On 3 October, when the UN Secretary General Mr Antonio Guterres lands in Amritsar on the personal section of his 4-day visit to India, he would be the first high-ranking UN official to visit Darbar Sahib. As SGPC prepares to honour him during his brief visit, Dal Khalsa has welcomed him to Punjab. The fact that he has chosen to visit the holy city is an oblique recognition of the unique status of the Sikh nation.

In a statement issued to media, Dal Khalsa party head Harpal Singh said that they have sent a communiqué to the visiting dignitary telling him that “like a camel waiting for water in a desert, the Sikhs look towards the United Nations for succour, rights and justice.”

Prior to his visit, the UN secretary general has thanked India for supporting UN economic reforms mooted by him. He has also referred to the “worrying situation” in Kashmir.

It may be recalled that while announcing the appointment of the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Michelle Bachellete, he had said, “She takes office at a time of grave consequence for human rights. Hatred and inequality are on the rise. Space for civil society is shrinking. Press freedoms are under pressure.” While all of this is true for India, it is surprising that the UN chief’s visit has no component of discussing human rights violations in India and as per the UN website, no official meeting with civil liberties and human rights groups is on the cards.

Dal Khalsa leader Harpal Singh Cheema said  that “Your visit to India is at a very critical and crucial juncture.” He urged the leader to take up with India how it deals with ethnic and religious minorities -the Sikhs, Kashmiris, Tamils, Nagas and Dalits.

He further said there was a wholesale climate of fear and repression in India. Urging the UN to go beyond bilateral bonhomie with India, Cheema said, “You need to scratch below the surface and the veneer of peace and tranquillity will start crumbling”.

Quoting Mr. António views on the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar and the endorsement of the Kashmir report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Dal Khalsa leader said it gives hope to the beleaguered people of this region who are struggling to protect their human rights, particularly their right to self-determination. He added that like the Kashmiris, the Sikhs too seek the UN-guaranteed, right to self-determination and have petitioned the United Nations many a time for this in the last three decades.

In the memorandum sent to the UN Secretary-General’s office on the eve of his visit, Dal Khalsa has demanded international probe by United Nations for November 1984 carnage, when all arms of the Indian state conspired and carried out well-orchestrated genocidal killings of the Sikhs in Delhi, Kanpur and other parts of India.

Dal Khalsa also sought the setting up of a Commission under the aegis of the United Nations Human Rights Council to unearth the involuntary detentions, torture and custodial deaths of Sikhs during the period of struggle from 1981 onwards to the present.

Dismissing popular perception that Gandhi’s India does not believe in custodial violence and torture, he said this was “one of the biggest lies of the century”. The letter asked the UN head that it would be a lot of good to all citizens of India, if the UN sets up a Rehabilitation Centre for Victims and survivors of Torture and other degrading maltreatment, with special facilities for counselling and wellness of the affected individuals and their families.

 If you like our stories, do follow WSN on Facebook.

The UN chief comes to Delhi as part of “Mahatma” Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations. Apart from meeting the Indian political leadership, he would be participating in the First Assembly of International Solar Alliance and the Energy Conference of Energy Ministers of Indian Ocean Rim Association of States.

Amritsar, 1 October 2018