Dal Khalsa Elects New Leader to guide the Sikh Nationalist Organization
Friday 8th of August 2008
Amritsar, Sahib - Thirty years after the Nationalist Sikh organization was founded, the Dal Khalsa today elected Harchranjit Singh Dhami its next president for the term of 2 years and authorized him to resurrect the organizational structure afresh.
Around 110 delegates of the organization from Punjab and Chandigarh today converged at Gurdwara Akalgarh, the place where the organization was founded 30 years ago this day and choose Mr Dhami to lead the party. Mr Dhami's name was proposed by the outgoing president Satnam Singh, which was unanimously approved by the house. In a bid to show its determination to attain independence the house reiterated its commitment to the cause of Sikh sovereignty and to restoring the community's lost glory on its 30th anniversary in the form of a resolution.
Mr Dhami, 55 who hails from Hoshiarpur is industrialist by profession. He did M.S.C in 1975 from DAV College, Jalandhar and it was the writings and revolutionary poetry of Gajinder Singh that inspired him to join the organization in 2003.
In a significant development, the gathering decided to form its youth wing under the name of "Sikh youth of Punjab' in the coming days. The organizational structure of the youth wing will be declared on Nov 28- the birth anniversary of Baba Zorawar Singh. The aim behind is to promote the spirit of Sikh Nationalism and to instill a sense of pride among young Sikhs for their own religious and cultural identity, the resolution reads. Another resolution hailing the contribution of founder members Gajinder Singh and Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib for devoting all their lives serving the interest of the community was adopted in the gathering.
Reiterating their resolve to continue with the peaceful campaign against New Delhi's hegemony Mr Dhami said "we believe that without reviving the Sikh nationalist movement, the ruling elite would not honour the rightful aspirations of the Sikh Nation".
Flanked by senior members of the organization including Satnam Singh and Kanwarpal Singh, Mr Dhami said they would continue with the struggle with the same spirit and optimism sans violence. Justifying their struggle for independence, he said the concept of sovereignty and freedom was rooted in our religious ethos.
Criticizing the media for portraying Sikh Nationalists "in a poor light", he said the right to propagate Khalistan in a peaceful manner was not unlawful nor it was a brainchild of handful of hardliners.
Describing migrants as threat to the demography of the state, they urged the Punjab government to promulgate the law to curb the influx of migrants into the state which if not checked would reduce the Sikhs to a minority in our own homeland and alter the identity of Punjab forever.
To a question, he said the manner in which Jathedar Joginder Singh has been removed was disgraceful. We must not denigrate our institutions like this. He however clarify that Jathedar Vedanti was a weak, controversial jathedar, who has failed the Sikhs. He said without setting up procedures and norms for the removal, appointment and wokring sphere of the Takht jathedar, the change would have no meaning. He said Vedanti was indeed yes man of Parkash Singh Badal and we dont expect the present incumbent would dare to disobey Father and son (Senior and Junior Badal). He opposed the trend of appointing jathedar's from priestly class. The Jathedar should be intellectual having strong political will beside morally upright character, he said.
On Sirsa dera crisis, he said when the Dal Khalsa was founded, there was Nirankari sect that was challenging the basic fundamentals and ideals of Sikhism which compelled Sikhs to take to the course of the armed struggle. Today, there is another Dera Sirsa treading on the same path of Nirankaris.
He said, after 30 years there is an uncanny similarity in the situation. Both the sects are getting patronage from the Indian state. Detesting claims of Sirsa dera spokesman that they had right to free speech, Mr Dhami goes on to say, freedom of expression does not give one the right to hurl insults at any religion or its icons.
He urged the Punjab government to set up a full-scale impartial public enquiry to investigate the role of the state police since 1984 to 1995. He said there were far too many skeletons in the cupboards of the high and mighty in the Punjab police.
Urging chief minister to reinforce people's faith in democracy and rule of law the Dal Khalsa leaders suggested setting up a Commission to probe the extra-constitutional methods practiced by the police hierarchy under the garb of fighting militancy.
Reminding Mr Badal to honour his solemn promise made during the assembly elections in 2007 to checkmate the flow of river waters to non-riparian states, the Dal Khalsa appeals to chief minister to abrogate clause 5 of the Punjab's Termination of Agreements Act, 2004'.
Coming down heavily on the Hindutva forces, they said the Bharatiya Janta Party was polarizing the society on communal lines, with the assumption that it will be able to catch the imagination of the Hindutva forces. The Bharatiya Janta Party, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal were back to the business of spreading hatred, they said. "The day BJP leader L K Advani declared his intention to make the Amarnath land row his party poll issue, it was clear that the Hindutva body would engineer violence (Read burning of J&K) to catch the Hindu imagination", they pointed out.
