The euphoria of Indian Freedom Day was to be seen from the ramparts of the Red Fort to the capitals of various states, but dissenting Sikh leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Dal Khalsa, Students For Society and other bodies held protest sit-ins, demonstrations across fifteen districts of the state of Punjab, holding black flags, banners and placards upholding the right to self-determination of the people of Punjab and protesting Indian repressive moves in Kashmir.

WITHOUT MINCING WORDS or beating around the bush, in a forthright and determined manner, representatives of various Sikh political bodies, student organisations, individual activists and volunteers, held the flag of dissent  high, appealing to the international community to give up their stoic silence and immediately intervene to protect human rights in India and acknowledge in practice the right to self-determination of the people of Punjab and of Kashmir.

Leading the protests in Amritsar, Simranjit Singh Mann and Kanwarpal Singh represented the fact that all struggling peoples have legitimate rights and in accordance with international treaties and conventions, democratic nations are duty-bound to protect such rights -not only in their respective countries and regions where they have strategic geopolitical or bilateral interests but in all parts of the world.

Student body from the Panjab University, with a rank and file across the state -the Students for Society, was significantly present with volunteers, to lend support to the Panthic bodies, who had come together publicly after a long time. SFS leaders from Panjab University, Chandigarh, were in the forefront protesting against injustices, discrimination, denial of rights and abrogation of Article 370 and the conversion of the whole of Kashmir into a concentration camp. SFS leader Kanupriya denounced the use of the Indian army to subjugate all dissenting peoples and rued the fact that using the army against civilians has become a permanent feature with the present Indian government.

Articulating the genesis of the Punjab problem, Simranjit Singh Mann, President of SAD (Amritsar) said “Since 1947, whenever we have asserted our rights, we have faced hardships, detentions and bullets. Sikhs will do well not to forget this maltreatment of the government.  While we are sui-generis peoples, the betrayal of commitments and promises by Indian leaders made in 1947 and the catastrophic events of 1984, are the root cause of the present Sikh anger. Various Sikh appointees in high Indian ranks and positions over the decades were only a ploy to deceive naive Sikhs, Indians and market-driven western countries.

Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh reiterated that while Pakistan and India were celebrating their 72nd Independence Day with great fervour and nationalistic gusto, the third party to the division of the sub-continent in 1947 -the Sikhs, grossly regret that “we missed the bus.”  “Nevertheless, the desire for freedom is alive and kicking,” he added.

Firebrand activist and leader Ms Kanupriya roared in her speech that, “On the entire political spectrum, from left to right, we are suffering from an overdose of ultra-patriotism. Presently, in India, dissension is sedition. Today marks the day of state violence against people of various linguistic and religious minorities. We oppose the very nature of the Indian state that has always been Hindutva fascist.”

“Crackdown and arrest of so many protesters in Tarn Taran in the last 24 hours, give us a clear indication of the repressive system we are living in, she added.

Of the 22 districts in the state of Punjab, protest meets were held by these groups, in all the major 15 districts of the state, calling 15 August as Black Day. Leaders of the various pro-Sikh freedom organisations and others were spread out in all districts, coordinating their joint efforts ensuring participation of party ranks and others.

In Jalandhar, Dal Khalsa President and lawyer -Harpal Singh Cheema led more than 400 activists to a spirited protest against the anti-democracy policies of India and the wholesale denigration of the rule of law in the country.

Carrying huge banners and placards, the mostly young demonstrators shouted slogans and spoke to cross-sections of the media of how the last three decades have witnessed tumultuous times of denial, torment, torture, mayhem, vandalism and death.

Expressing solidarity with the people of Kashmir, still reeling under the might of the Indian armed forces, a placard read, “Our pain is same, our enemy is same”.

Leaders expressed solidarity with the Kashmiri people and categorically stated in speeches and slogans that revoking Article 370 or incarcerating Kashmiris in their own homes for days on end will not kill the aspirations of freedom of the Kashmiri people.

Mocking the government on its latest move to amend the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act -UAPA, by assuming powers to label any individual as a terrorist without due process of law, scores of leaders, activists and marchers were holding placards reading, “I AM A TERRORIST” and “WE ARE TERRORISTS”.

Covering the plethora of issues that confront the badly tortured and mauled Sikh psyche and the people of Punjab, protestors were raising concerns regarding the side-tracking of the Bargari sacrilege issue, the draconian amendments to the UAPA, the gradual politicisation and empowerment of the National Investigation Agency -NIA with unbridled powers to detain and interrogate, the convoluted route taken by the government to subvert the waters issue and force the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link -SYL canal, refusal of the Indian judiciary and political powers to release Sikh detenues who have long completed their terms of imprisonment, failure to prosecute Sirsa Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim for his complicity in sacrilege cases as well as master-minding of the Maur Bomb Blast case and the inability of the present Punjab government to implicate and arrest former Punjab police chief Sumedh Singh Saini for his involvement in the Behbal Kalan indiscriminate firing on innocent protestors, killing two protestors and injuring scores of others.

Speaking to WSN, a young participant of the protest in Amritsar said, “It is time to wake up to the reality which is hitting hard in the face.”