Express News Service Ahead of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s India visit, the radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa has written to him urging him not to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, over allegations of human rights violations by the Lankan Government. Ahead of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s India visit, the radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa has written to him urging him not to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, over allegations of human rights violations by the Lankan Government. Dal Khalsa’s secretary for political affairs Kanwar Pal Singh on Monday expressed discontent over Cameron’s willingness to participate in the CHOGM meet. “While your Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper has chosen to boycott CHOGM on account of the ‘human rights violations and extra-judicial killings’, it is highly improper for you to participate in the event and provide legitimacy to the present-day rulers of Sri Lanka, whose hands are soaked in the blood of innocent Tamils,” he wrote. Commenting on Cameron’s statement that an international inquiry into allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka was necessary, Kanwar said what applied to Sri Lanka, applied to India as well. “India, suppressing Sikhs and Kashmir movements seeking the right to self-determination, has committed grave human rights abuses,” he stated. He also sought the British Government’s support into getting the UN to probe the November 1984 carnage, and requested its intervention as the country is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Describing the November killings as nothing short of genocide, he said it was a ‘death dance in broad day light’. The letter assumes significance as Cameron has been honoured for his service to Sikhs by an England-based Sikh group. “As you are visiting India in the month of November, we cannot but recall the conspiracy of silence of the West which witnessed the anti-Sikh pogrom on the streets of Delhi in November 1984, but despite a passage of 29 years, has chosen to remain silent,” reads the two-page letter that was faxed to the British High Commissioner to India in Delhi. The letter stated, “As you will be coming to India on November 14, we request you to prevail upon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to boldly ask the UN to investigate the November 1984 killings of Sikhs.” Expressing their concern over the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, he said under the garb of this bilateral treaty, the Indian authorities might launch a fresh wave of witch hunt of Sikh ‘hardliners’ in the UK. m.newindianexpress/tamil-nadu/67417
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 09:49:02 +0000
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