Musings about Indian occupied Punjab
Punjab Chief Minister Badal unfolds his 5-year vision for Punjab but says not a word about the time frame of the Akal Takht-ordered closure of Sirsa Baba’s Deras which pockmark the Sikh Homeland
Indian agents provocateurs, in Vancouver, are exposed when they try to tarnish the image of this column with a white lie about what an earlier article was supposed to have said about Amritsar’s Durgiana temple taking shape as an architectural look-alike of the Darbar Sahib
A noble & generous suggestion for the Durgiana temple in the concluding note below
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - While addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on Monday, June 11, on completion of his 100 days in office, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal unfolded his 5-year ‘vision’ for the Punjab. During the lengthy press conference Badal did not utter a word about the timetable of the closure (ordered by the 17 May, 2007, Akal Takht Hukamnama) of numerous ‘Sacha Sauda’ Deras, which pockmark the Sikh homeland of Punjab, and owe allegiance to the criminal/rapist Sirsa Baba, who poses as, ‘His Holiness Huzoor Sant Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh Ji Maharaj – the Third Master’. These Deras are a provocative reminder to most Sikhs of the shenanigans of the criminal Sirsa Baba, which actions of that phony, recently caused much turbulence among the Sikhs captive in Indian Punjab, and caused great mental pain, anger and anguish to the three million strong free Sikh diaspora worldwide.During the June 11 press conference, in Chandigarh, Chief minister Badal, after accusing the previous Amrinder Singh government of leaving a Rs. 52, 000 crore (Rs.520 Billion) debt behind, unfolded his own ambitious plan, for Indian occupied Punjab. He declared that his Plan will make, “Punjab surplus in power, provide electricity connection to every household, augment infrastructure to support agricultural and industrial growth, provide quality education with special emphasis on information technology, provide training and employment to one lakh youth, complete urban renewal projects and provide monetary relief to the Scheduled Castes and economically depressed sections of society”. However, according to the HINDU newspaper, Chief Minister Badal failed to provide a convincing answer to queries related to the funding of these projects which he promised to complete within the next five years. (> http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/12/stories/2007061205080500.htm < and > http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070612/punjab1.htm <)
In the meantime, before Punjab Chief minister Badal could properly advertise his five year vision for Punjab’s future, Indian operatives/ agents provocateurs abroad went to work. These operatives have been activated, a la the 1980’s, by Indian intelligence agencies, following the recent disturbances in the Sikh Homeland, which public outrage against the shenanigans of the Sirsa Baba, has made the corrupt and insecure government officials in Delhi nervous. These Vancouver-based Indian operatives arranged to plant a story in a respected Canadian English language Vancouver website, falsely accusing this column, dated 23 May, 2007, of, “calling for the destruction of a 16th century Hindu temple in Amritsar, Punjab,” which is a vicious white lie as there is no 16th century Hindu temple in Amritsar (> http://khalistan-affairs.org/home/khalistancalling/2007/may23.aspx <) as no such thing was said. The hate-filled disinformation however, got circulated, on the internet, pretty quickly, per courtesy of the Sikh-hating Hindutava media and right wing Hinutava volunteers living in Vancouver (Messrs Vinay Sharma & Amrit Lal Arora & Co.,) who have even set up an organization which is named in the Vancouver report.
These Vancouver-based Hindutwa agents provocateurs are not aware that Sikh outrage, about the ‘architectural direction’ the Durgiana temple building has taken, did not start last month. Over three years ago on 25 October 2003 the then Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, during his state visit to Amritsar, saw through the provocation, that the Durgiana temple represents to the Sikhs, when he refused to balance his visit to Darbar Sahib with a visit to the Durgiana Temple. This column, dated 29 October 2003, (> http://khalistan-affairs.org/home/khalistancalling/2003/october29.aspx <) headlined, “CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JEAN CHRETIEN VISITS DARBAR SAHIB,” reported, three years ago, (and we quote verbatim from that column) as follows:- “Mr Chretien created a history of sorts as he was the first Prime Minister of a sovereign country to pay respects at the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) and like Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Duke of Edinburgh, (who had earlier visited the Darbar Sahib on October 14, 1997) declined the invitation to visit the Durgiana Hindu Temple, the fake architectural copy of the Darbar Sahib India's rulers have built, in Amritsar, to diminish the grandeur and majesty of the Darbar Sahib and to suggest to any visitor to the Sikh holy city of Amritsar that Sikhs are part of the polytheistic Hindu religion, which the monotheistic Sikhs are NOT.” End quote.
To protect the reputation and good name of the column, from the vicious and uncalled for attack via the internet by Vancouver domiciled right wing Hindutawa elements (and Indian government operatives) a self-explanatory Press Release (which included a copy of protest letter to the Editor of the Vancouver website, ‘VANCOUVER 24 HOURS’) was circulated on 7 June, 2007, which is appended below for the benefit of the readers:-
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Khalistan Affairs Center
Suite 956- National Press Building
529 - 14th street NW
Washington DC 20045 USA
Tel: 202-637-9210
kacwashdc@yahoo.comJune 07, 2007
PRESS RELEASE
‘Divide and rule’ subversive anti-Sikh activities of
Indian diplomatic missions condemned
Washington DC, Friday, June 07, 2007: In a Press Statement issued here today, Dr. Amarjit Singh, Director of the Washington-based Khalistan Affairs Center, condemned the subversive activities of Indian diplomatic missions abroad in general and the Indian Consulate General in Vancouver (BC) in particular, for spreading dezinformatsiya which maligns the peaceful, law-abiding diaspora Sikh communities and the independent Punjabi print media located abroad.
The statement mentioned a recent episode in Canada, which stands out, in which, one Umendra Singh, planted a mischievous story on the website of VANCOUVER 24 HOURS, on 04 June, 2007, falsely claiming that a commentary published in the Surrey-based Punjab Guardian had called for the destruction of a 16th century Hindu temple in Amritsar. Within a few hours the false story went round the world. The VANCOUVER 24 HOURS reporter did not realize two facts. Firstly, that there is no 16th century Hindu temple in Amritsar. Secondly, Sikhs respect ALL religions and are not in the Temple or Mosque or Church destroying business. Demolishing mosques, like the 16th century Babri, comes in the domain of the Indian right wing, Neo-Nazi, fascist, Hindutawa elements. Dr. Amarjit Singh’s statement concluded by reproducing a protest letter written to the management of VANCOUVER 24 HOURS which is appended below:-
Letter to VANCOUVER 24 HOURS
To,
Mr. Dean Broughton
Editor-in-chief
VANCOUVER 24 HOURS1070 SE Marine Dr.
Vancouver, B.C., V5X 2V4
Tel: (604)-322-2340
Subject: Is VANCOUVER 24 HOURS unwittingly playing Agent Provocateur?
Dear Mr. Dean Broughton:
The June 4, 2007, VANCOUVER 24 HOURS carried a truly mischievous special report on its website, headlined “Sikhs, Hindus condemn article – Punjab feud” by one Umendra Singh. (> http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/2007/06/04/4232217-sun.html <) The report claims that, a Surrey-based Punjabi newspaper has published an article which called for the destruction of a 16th century Hindu temple in Amritsar, Punjab. This is a scurrilous lie as there is no such 16th century Hindu temple in Amritsar, a city founded in 1574 AD by Sikhs. The only 16th century religious edifice in Amritsar is the Sikh holy shrine of Darbar Sahib, open to all mankind no matter what their religion, which is known in the West as the Golden Temple, on which construction started in 1588 AD and was completed in 1601 AD.
It is obvious that your correspondent, Umendra Singh, after rapid reading a commentary in a Surrey-based Punjabi newspaper, Punjab Guardian, on the current turmoil in the Sikh Homeland of Punjab, drafted a mischievous report on behest of some Vancouver-based Indian Neo-Nazi fascist elements, called the Vedic Hindu Cultural Society, an organization which is mentioned in the report. The real authors of the report (typical dezinformatsiya by Umendra Singh, which has the finger prints of Indian intelligence all over it) are perhaps located in the Indian Consulate, Vancouver. They have not been mentioned. Umendra Singh’s report, reflects poorly on your editorial staff, as the commentary in the Punjab Guardian does NOT call for the destruction of any 16th century Hindu temple.
We Sikhs, a peace-loving, law-abiding, egalitarian people, never destroy places of worship, as we are known for having voluntarily, and on our own volition, built numerous mosques, churches and temples in the over 500 years of our history, always showing great respect for ALL religions. This Sikh national character is unlike the attitude of some Indian Hindus who famously destroyed the 16th century Babri mosque on 6 December 1992, with a ‘wink and a nod’ from the then Indian Prime minister, also a Hindu.
The commentary published a few days ago in the Punjab Guardian, and numerous other English and Punjabi publications (the raison d`etre for the Umendra Singh report) discussed the current turmoil in the Sikh Homeland, which was provoked (see English version of the commentary at:> http://khalistan-affairs.org/home/khalistancalling/2007/may23.aspx <) by the shenanigans of a phony, lustful god-man, an Indian government-sponsored agent provocateur, who styles himself as ‘His Holiness Huzoor Sant Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh Ji Maharaj’ the ‘Third Master’.
The commentary in the Punjab Guardian did NOT call for any destruction of any 16th century Hindu temple. It did however, discuss the crude provocative attempts by Neo-Nazi Hindu elements to build an architectural look-alike of the Sikh holy shrine of Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) which is situated a mile away in Amritsar. This edifice was registered as Durgiana temple on April 25, 1927 with “murti sthapna” (idol installation) being done on June 10, 1927. The Sikhs see this unique Durgiana temple slowly taking shape – there is no other Hindu temple which looks like this in the whole world - as another ‘in-your-eye’ mischief by the Neo-Nazi elements of the Hindu majority. These elements obviously have an evil agenda to diminish the majesty and uniqueness of the Sikh holy shrine of Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) with a Hindu duplicate (Durgiana Temple) nearby. Their aim is to portray to visitors to the holy Sikh city of Amritsar that the monotheistic Sikhs are a sect of polytheistic Hindus, which they are not.
Mr. Editor, VANCOUVER 24 HOURS ought to express some regret for this episode on its website.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Amarjit Singh
Suite 956- National Press Building
529 - 14th street NW
Washington DC 20045 USATel: 202-637-9210
E-mail: kacwashdc@yahoo.com
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CONCLUDING NOTE: In conclusion this column urges Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal not to ignore the hurt feelings of the Sikh community on the matter of the Durgiana temple. This Hindu religious building, (as has been pointed out in the Press Release above) is slowly taking the shape of an architectural copy of the unique Darbar Sahib (the builders have been at it for sixty years) which diminishes the majesty and uniqueness of the holiest Sikh shrine known in the West as the Golden Temple. This provocation hurts the religious feeling of the Sikhs. Recognizing, not ignoring, the hurt feelings of the Sikhs, on this issue, should be made a part of the Punjab Chief Minister’s five year vision.
It is not being suggested, at this point in time, that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, and his influential son, should take a lesson from the government of the South Indian state of Maharashtra, which, according to a BBC report, has recently, by an ordinance promulgated by the State Governor, “banned the propagation of other religions in the holy places of Hindus across the state. The authorities say the move is to ensure that Hindu sentiments in holy places are not offended. It follows a row over alleged Christian missionary activity around a shrine in the town of Tirumala” (Read BBC report of 8 June, 2007 by clicking at the following link at: > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6735661.stm <) To start with an offer should be made to members of Amritsar’s Hindu community that Amritsar’s Sikh community will volunteer material, money, expertise and labor for their Punjabi Hindu brothers, and build a magnificent Hindu Durgiana temple, in record time, on the same Amritsar location, which will architecturally look like any Hindu temple of their choice, as it should. (See Indian temples portal for different types of Hindu temple architecture at: > http://www.indiantemplesportal.com/punjab/moorish-mosque-kapurthala.html < )