Aspiring for self-rule
... A Special Report
Saturday December 08th, 2007
As armed rebellion in Kashmir, Manipur, Nagaland and Panjab is on the ebb,
activists from these war-torn areas assembled in Chandigarh to force the
right to self-determination on 8th December to commemorate
World Human Rights
Day. Organized by the Dal Khalsa, the seminar saw the participation by
activists from these areas and the notion of coming together oozing from all
corners of the jam-packed room.
With ethnicity as the core issue, one after the other, speakers emphasized the need to pursue the right to self-rule. Setting up a co-ordination committee to regularly focus on the deteriorating human rights situation was the achievement of the day. The issue of death penalty too was discussed and a moratorium on capital punishment in India was sought.
The father figure of the human rights movement in Panjab, Justice (retd) Ajit Singh Bains reiterated the role of the Ninth master, Guru Tegh Bahadur in spearheading the human rights thought. He said that, "working for human rights means, working for the rights of people with whose ideology you do not agree with." This is what Guru Tegh Bahadur did when he laid down his life for another community's right to religion.
Senior Advocate and author of "When A Tree Shook Delhi", Harvinder Singh Phoolka Advocate spelt out that the state was the biggest terrorist when it kills innocent people and does not pursue the cases judicially. He said that the experiments with state terrorism made in 1984 have been repeated ad nauseam in other parts of the country. The impunity enjoyed by politicians and the police has become so gross and flagrant that it has almost become a hopeless situation.
Sharing experiences about his recently released first book, he said that there is no doubt that the pen is mightier than the AK-47. In his inimitable never say die spirit, he highlighted the unbiased role of civil society and independent-minded citizens as the key to stopping the wanton mass violence in the country. As his wont, Phoolka did not stop at merely alluding to the problem. He enumerated many steps as solutions. The police and administration should be made accountable and the judiciary must expedite the judicial process. Political interference must be buried.
Prof. S.A.R Geelani of Delhi University in his brilliant Urdu diction adequately dwelt on his travails as a convict on the death row and demonstrated the inadequacy of the criminal justice system in dealing with not only his case but that of Afzal Guru, who is presently on the death row. Prof. Geelani, an expert in Arabic literature said that his popularity with students provided him solace and fortitude in the wake of protests against him and his co-accused by the right wing Bharatiya Janta Party.
Er. Ghulam Rasool Dhar, General Secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and leaders of the All Party Hurriyat Conference Haqeem Abdul Rasheed and its Human Rights wing head Mohammed Ashraf Lone, Advocate dwelt at length on the issue of self-rule for the people of Kashmir. It was interesting to note that some leaders desire annexation to Pakistan whereas JKLF representative yearn for complete freedom for Kashmiris. Haqeem Rasheed called for humanism as the core issue for all social and human relations.
Mr. Joyson of the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights decreed the manner in which Indian and Burma delineated the international borders in the early fifties, annexing parts of Nagaland. He mentioned that the people of Nagaland are reeling under the jackboots of the Indian state machinery.
Dal Khalsa leaders Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib and Harcharanjit Singh Dhami elaborated on the struggle in Panjab and avowed to fight for a separate Sikh state. Human Rights activist and P&H High Court Advocate Navkiran Singh appealed to activists from all organizations to ensure continuity in coordination, not allowing the seminar to be yet another exercise in observing another Human Rights Day. Bhai Mohkam Singh, convenor of the KAC said there was need to speak up for all oppressed classes including Dalits. He said the New Delhi's wound inflicted on the minorities run too deep for it to forgive it (the state) so easily.
World Human Rights
Day. Organized by the Dal Khalsa, the seminar saw the participation by
activists from these areas and the notion of coming together oozing from all
corners of the jam-packed room.With ethnicity as the core issue, one after the other, speakers emphasized the need to pursue the right to self-rule. Setting up a co-ordination committee to regularly focus on the deteriorating human rights situation was the achievement of the day. The issue of death penalty too was discussed and a moratorium on capital punishment in India was sought.
The father figure of the human rights movement in Panjab, Justice (retd) Ajit Singh Bains reiterated the role of the Ninth master, Guru Tegh Bahadur in spearheading the human rights thought. He said that, "working for human rights means, working for the rights of people with whose ideology you do not agree with." This is what Guru Tegh Bahadur did when he laid down his life for another community's right to religion.
Senior Advocate and author of "When A Tree Shook Delhi", Harvinder Singh Phoolka Advocate spelt out that the state was the biggest terrorist when it kills innocent people and does not pursue the cases judicially. He said that the experiments with state terrorism made in 1984 have been repeated ad nauseam in other parts of the country. The impunity enjoyed by politicians and the police has become so gross and flagrant that it has almost become a hopeless situation.
Sharing experiences about his recently released first book, he said that there is no doubt that the pen is mightier than the AK-47. In his inimitable never say die spirit, he highlighted the unbiased role of civil society and independent-minded citizens as the key to stopping the wanton mass violence in the country. As his wont, Phoolka did not stop at merely alluding to the problem. He enumerated many steps as solutions. The police and administration should be made accountable and the judiciary must expedite the judicial process. Political interference must be buried.
Prof. S.A.R Geelani of Delhi University in his brilliant Urdu diction adequately dwelt on his travails as a convict on the death row and demonstrated the inadequacy of the criminal justice system in dealing with not only his case but that of Afzal Guru, who is presently on the death row. Prof. Geelani, an expert in Arabic literature said that his popularity with students provided him solace and fortitude in the wake of protests against him and his co-accused by the right wing Bharatiya Janta Party.
Er. Ghulam Rasool Dhar, General Secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and leaders of the All Party Hurriyat Conference Haqeem Abdul Rasheed and its Human Rights wing head Mohammed Ashraf Lone, Advocate dwelt at length on the issue of self-rule for the people of Kashmir. It was interesting to note that some leaders desire annexation to Pakistan whereas JKLF representative yearn for complete freedom for Kashmiris. Haqeem Rasheed called for humanism as the core issue for all social and human relations.
Mr. Joyson of the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights decreed the manner in which Indian and Burma delineated the international borders in the early fifties, annexing parts of Nagaland. He mentioned that the people of Nagaland are reeling under the jackboots of the Indian state machinery.
Dal Khalsa leaders Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib and Harcharanjit Singh Dhami elaborated on the struggle in Panjab and avowed to fight for a separate Sikh state. Human Rights activist and P&H High Court Advocate Navkiran Singh appealed to activists from all organizations to ensure continuity in coordination, not allowing the seminar to be yet another exercise in observing another Human Rights Day. Bhai Mohkam Singh, convenor of the KAC said there was need to speak up for all oppressed classes including Dalits. He said the New Delhi's wound inflicted on the minorities run too deep for it to forgive it (the state) so easily.