Washington, D.C., Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - Latest reports from the Sikh Homeland of Punjab indicate that the Amrinder Singh government there, has finally decided to file a suit in the Indian Supreme Court challenging the legality of Sections 78 and 79 of the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966 (of the Indian parliament) under which the erstwhile Bhakra Management Board (BMB) was established (
http://bhakra.nic.in/english/menu1.asp) by the Delhi rulers, on October 01, 1967, to supervise, among other things, the illegal, and free of cost, transfer of the water-short Sikh Homeland’s river waters from the Bhakra Nangal dam to non-riparian states of Rajasthan and Haryana.
The above is very good news for Punjab and the future of our children, their children and their children’s children if the Amrinder Singh government does indeed go through with this patriotic action. Such action will have the full support and gratitude of not only the three million strong Sikh diaspora and the twenty two million Sikhs captive in India but millions of other Punjabis living on both sides of the Radcliff line. According to media reports the Amrinder Singh government will also seek complete control over the administration, maintenance and operation of Bhakra-Nangal and Beas projects, which are at present looked after by the so-called Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) which was set up, illegally, on May 15, 1976 as a successor organization to the original Bhakra Management Board - BMB. The erstwhile Bhakra Management Board was established under section 79 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 for the administration, maintenance and operation of Bhakra Nangal Project w.e.f. 1st October 1967. The illegetimate Bhakra Beas Management Board BBMB (currently headed by a full time Chairman, Engineer Rakesh Nath, with two full time deputies, Messrs Anil Arora and S. C. Mahajan) employs over 15, 000 employees (very few of them Sikh as most of the Sikhs employees have been weeded out during the ‘Quizling’ years) is headquartered in Chandigarh - Sector 19-B, Madhya Marg, Chandigrah 160019; Tel: No: 91-0172-775369, Fax: No. 91-0172-549857.
By taking the above mentioned courageous step Punjab’s Amrinder Singh government would also be countering the May 02, 2005, illegal order of the Jaipur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court (comprising Justice Shiv Kumar Sharma and Justice Karni Singh Rathore) which brazenly ruled that the State of Punjab must hand over control of the Ferozepur, Harike and Ropar canal headworks - all three located in East Punjab territory - to the illegal Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) - and the Union government - within thirty days of the order. The May 02, 2005, Rajasthan High court order also said that, "the water supply from the two projects, Bhakhra Nangal Project (BNP) and the Beas Project (BP) was to be controlled by the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) according to Section 79 of the Punjab Re-Organisation Act, 1966. But this had not been done and the Punjab government was still controlling the head-works of the two projects through a sub-committee of the BBMB. Punjab does not have any right to keep control of head-works and to flout the mandate of Section 79. It is only the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) that is entitled to keep administration and control of head-works in order to safeguard the fundamental right to water of the petitioner and other farmers of the state of Rajasthan." End quote.
Incidentally, non-riparian Rajasthan, which draws more Punjab rivers water than even Punjab - free of charge - does NOT currently allow Sikhs to buy agricultural land in that state although it welcomes free water from Sikh Punjab. The irony is that, Sikh pioneer farmers were welcomed in the 1940’s when the princely state of Bikanir, Rajasthan’s predecessor, used to pay for Punjab river water siphoned via the Bikanir canal. Incidentally, the above mentioned illegal order of the Rajasthan High Court was stayed by the Indian Supreme Court on May 10, 2005 on the request of the Punjab government. For details of this water conspiracy (in which the Rajasthan state government is in cahoots with its higher judiciary of that state) against Punjab please see Khalistan Calling of May 04, 2005, headlined "Rajasthan High Court's ultimatum to Punjab to relinquish control of canal headworks located in its territory, at Ferozepur, Harike and Ropar, within thirty days," by clicking at:
www.khalistan-affairs.org/khalistancalling/2005/may04.aspxTo come back to the media reports mentioned above, an interesting Chandigarh-datelined report, by Maneesh Chhibber, headlined, "Punjab to seek total control over Bhakra, Beas projects," was published on Feb. 12, 2006, in the Chandigarh based newspaper, TRIBUNE, (
www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060212/main4.htm) in which the writer sarcastically writes that, "Over four decades after Parliament enacted the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, the Punjab Government is all set to file a suit in the Supreme Court challenging the legality of Sections 78 and 79 of the Act. The Punjab government will also seek complete control over the administration, maintenance and operation of Bhakra-Nangal and Beas projects, which are at present looked after by the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) since 1976. Section 78 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act deals with the issue of rights and liabilities in regard to the Bhakra-Nangal and Beas projects, while Section 79 is the one under which the Bhakra Management Board, the previous avatar of the BBMB, was constituted by the Government of India. Section 78 also gives overriding powers to the Central Government viz-a-viz the Bhakra-Nangal and Beas projects. The right to receive and utilize the water available as also the power generated from the projects is governed by the Section 78."
Maneesh Chhibber also quotes in his Tribune report a senior officer, who is part of the Punjab Government’s team which is finalizing the suit, as saying that, "The (Punjab) government feels that the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej are Punjab’s rivers as they flow within the state and the Parliament erred in depriving the people of Punjab their right to exclusive use of these waters. All that we are planning to do now is to correct this wrong." End quote. Interestingly, most of Hindu India's ‘free’ media has ignored this developing story.
Our sources in the Sikh Homeland confirm the report that the Amrinder Singh government might follow up on the historic, and very popular, ‘Punjab Termination of Agreements Bill -2004,' which was passed unanimously by the Punjab state assembly, on July 12, 2004, which had canceled ALL past unequal agreements/ understandings about the waters of the Ravi/ Beas rivers. 'The Punjab Termination of Agreements Bill, 2004' – which became an ACT after the Punjab Governor's signature - was unanimously passed by the Punjab assembly, in a rare and historic show of unity, on Monday July 12, 2004. The Act cancelled all previous agreements on use of Ravi/ Beas river waters while magnanimously allowing the new bill to protect the "existing FREE use" of water by non-riparian states of Haryana and Rajasthan. 'The Punjab Termination of Agreements Bill, 2004', not only removed the very basis (the unequal and illegal Ravi-Beas river water sharing understanding of December 31, 1981, agreed between an illiterate Quizling Punjab Chief minister and the crafty Chief ministers of non-riparian states of Haryana and Rajasthan) but also terminated all other unequal agreements relating to the water of the rivers, Ravi and Beas only. For details of How, What, When & Where of 'The Punjab Termination of Agreements Bill, 2004,’ click at:
www.khalistan-affairs.org/khalistancalling/2004/july14.aspx While Punjab's knocking at the door of the Indian Supreme Court, nay Brahmin caste dominated anti-Punjab Kangaroo court, makes for good headlines in the media but a repeat of the unanimity displayed by the Punjab State Assembly on July 12, 2004, on this issue will be far more effective in view of the findings of the 95-page World Bank Report, "India's Water Economy - Bracing for a Turbulent Future," which was released in New Delhi on October 05, 2005. That World Bank report (
www.worldbank.org) written by Mr. John Briscoe, a former World Bank Senior Water Advisor for South Asia (and currently World Bank director for Brazil) calls for compensation for those states which give water to other states in India. Mr. Briscoe has suggested that, "there should be clarity on the rules and the rights and entitlements of every State, every district, block and even individual farm holding. The Centre cannot override the interests of the States. But there should be clarity on the rules and entitlements and efficient use of the available waters. Those who give water should be compensated and there should be a contract between the two accompanied by proper regulations.'' A unanimous resolution in the Punjab State Assembly on the above lines would do wonders for the Sikh Homelands future prosperity. For a backgrounder on the above mentioned World Bank Report by Mr. John Briscoe click at:
www.khalistan-affairs.org/khalistancalling/2005/october12.aspx About three years ago, on December 14, 2002 to be precise, media reports in the Punjab (see article by A. S. Prashar in the Tribune of Dec. 14, 2002, headlined, "Punjab to move apex court to question reorganization Act ," also spoke of Punjab government’s plan to move the Supreme Court to question, among other things, certain provisions of the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, on the basis of which, non-riparian Haryana claims a share in the surplus river waters of Punjab. Nothing came of that 2002 exercise! It was just hot air!(
www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20021214/punjab1.htm)
We hope, and pray, that the Punjab government will this time pursue its case of questioning the Punjab Reorganization Act-1966, in the Indian Supreme Court and the Punjab State Assembly, with sincerity and true grit, and will try to avoid putting up a repeat sham performance of the above mentioned December 2002 ‘talk’.
