|
To
All Respectable
Members of Parliament
(Lok Sabha )
(Copy to Raj Sabha Members)
Sub: Let us
talk peace. Let development have priority over defence. Let us make a
Corridor to International Peace via the Peace Point or the Universal
Shrine Called Kartapur.
Respected Brothers and
Sisters,
India is supposed to be a democratic
republic. But it hardly appears to be so except at the time of elections
or the formation of Government. You are the representative of the people,
you move among masses and you feel their pulse. You know exactly what are
their expectations, aspirations and demands, issues before them and their
problems. Humbly we pose you a question. Do you really believe what the
governments do is in accordance with the wishes of people? We are sure
your reply will be in negative.
Stereotyped working or the babudom
is having sway over the wishes of masses. For the past 57 years it is the
same old thing over and over again. It is the babudom mantra,
“Search behind and move ahead.” Perhaps it is true of the budget as well.
They just pick the figures of last performance, make changes here and
there and present it to the ‘honourable minister’ who merely points out
priority and with the little changes here and there it is the babudom
budget once again. This is happening to India since 1947 and perhaps
before. We haven’t seen major changes taking place after the budget. Some
new Govt offices opening and some closing.
Have a look at the budget and it is
defence priority once again, and again. Come to the stark facts; India
ranks 11th in the 2002 list of major spenders on defence, spending US
$12.9 billion, ahead of Russia (at $11.4 billion). Now come to the
development scenario. India's world ranking in the United Nations
Development Program's Human Development Index is 124 out of 174 countries
or say on the tail. And this has been virtually the trend since 1947. Does
this mean that the nations which are spending less on defence have been
enslaved or are in a danger? Doesn’t that show India is the endangered
country? What precious treasures India possess that it is one of the most
endangered country? These questions need to be considered by you our
respected Mr. MP, because it is in your name that the Babu is running the
governments for long. Once he has prepared the budget, it becomes a
prestige of party which you as a faithful party-man has to defend it any
way. Why can’t be intra-party debate before it is presented to Parliament?
There again Babu has a plea. ‘Sir this will become public, its secrecy
eroded.’ Let me tell you this ‘secrecy’ is the root cause of all decay.
All dirty things are being done in the name of ‘confidential, secret,
top secret’ Tags. Please take it from me that where ever there
is the tag of secrecy, some injustice being done to some one. These were
the requirements of the alien (British) ruler and it proves my point that
we have had not democracy, it was bureaucracy for more than a half a
century now.
So you would hardly appreciate such a
scenario because your people want development. The extent of emphasis on
defence is hardly according to the wishes of the people. People should
have respect for the country and they should defend it. Governments: what
so ever strong, can’t defend borders alone in isolation of the wishes of
the people. We surely want our borders safe but not over-defended,
especially when one forth of our children are deprived from school or some
brothers sister and children sleep hungry. Is it not defence of
‘hunger’? Do we want an iron curtain over our hunger? But we shouldn’t
forget that such curtains were thrown to winds when the Russian people
realised that that was too much. May be our Babu wants to hide our hunger.
This is a medieval thinking.
This doesn’t mean our neighbours
Pakistan and Bangladesh have no such treasures over which they are sitting
too. But we feel they have no alternatives because they are compelled to
follow big brother.
All this expenditure at the cost of
people has been done all these 57 years, perhaps keeping Kashmir in mind.
There again we have ignored the peoples’ wishes. We feel this is time to
review our whole policy. Why we snatch away bread and book from Oriya,
Bihari and UPeans children to buy a gun to frighten our Kashmiri brother.
At least in democracy we can afford to do that unless we are mad or
chauvinistic.
See how our people are fleeing to
developed countries for bread and butter. Fleeing India, people at times
do even at the cost of their lives. Cases are being daily reported in
press. Why the RSS people themselves and their wards are flying overseas
for greener pastures? These Indian brothers and sisters once they are in
Europe and Americas would never talk of returning home. Frankly speaking
many of them would openly say ‘we are out of hell’ when they compare the
things in India. Such is the conditions that our chauvinistic
administration has made. Is it not mockery of Justice here? Can an
innocent get justice here? Well the question is, is there any technology
involved in the administration of justice which the developing countries
have and we don’t?
Disrespect of Peoples’ Faith
Any way my purpose of addressing you is
somewhat different but closely related to the above phenomenon. It is
about the demand of a corridor to a shrine which is considered universal
point of peace.
I feel the countries of the region were
bound to pass through this nightmarish experience at a point of history
when the erstwhile poorer nations of far east and Europe were progressing
by leaps and bounds by liberalisation. Not only shutting of doors to
outside world our fanatic governments have been ignoring all traditions
and conventions of the people that brought them closer. One such faith is
the universal shrine called Kartarpur sahib.
Kartarpur is the symbol of
international harmony where all the three prominent religion of the region
converge.
Situated on Indo-Pak border on Pakistani
side Kartarpur is the place where Guru Nanak passed away 465 years ago.
The interesting part of the story which makes it a universal place is that
when Nanak abandoned his mortal body the question arose whether it should
be buried the Islamic way or burned according to Hindu rites. Further
there are legends and legends but the harsh reality of the present day is
that we have three mausoleums of Guru Nanak, then erected. A Smadh and a
Grave each are in Pakistan territory while the third one is in India.
Then there is river Raavi making a garland of serene waters around
Kartarpur.
Before Partition of the country in 1947,
Kartarpur was in district Gurdaspur. When Sir Cyril Radcliffe drew the
boundary-line he happened to allot the whole of district Gurdaspur to
Pakistan (see June 3, 1947 announcement). How could the universal point go
to Pakistan alone? The miracles then began to happen. Lo and behold,
J.L.Nehru exercised his influence over Mountbatten and the partition was
revised. This time Gurdaspur was bisected. Radcliffe’s scissor made a cut
right across Kartarpur; half of it going to Pak and other to India.
Since then this shrine has remained
completely abandoned. Being on the border and that too on the bank of
river, it was surrounded by wild elephant grass that would grow up to 10
feet. We are told that the Pakistani rangers would seldom allow Muslim
devotees to go near the shrine due to security reasons. While the grass
grew over grave the wildness has all along been witnessed in the
international relations in the region; may be a divine curse.
But then the miracle happened. Pakistan
bowing before the international Sikh community agreed to grant a visa-less
free corridor to Kartarpur shrine from the Indian border. Since then the
Sikh devotees are impressing upon the Government of India to accept the
Pakistan proposal and allow Sikh pilgrims visit their holiest of holy
shrine.
Yes, Kartarpur is the most important
shrine for the Sikhs not because Nanak passed away here but for the fact
it was here Nanak demonstrated the practical aspect of his philosophy. It
was here he proclaimed 500 years ago that to attain God renunciation is
not necessary. He shifted his family to Kartarpur and became a
house-holder. For the first time on Indian subcontinent he ran a community
kitchen the Langar and asked the so called high and low caste people to
dine together.
Guru Nanak lived 70 years on this earth
but most of the time he was on the move: from Iran/Iraq to Assam from high
lands of Tibet to Sri Lanka etc. But Kartarpur is the place where he
stayed: 18 long years. It is said he formally launched his philosophy by
founding the place of Kartarpur i.e the creator’s abode. He did farming
here. Kartarpur is thus the birth place of Sikhism.
Now as I said earlier that Pakistan has
agreed to grant a free corridor and several announcement have been made by
that country since 1999, it is strange that the Government of India has a
cold shoulder to this development
However on Sept. 1, 2004, when our
beloved prime minister Sardar Manmohan Singh visited Amritsar a ocean of
lacs of people greeted him. It was here he announced before every body
that he would see that the Pakistan offer of free corridor is accepted by
Government of India.
And Manmohan Singh reached Delhi back.
From there came the official announcement. “Government of India allows
starting of Bus service to the holy Sikh shrines in Pakistan.” It further
said, “To Kartarpur bus will start twice a week’. The prime minister who
had accepted the Pak offer of free corridor at Amritsar, when reaches
Delhi the corridor becomes a bus. Strange! Bus service means circuitous
route of about 200 km against a mere 6 kms to and fro journey.
Once again it proves that the at Delhi
things are not decided in accordance with the wishes of people and
according to simple logic justice and truth. It is the ‘other factors’
that come into play, i.e the chauvinism decides it all. People now feel
that it is enough. People feel that they should now assert through their
representatives.
Now Kartarpur corridor is a simple thing
we the Indian people are to visit Pakistani territory. It is their
territory which will be exposed to our sight. It will be their defence
which will be exposed. But why does our Babuji decides on the other way.
This is not fair, sirs. This is not only undemocratic it is out and out
anti-people approach. It is a gross disregard of peoples’ faith.
Nowhere in the world saner Governments
have overlooked the peoples faith like our Babus are doing. Even the most
autocratic dictators have not tried to ignore the people’s religious
faiths. It is a universally acknowledged fact that the peoples’ faiths do
not know national boundaries and as such all governments respect this
principle because all national boundaries are man.
It is for this that Christians have got
Vatican which is free from any Government control. It is for this reason
that there is an equal claim of Jews Christians and Muslim over the
sanctity of Jerusalem. No religionist contests the approach of the other
faithful to that holy city.
Similarly the Saudi’s have never banned
the entry of any national to Mecca even if its relations were strained
with the country of the national. It respects the faithfuls’ right to Hajj
even at the height of hostilities.
There are several examples of these
faiths existing beyond the territories. Even our respected Sh. Atal Bihari
Vajpayee when last visited China he was true to his faith when he
demanded a free corridor to ancient jyotirlinga temple Kailash Mansarovar.
It needs to be noted that it takes about a month’s pilgrimage in Chinese
territory to reach the temple. (Mind it Kartarpur is just on the border)
It is though a different thing that our respected Vajpayee maintained a
stony silence on the Sikh demand of corridor to Kartarpur. Vajpayee
betrayed Sikhs.
It is in respect to the faiths that the
Indian Governments spend crores of rupees making arrangements for the
religious festivals, melas and kumbas. They even make arrangements for the
naga or the naked sadhus which is often socially offending and
embarrassing but they do it as they should.
For pilgrimage to Amar nath Government
deploys all its might on the way for the security of pilgrims.
But our respected sirs, the same respect
is missing towards Sikhs who have many of their shrines in Pakistan. At
times the Government bans pilgrimages and then its opens. It is the sweet
will of our Babuji at South Block who decides whether the Sikhs should be
allowed or not. WHY SO?
Can we afford to withhold Jagannath
Yatra for a year? Can we suspend hajj or a year? Then why step-motherly
treatment to Sikhs? Only because they are a microscopic minority. It is
the height of Government apathy keeping in view the Sikhs’ contribution
during India’s freedom struggle. As many as 86% of the people who were
awarded capital punishment were Sikhs. Our Babus often ignore the Sikh
role during wars of 1948, 1965, 1971 and Kargil. It is all very
unfortunate NO OTHER RELIGIOUNIST IS DEPRIVED OF PILGRIMAGES AS THE SIKHS
ARE.
Very recently the Government of India
allowed Pakistani nationals to cross over to Indian border at Chimliyal
near Jammu at a border shrine which is also spread within the two
territories but the same enthusiasm is missing in case of Sikhs.
Here right in Amritsar district is a
tomb of Sheikh Brahm (incidentally contemporary of Guru Nanak) again on
the border. Muslim devotees from across the border were allowed every
Thursday. But when three years ago Sikhs demanded a similar permission for
Kartarpur poor Muslim devotees were stopped there after.
My purpose of writing you such a long
letter is that there is need to change the whole outlook of our
government. Our babudom has woven a cobweb around this country he is not
allowing it to come out of it.
Right in our neighbourhood people shed
this fanaticism and opened the gates of their country to outside world.
They have allowed their people to interact with world at large and see it
with your eyes virtually miracles have happened. See the conditions in
Korea, Japan, Laos, Hong Kong, Tepei(China), Vietnam even Thailand is
ahead of India. The reason is simple they have shed their fanatic outlook
their chauvinistic outlook. See Euro had done miracles. Very soon people
will forget American Doller.
Now for example if we open our gates to
Pakistani people what we are going to loose? Nothing but our fanaticism.
Pakistan traders would rush to buy things which are surplus here. Our
farmers would stop committing suicides when they would get remunerative
prices. Our industry will become competitive and would learn to produce
better and cheap and the end gains will be people of this region. We think
we had enough of hostilities. For 57 years we have seen cold wars and at
times hot. No one has gained except the demons of hunger and illiteracy.
I wish to invoke the call of your
conscience. Let us now talk peace. Let us now talk development, fight
hunger and illiteracy together. Let us not consider Pakistanis our
enemies. Let us play elder brother. Let the stumbling block break. Allow
the Kashmir issue to be decided in accordance with international
conventions. Let us not keep maintaining our false national pride or
chauvinism.
But let us start it from Kartarpur: the
international spot ignored for the past 57 years. Let us impress upon the
Government to approve the Corridor to international Peace: Kartarpur. In
the end let me inform you that in the first week of March this about 10
lakh people (Hindus and Sikhs) had had darshan (from distance of course of
this peace place is visible from border). A local Congress MLA extended
his support to the cause of Corridor and the people gave him thumping
support notwithstanding anti-congress wave in Punjab during the last
parliamentary election. Let India be a true democratic peoples republic.
Let us make a secular country. Let us respect peoples’ faith.
Sat Sri Akal
Faithfully Yours
Charanjit Singh Chadha
Deputy Chief International Corridor
Ambassador
(President Chief Khalsa Diwan)
(Vice President Khalsa College Amritsar)
i/s Ghee Mandi Amritsar
Tel.9814154895, 0183-2558238,5090971
1.
His Excellency: The President of India
2.
Excellency: Vice President of India
3.
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India
4.
All Members of Rajya Sabha
5.
Concerned Secretaries, Govt of India
6.
Chief Minister of Punjab
7.
Governor of Punjab
8.
All MLAs Punjab
9.
Secretaries Punjab Govt
10.
11.
DC Amritsar and Gurdaspur
|
