November 2007

The denial of visas to Ragi jathas to visit Canada is causing frustration for Sikhs across Canada. Ragi Jathas, groups who sing Sikh spiritual compositions, are an integral part of the religious services that take place in Gurdwaras across the world.  Normally, Jathas travel from one Gurdwara to another, as they are usually invited by a particular Gurdwara to come and provide their services for a limited period of time.  The WSO has received many complaints from Gurdwaras in Canada that during the past six months many Ragi Jathas have been denied visas without any reasonable explanation. Even more ludicrous is that Canadian immigration officials in India have been reported to have been asking these Sikh religious singers if they are affiliated with Al-Qaeda, thus exhibiting extreme ignorance and/or training on the part of Immigration Canada. The WSO has asked the Canadian Government to issue appropriate directives to stop this unnecessary harassment of religious preachers read more ..

While the political realities have changed considerably since 1861, the century and a half old British Legislation is still in force governing police operations in Punjab. This fact has been pointed out by no lesser body than the Supreme Court. Instead of improving the legislation to safeguard human rights, it appears that the Punjab Government has given greater powers to the state police while they stand accused of gross misuse of public trust and rights of the general public. The WSO has written to the Punjab Chief Minister read more ..

In October 31st 1984 in the wake of the assassination of India’s Prime Minister by her own bodyguards, the Government of India orchestrated a massive program against Sikhs across India, an atrocity so vast in scope that it can only be likened to an ethnic cleansing. Thousands of Sikhs in Delhi and other cities in India were butchered mercilessly, men, women, and children alike. Even the Indian Government’s own admission places the death toll at 3,000, though other independent inquiries have cited far higher figures.  Eye witness accounts have documented how police and members of the Government escorted ravaging mobs to Sikh homes and shrines and providing them with transportation, maps, and kerosene, and how State controlled media was used to manipulate the mobs into a frenzy of killing.  Despite the scale of the massacres and incontrovertible eye witness testimonies and several independent inquiries clearly indicating many of those that were responsible, it is nothing short of tragic that those that were guilty have been given blanket immunity from prosecution.  India may be the world’s largest “democracy”, but it still has a long way to go on the scale of social justice and minority protections. As other organized genocides against minorities in India in the intervening years have demonstrated, until India begins to own up to these atrocities and prosecute those responsible, there is little to guarantee that such atrocities will not be repeated again and again. read more ..