London, United Kingdom (May 08, 2014):
According to a written statement sent to the Sikh Siyasat News (SSN) by
the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF): [a]t a packed venue at
the Houses of Parliament in London on May 06 senior leadership figures
from national freedom movements gathered in an impressive show of
solidarity to demand UN action against those states that forcibly
suppress legitimate self-determination movements. Resolutions also
calling for guilty states to be taken to task and for the creation of
international criminal tribunals to punish those guilty of systematic
mass abuses were unanimously passed.
May 06, 2014
Lord Nazir Ahmed hosted a Conference
which was supported by a number of other UK Parliamentarians, led the
calls for self-determination to be promoted without fear or favour.
Conservative MP Richard Harrington spoke of his own commitment, as a
Jew, to the cause of Palestinian self-determination and for all other
nations. Stephen Twigg MP, Chair of the All Party Group against Genocide
and Crimes Against Humanity gave the organisers a substantial statement
supporting efforts to promote self-determination as a critical means to
prevent such crimes. John Hemmings MP also told the Conference that
self-determination for all peoples was a humanitarian imperative which
the UK Government must adopt in order to formulate a credible foreign
policy.
Karnail Singh Peermohammed, President of
the All India Sikh Students Federation, who had travelled from the Sikh
homeland especially for the event, spoke of the Sikh nation’s suffering
since the Indian army attack on the Harimandar Sahib (Golden Temple) in
June 1984. After experiencing genocide the Sikhs had resolved at their
national gathering (Sarbat Khalsa) in 1986 to secure independence but
that struggle too had been violently suppressed. The Sikhs he said, want
the international community to intervene in the Indo-Sikh conflict and
ensure that Sikh rights under international law were respected –
especially the right of self-determination in the form of a sovereign
state . He demanded the release of all Sikh political prisoners in India
and war crimes courts for those guilty of Indian war crimes to be
punished. He presented Lord Ahmed and Ranjit Singh Srai with a replica
of an historic Sikh coin which was struck when the first Sikh sovereign
state was established in the 1700s.
Labour MP Fabian Hamilton sent a message
in which he noted that “Sikhs have long wished for self-determination
in Punjab”. He described the 1984 Indian army action as “an unforgivable
desecration of life and of the holiest place of the Sikh People”. As to
UK involvement in that attack he called for a full investigation so
that the truth behind that “terrible act” could be known.
Syed Ali Geelani, Chairman of the
Hurriet Conference sent a message from Kashmir which called for the
immediate involvement of the people of Kashmir in the only process that
has any credibility and any hope of resolving the claims to the disputed
territory i.e. self-determination. This was supported by Professor
Nazir Shawl who called for all aspirant nations to unite to pursue their
international rights until justice and freedom was secure.
The Naga leadership from their homeland
sent a message delivered by Frans Welman of the International Naga
Support Centre; they said they would never accept alien rule and yet
lamented that 17 years of negotiations with India had not produced any
results, as the Indians are using the negotiations as a counter
insurgency strategy rather than an opportunity to solve the conflict.
Again they called for international intervention.
The Conference heard, time and time
again, that India’s official refusal to accept Article 1 of the 1966
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees
the right of self determination, was the root cause of these bloody
conflicts. It was urged that the UK Government’s policy toward India be
reviewed such that India comply with international law – something which
the UN Human Rights Committee has tried and failed to do.
Participants from around the world also
spoke on the freedom struggles in Palestine, Tamil Eelam, Kurdistan,
Western Sahara, South Cameroon and commentators on the Scottish
independence referendum also addressed the gathering which was keenly
attended by many community leaders from Diaspora communities.
Participating Sikh organisations
included the Council of Khalistan, Dal Khalsa, Akali Dal UK, Kesri
Lehar, Akali Dal (Amritsar) as well as others. They thanked Lord Ahmed
for his efforts and pledged to defeat Indian colonialism in their
beloved Punjab homeland. Amrik Singh Sahota, OBE expressed deep
appreciation for Karnail Singh’s robust and inspiring contribution.
Resolutions passed at the PNSD Conference held at Westminster on 6 May 2014:
1. This Conference calls on the international community to make the right of self-determination a primary driver of policy making so that intractable disputes involving the destiny of regions across the world may be resolved through peaceful and democratic means, in accordance with international law. The UN and its member states are obliged to promote this fundamental, collective human right which ultimately is the real safeguard for individual human rights.
2. This Conference calls on the international community to establish international criminal tribunals to hold to account those who have carried out massive systematic human rights abuses in order to crush lawful struggles for self-determination including in Punjab, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Tamil Eelam, Southern Cameroon, Palestine, Western Sahara, Nagalim and elsewhere. Impunity for crimes including genocide cannot be tolerated in a civilised world and the rule of law must be restored so that nations may freely determine their destiny in their homeland.
3. Those states, such as India, that have formally objected to the right of self-determination (as set out in Article 1 of the 1966 Covenants on Human Rights) being applicable to nations within their current borders must be brought into line by the UN in order to enable those nations to freely exercise their right of self-determination. We call on the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution exposing those states that brazenly reject such a fundamental provision of international law and which thereby create a threat to international peace and security.
4. The Thatcher government’s involvement in the planning of India’s Operation Bluestar against the Sikh Harimandar Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar in June 1984 has been universally condemned. We call on the UK Foreign office to urgently review its foreign policy so that it supports the right of self-determination instead of conspiring with states that breach international law in suppressing legitimate self-determination movements. As a starting point it should support an international, UN led, enquiry in to the genocide that was carried out against the Sikhs between 1984 and 1995.
