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Dal Khalsa secretary for human rights Prithpal Singh |
In a bid to add the Sikh perspective to the US sponsored UN resolution calling for credible independent investigation against war crimes committed in Sri Lanka, Sikh group Dal Khalsa has submitted a letter to the UN urging it to also intervene in India to ensure justice and protection of rights of Sikhs and Kashmiris.
Dal Khalsa secretary for human rights Prithpal Singh met Sabina Lauber, a Human Rights Officer in charge of Asia Pacific Section in Geneva on Wednesday and handed over the letter addressed to United Nations high commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay urging the UN to investigate the human rights violations in Punjab.
Informing the media about the meeting, Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said that their group representative interacted with the UN officer for 30 minutes, who assured him that their concerns and views would be conveyed at highest level. To express solidarity with Tamils and their cause, Prithipal Singh participated in a sit-in organized by European Tamils outside UN headquarters.
Kanwarpwal said that happenings of army action on Golden temple in June 1984 and massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in November 1984 beside extra-judicial killings in Punjab also cried for justice and demanded attention of the international community.
In the letter to UN officer, Dal Khalsa said like Tamils in Sri Lanka, Sikhs and Kashmiris faced similar situation in India. Kanwarpal pointed out that while the Tamil human rights groups have succeeded in getting the attention of the world community and the UN, the Sikh efforts have not had much success. "Like Sri Lanka, India too has continuously flouted UN resolutions, UN treaties and conventions, but to no avail, " he said.
The Dal Khalsa letter expressed its displeasure that the US backed resolution nullifies the spirit of a proper UN intervention as it does not lead to a political solution of the crisis in Sri Lanka and significantly it does not address Eelam Tamils' aspirations. "There's no doubt that punishing the perpetrators of war crimes in Sri Lanka was required, but mere punishment without recourse to seeking a political resolution of the conflict is like losing Crimea to Russia and then imposing sanctions".