Sat Sri Akaal Greetings Shalom Namaste Salaam Alikum
15th Issue
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The True Face of A So Called Democracy
( Seattle, USA January 20, 2008 ) Today in a joint statement Punjabi Manch of Seattle and Punjabi Sahit Sabha of Seattle ( Punjabi Literary Society ) has strongly condemned the shameful action of the Indian Government to refuse entry at New Delhi Airport to a Canadian journalist of Punjabi origin Mr. Harkirat Singh Kular.
Today an emergency meeting of Punjabis of the Seattle area was called in the evening at Avtar Singh Adampuri's house in Kent, WA, USA. Avtar Singh Adampuri is the current Treasurer of Punjabi Sahit Sabha while Amrik Singh Kang is the current General Secretary of Punjabi Sahit Sabha. Some members of the Sabha being out of town participated in the discussion via phone. Avtar Singh Adampuri is also the former president of the managing committee of Washington state's largest Sikh Temple ( generally called Guruduara in the Punjabi language) with a congregation of several thousand Sikhs. Amrik S. Kang is the Chief Editor and publisher of Punjabi Manch. Amrik S. Kang got hold of the above news story only last night through two Punjabi Newspapers namely CHARHDI KALA and PUNJAB GUARDIAN published from British Columbia, Canada. The chief editor and publisher of the Punjabi weekly newspaper PUNJAB GUARDIAN is Mr. Harkirat Sigh Kular. Mr. Kular happens to be a Canadian Citizen. ( Note: Amrik S. Kang's wife Manjeet Kaur Kang, the Assistant Editor of Punjabi Manch also happens to be a Canadian Citizen living in Seattle.)
Mr. Kular has a legal Canadian passport that has five year multiple entry Indian visa stamped in it. Mr. Kular has entered India twice before using the same visa without any problem. However this time when Mr. Kular arrived at New Delhi Airport on January 6, 2008 via China Airlines flight number 0181, he was refused entry into India. He was going to attend the wedding of his niece whose father had died five years ago. He was accompanied by his wife who was granted entry into India but Mr. Kular was deported back to Canada via the next available flight. The Indian immigration officers at the New Delhi Airport gave Mr. Kular no reason for this denial of entry. They did not even allow him to contact the Canadian Embassy in New Delhi. Moreover, he was not even allowed to contact any attorney. The B.C. Press Club has called it an unfortunate incident and a Canadian Minister has called it very hurtful. Everybody is using a very diplomatic language but we call it a Shameless Act of the Indian Government in violation of all international norms. We also call it the true face of the so called largest democracy on Earth. The Indian Government may believe that a Government voted into power by majority of the population is called a Democracy. If this is the definition of Democracy then SADDAM Hussein's Iraq was also a Democracy as he was always voted into power with over 98% of the population at the barrel of a gun. How about Hitler's Germany and the Evil Empire of the Soviet Union and the so called Peoples Republic of China. It is obvious that the Indian Government has conveniently forgotten that the definition of a Democracy contains not just elections but Free and Fair Elections among other things like Free Judiciary, Free Legislature, Free Press, The Rule of Law and a guarantee of protection of the right of minorities etc, etc. India does not pass any of these tests. As a matter of fact, It is a cage of nationalities like the Soviet Union used to be and does need a true Federal Constitution like the one we have here in the United States. India openly suppresses its minorities namely the Sikhs, the Kashmiri People, the Nagas, the Mizos, the Tamils, the Christians, the Bodhis to name just a few and covering it all by offering ceremonial posts to a few hand picked rented leaders from these minorities. This attack on the freedom of press by the Indian Government exposes just one more face of that so called Democracy and we strongly condemn it.
On behalf of the above named two entities in Seattle.
Yours Truly,
Amrik S. Kang
Puyallup, WA, USA This blog was posted on Punjabi Manch after midnight at 12:50 A.M. on January 21, 2008 then printed and faxed to various newspapers.
Note: Amrik renounced his Indian Citizenship and surrendered his Indian passport to the Indian Government about thirty years ago after Indira Gandhi a so called secular Prime Minister and her Congress Party a so called secular party exposed their true face by suspending all civil liberties and declared emergency rule. Amrik became a STATELESS PERSON in protest and was thrown out of Germany destroying his career and his studies to obtain his degree in Mechanical Engineering after a four year stay there on a student visa. There was nobody to speak for him in Germany at the time. However, he continued to fight alone. He has not visited India in the last twenty six years. He has been holding a US Green Card for over twenty years but he is still a STATELESS PERSON and never decided to apply for US Citizenship even though he is fully American at heart being the father of his two American born daughters. His life story is the subject matter of an entire book. He started his struggle against the Indian Regime when he was only in his eighth grade in 1964 by organizing and leading a peaceful demonstration against a corrupt congress party MLA who was visiting his higher secondary school at the time. Amrik S. Kang is not the problem rather he represents many problems the so called Indian Democracy still has thereby he fully understands Mr. Harkirat Singh Kular's pain.