostage.

Karkare had created headlines that year after he uncovered the activities of terrorists seeking to turn India into a Hindu theocracy in the state of Maharashtra. In one of the bombings done by the Hindu militants in Malegaon in September 2008, eight people had died and close to 100 people were injured. Though the attack was targeted at the Muslim community, the police had initially suspected the involvement of Jihadist extremists. Thanks to an honest investigation of Karkare who was with the Anti Terrorism Squad, the police were able to arrest the actual culprits.

However, Karkare had to face humiliation for arresting the extremists who belonged to the right wing Hindu organizations. He came under constant attack from the BJP and its supporters. The current Prime Minister Narendra Modi who used to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat back then too came to the defence of the Hindu extremists. Since the Congress party was in power in New Delhi, the BJP and other Hindu organizations tried to discredit Karkare by suggesting that the cases against Hindu extremists was a complete fabrication done under political pressure. This was despite the fact that Karkare was a practicing Hindu and was only trying to do his job professionally.

In November 2008 when Karkare died while fighting against Islamic extremists; though some believe that he was killed as part of a conspiracy, he became martyr for the BJP. Modi had offered a huge monetary award to his family that was turned down by Karkare’s widow.

In 2014 when Modi became the Prime Minister and the BJP grabbed the power in the center with a brute majority, the pressure started building up on the prosecutors pursuing the Melgaon case and similar other cases of terrorism. They were told to go slow and as was being apprehended some of those involved got bail as the National Investigation Agency began questioning the merits of Karkare’s investigation in the courts. The judges were told that the evidence was ascertained through coercion.

When one of the suspects, a serving army officer Lt. Colonel Srikant Purohit got the bail recently, the BJP began maligning Karkare in public.

This only reflects the double standards of the Indian nationalism which is in fact based on the principles of secularism and equality, but under the BJP its narrative has changed completely. Anyone who dares to challenge the majoritarian terrorism in a Hindu dominated India won’t get a similar respect that was received by police officers like Gill who were used to eliminate the threat of Sikh extremists who represented a minority community that makes only two percent of the Indian population.

But the BJP alone cannot be blamed as other political forces are no different when it comes to satisfy either the majority community or the collective conscience of the society.

Will Yechury dare to come out with a strong statement against calculated attempt to discredit Karkare, who stood against Hindu extremists? Will Biita utter a word against terrorism in the name of Hindu state? Aren’t Hindu extremists too a threat to the peace and unity of the country? Isn’t what they are doing unconstitutional and against national interest? The way Hindu extremism has grown in India under Modi and minorities continue to be attacked everyday can we expect the state to give free hand to the police to deal with the Hindu fanatics in a similar manner that was applied in Punjab to deal with the Sikh extremists? Why not kill the Hindu extremists also in staged shootouts and let the police pocket rewards to restore peace in India? Can we ask for another so called national hero like Gill who could take this challenge and use ruthless means to end terrorism of Hindu militants? If not, then India should acknowledge what it truly is – a Hindu state under the garb of secular democracy which has two different laws for terrorists belonging to two different communities.

Courageous author and journalist Rana Ayyub - who exposed the involvement of the Indian officials in the systematic killings of Muslims will be honoured by Radical Desi in Surrey this Saturday. 

The writer of Gujarat Files - based on her undercover investigation of the administrative and police officers who were responsible for the murders of the members of the minority community had risked her life by taking part in sting operation for Tehlka magazine. 

 She was sent to Gujarat following the anti Muslim pogrom of 2002 and spate of murders of Muslim men by the police in staged shootouts. 

 The violence against Muslims was followed by the burning of a train carrying Hindu pilgrims leaving more than 50 people dead. The Gujarat government under right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) had blamed the Muslim fundamentalists for the incident.

 Thousands of Muslims were targeted by the goons led by BJP activists. Human rights activists and survivours continue to allege the complicity of the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi in the mass murders. The bloodshed was followed by series of murders of Muslim men by the police in fake encounters. The slain men were frequently branded as Jihadist extremists. 

Rana posed herself as a Hindu woman with strong family affiliations with the BJP and befriended people in the police and administration. She later spoke to them about the violence against Muslims and found how thickly the BJP government and Modi were involved in these crimes. Being a Muslim woman,she was playing with the fire by secretly recording these conversations in an extremely hostile environment. 

The first challenge came to her from none other than Tehlka that chickened out as she was close to secretly interviewing Modi- who became the Prime Minister of India in 2014.  She was told by her bosses that they cannot afford to get into any trouble with the future Prime Minister. 

Later, she unsuccessfully tried to get her book published, but due to political pressure nobody dared to publish her work. Finally she had to go for self publishing. Rana took personal bank loan to get her book printed and circulated. Until now she has published more than 1,50,000 prints in different languages. 

But her fight did not end there. She was unable to get a full time job in the media as most potential employers wanted her not to talk against Modi. So much so, the Indian officials tried to get her event cancelled in Doha while on many occasions she got threats from the BJP supporters.  

Rana believes that the history of Gujarat episode remains relevant today as the violence against minorities, particularly Muslims has now spread across India under Modi government. 

She feels that the majoritarianism is the root cause of the problem as the previous Congress government also tried to divide people on the basis of religion. She never forgets to make a connection between the 1984 and 2002. Thousands of Sikhs were murdered by the mobs led by the so called secularist Congress party in India in 1984 after the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.  

Rana was only nine when she experienced first hand the pain of sectarian killings in 1993. She lived in Mumbai that was rocked with anti Muslim violence by Hindu fanatics. She still remembers how a Sikh family came to their rescue and saved her family from death when the Hindu fundamentalists targeted Muslims at the behest of the police that remained a mute spectator. 

She will be speaking at an event being organized by Radical Desi and Indians Abroad for Pluralist India on Saturday August 12 at 2pm in Dr. Amebdkar room of the Surrey Central Library. Following her talk,she will be presented with Courageous Journalism Award. Both English and Punjabi editions of her book will be available at the event and Rana will be present for book signing. 

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Human Rights activist and lawyer Amandeep Singh was honoured by Radical Desi at an event held at Surrey Central Library on July 30. 

Singh who had unsuccessfully contested the May provincial election as New Democratic Party candidate from Richmond Queensborough had drafted the petition seeking Canadian intervention for the release of Prof. G.N. Saibaba was presented with Radical Activism Award for 2017. 

Prof. Saibaba is a Delhi University lecturer who is 90 percent disabled below waist and is being persecuted for standing up for oppressed communities in India. He was sentenced to life after being branded as Maoist sympathizer by an Indian court. His medical condition continues to deteriorate as his wife fears for his life. 

The petition that was signed by almost 1,000 Canadians seeks intervention of the Canadian government in his case on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. At least two MPs Sukh Dhaliwal and Peter Julian have accepted the petition that is likely to be tabled in the house of commons this fall. Dhaliwal has already submitted it in the parliament. 

Singh had taken out time from his hectic election campaign to look into the matter and draft a petition without fearing for backlash. 

The award was given to him by the founders of Radical Desi magazine Chinmoy Banerjee and Parshotam Dosanjh and the Dashmesh Darbar Gurdwara Spokesman Gian Singh Gill - who was instrumental in getting signatures for the petition through the temple congregation. 

Among those who spoke on the occasion were former BC Human Rights Commissioner Harinder Mahil, a progressive documentary filmmaker Ajay Bhardawaj and Radical Desi Director Gurpreet Singh. 

A small video on the case of Saibaba was presented while Banerjee threw light on his story. Gill pointed out that under a right wing Hindu nationalist government in India attacks on the left and minorities have grown. 

Boojha Singh, a revolutionary communist activist whose death anniversary falls on July 28 was also remembered at the event. He was killed in a fake encounter in 1970. 

Gurpreet Singh

Breaking the myth about the passive involvement of Sikhs in the liberation movement of India, The Black Prince gives a fresh perspective on the struggle against the British occupation of their homeland.

It's based on the story of last Sikh emperor Maharaja Ranjit Singh's son Duleep Singh, who was exiled to England following the annexation of Punjab in the mid-19th century.

Until now it has been widely believed that Sikhs were largely loyal to the British, who ruled India until 1947. 

This is despite the fact that the British were only able to occupy Punjab in 1849, 10 years after Ranjit Singh died. Since then there have been two Anglo-Sikh wars.

Yet many historians influenced by European schools of thought have tried to make us believe that Sikhs were one of Britain's most favoured communities in India—and that Sikhs helped the colonial power suppress the first rebellion in 1857.

This movie, written and directed by former St. Elsewhere cast member Kavi Raz, sets the record straight, challenging this history that's been told through a Eurocentric lens.

The Sikh empire eventually fell as the British took over Punjab. In the film young Duleep Singh is separated from his mother, Maharani Jindan, and exiled to England.

In this English environment, Duleep Singh is forced to give up his religion and become Christian. As he grows older, he realizes that England is not where he belongs and insists on meeting his mother.

Once he reconnects with Jindan, Singh—played by Satinder Sartaaj—gradually comes to understand more about the theft of their homeland by the British and starts talking back against colonialism and racism.

Inspired by his mother, Singh reconverts to Sikhism and, with the help of other nations, makes a failed attempt to overthrow British rule. Years later, other political activists tried to follow the same route.

It's sad that Duleep Singh's contribution to the freedom struggle remains unacknowledged.

Undoubtedly, he wanted his kingdom back. His father Maharaja Ranjit Singh's state was very progressive and secular. The father abolished capital punishment and treated non-Sikhs fairly.

Duleep Singh's fight needs to be situated in the broader context of the struggle against foreign occupation of India. Jindan, for instance, never accepted British rule and despised their deception. Her reference to Ranjit Singh as sarkar (ruler) still resonates with many Sikh elders.

My own great-grandfather, Sham Singh, was in Ranjit Singh's army and he and other Sikhs refused to work under the British when this was offered. I learned from my father that they clearly told the British that they could not work for anyone other than sarkar as they considered him the real ruler.

In the film Jindan is played by famous Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi. As the story suggests, she inspired her son to give up the Christian identity that was forced upon him and to see how their valuables, including the Kohinoor diamond donned by Queen Victoria, was robbed from the Sikh kingdom under the guise of justice and fairness.

It is important for those who want to understand the perspective of a colonized nation to watch The Black Prince. It's a good attempt to bring to light a truth hidden under the shadows of history and created by the builders of an empire that not only suppressed resistance, but also the reality of it.

 Gurpreet Singh is an independent journalist and one of the founders of Radical Desi.

Federal NDP leadership candidate Jagmeet Singh is getting reports that the pro-India lobby in Canada is trying to dissuade people from getting involved in his campaign. 

Talking to RDNB during his Vancouver tour, Singh said he's learned from his supporters that people within the South Asian community are often discouraged from participating in his fundraising events. 

Singh noted that some people who had earlier shown interest in donating money to his campaign later changed their minds after receiving some kind of pressure.

"I am still trying to get as many witnesses as I can to prove this so that an appropriate action can be taken," he said.

He pointed out that if any foreign government is found to be interfering in Canadian politics through its agents, this matter should be taken seriously. 

Singh is also receiving opposition from racists in the mainstream community because of his turban and facial hair.

"In spite of these challenges I continue to receive tremendous support from ordinary people," he said. 

The Indian government previously denied Singh a visa for constantly raising human-rights issues in that country.

In 2016, the Ontario MPP brought forward a motion in the legislative assembly seeking to recognize the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre in India as a Sikh genocide. It didn't pass, but this year Singh supported a similar motion by a Liberal MPP, which did pass.

Thousands of Sikhs were murdered all over India in November 1984. The bloodshed followed the assassination of then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Supporters of the slain leader's Congress party were seen leading the mobs targeting innocent Sikhs. 

Apart from speaking out for justice for the victims of anti-Sikh violence, Singh has been raising the issue of political prisoners in India, as well as caste-based oppression of Dalits, or so called untouchables.

He has been equally critical of anti-Muslim violence that rocked the  western Indian state of Gujarat in 2002.

That carnage was started by the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was allegedly torched leaving more than 50 people dead. The Gujarat government under Narendra Modi  (now prime minister of India) blamed Muslim fundamentalists for the incident. 

When Modi was welcomed by the Canadian government in 2015, Singh was one of the rare politicians who pressed the Canadian government to raise its voice on the human-rights situation in India.

Singh's great-grandfather was an Indian freedom fighter who died fasting for the rights of political prisoners, yet the Indian government continues to bar Singh from entering the country.

"Though it hurts that I cannot go to the country my parents came from, I have no regrets for standing up for the right thing," Singh said. "If my great-grandfather could sacrifice his life for the nation, how does it matter if I don't get a visa?"

The Member of Parliament from Surrey Newton Sukh Dhaliwal has submitted a petition seeking the release of Delhi University lecturer Prof. G.N. Saibaba in the House of Commons.

Signed by 500 residents of BC, the petition was launched by the Radical Desi publications. Another set of petition with more signatures is yet to be submitted through other elected officials. Dhaliwal is the only Liberal MP so far who has taken interest in the case. Notably, he had submitted a petition seeking justice for the victims of 1984 anti Sikh violence in the past and has been consistently raising voice for human rights. 

The petition that was drafted by a well known community activist and lawyer Amandeep Singh asks for the intervention of the Canadian government in getting the disabled professor released. Saibaba was given life sentence after being dubbed as a supporter of Maoist insurgents.

A wheelchair bound Saibaba is being persecuted for opposing state repression on tribal people and other marginalized sections of the Indian society.  

In the meantime, Radical Desi team also submitted a letter to the Minister responsible for people with disabilities Carla Quoltrough asking for her intervention in the case on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The letter was signed by 100 residents in her riding. The minister's staff has been very cooperative and listened to the case of Saibaba carefully.

Among other groups that actively supported this initiative were Chetna Association, Sikh Nation, Gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar and Gurdwara Sukh Sagar Sahib, besides few individual members of the Ross Street Sikh temple in Vancouver.