The Tribune 15th October 2014 Canada takes up India’s concern over radicals Both countries discuss energy, education, expansion of trade and investment Tribune News Service External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj shakes hands with her Canadian counterpart John Baird in Delhi. Photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui New Delhi, October 14 Increased cooperation in the field of energy, education, expansion of trade and investment between the two countries today figured prominently while New Delhi flagged the issue of misuse of Canadian soil by pro-Khalistani elements there during the second India-Canada strategic dialogue here. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird co-chaired the dialogue, the first engagement between Ottawa and New Delhi after the Narendra Modi government assumed office in May. Briefing the media on the discussions, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said Canada acknowledged India’s concern over possible misuse of Canadian soil by radicals [pro-Khalistani] in that country against India. The Canadian Foreign Minister recounted that as a young man, the 1985 Kanishka aircraft bombing deeply affected him since some of those killed were his classmates/neighbours. Canada, he said, had come a long way since and that counter-terrorism was an important part of the bilateral relationship. The spokesperson said the issue of radicals misusing the Canadian soil did figure during the periodic meetings between the Deputy National Security Advisers where information was shared on actions that New Delhi considered were detrimental to its interest. Over the past few years, India has been raising the issue during bilateral meetings both here and in Canada. Considering that India’s energy requirements continue to grow and New Delhi seeking to acquire it from various sources, Canada, that is a major source, said it is the process of ramping up production of hydrocarbons to touch 7 million barrels a day by 2020. Ottawa said it would develop outlet on its eastern coast that would make it easier for off-take by New Delhi. On nuclear energy, both the Ministers indicated they were satisfied with the commercial discussions which were proceeding between CAMECO of Canada and the Department of Atomic Energy of India, for sourcing Uranium. They also felt that for research and development, cooperation could also be pursued. Both the Foreign Ministers welcomed the Nuclear Security Workshop that was going to be held in New Delhi as a joint India-Canada effort. Comments by Simranjit Singh Mann: Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) states that the Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj of the extremist Hindu political party BJP-RSS is as per the Hindu state’s policy demeaning the Sikh’s. Our party is fighting for the cause of Khalistan in a peaceful and democratic manner which is our right as per the UN Charter. The Canadian government and the Sikh Canadian’s must strongly condemn THIS (Theocratic Hindu Indian State) for poising and vitiating the atmosphere againt the Sikh peoples. The Canadian Foreign Minister baird is wrong to judge the Kanishka tragedy in a way he does because no Sikh was ever convicted of this diabolic misdeed or the Major Commission that probed this crime never named or hinted the participation of Sikh culprit. On the other hand it is now clear that the Hindu intelligence agencies IB and RAW stationed in Canada in 1985 engineered this vile plot to defame the Sikh’s and their quest for an independent and sovereign state of Khalistan. We ask that Canadian Foreign Minister that if THIS (Theocratic Hindu Indian State) did not know of this sinister and evil plot then why did an Hindu diplomat in the Ottawa mission cancel his scheduled flight on Kakishka at the 11th hour. We think the Canadian state is going whole hog to collaborate with THIS (Theocratic Hindu Indian State) and it has appointed a Gujrati Hindu as its high commissioner to Delhi. We hope that the Sikh Canadian’s will protest strongly with their government in Ottawa as these developments and collaboration WITH THE Hindu state will prove detrimental to Sikh national interests as THIS (Theocratic Hindu Indian State) has committed the crime of genocide of the Sikh peoples with impunity and has had Canada cancel the visas of pro-Khalistani politician’s in THIS (Theocratic Hindu Indian State) WITHOUT giving them reasons why their visas had been cancelled without following the rules and principles of natural justice and the rule of law. Simranjit Singh Mann The Tribune 15th October 2014 Israel rejects UK vote on Palestine Jerusalem, October 14 Israel today rejected a vote by the British parliament to recognise Palestinian statehood, saying the move undermines prospects of peace between the two sides. The UK voted for a non-binding motion to recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution. Reacting to the development, Israels Deputy Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said the vote in the British parliament would not help the Palestinians have a state. This wont work. No Israeli government will accept significant risks in Judea and Samaria without a treaty. The Palestinians are not holding real negotiations and theyre losing time, Hanegbi told the Army Radio. The deputy foreign minister called upon the Palestinian leadership to act like former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and former Jordanian king Hussein and analyse the needs and risks of each side in trying to reach a compromise. Comments by Simranjit Singh Mann: Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) states that birds of a feather flock together. Israel and THIS (Theocratic Hindu Indian State) are dangerous Nazi like theocratic states. If Israel rejects the UK votes on Palestine similarly THIS (Theocratic Hindu Indian State) will never accept a vote on Jammu and Kashmir or let the UN Security Council resolution on a plebiscite on Kashmir be implemented. The Sikh’s support such a plebiscite. Simranjit Singh Mann The Tribune 15th October 2014 Tender for 56 copters scrapped New Delhi, October 14 A tender for procuring 56 naval helicopters from abroad at an estimated cost of Rs 9,000 crore was today scrapped by the Defence Ministry which decided to get them manufactured in India by local players with foreign collaboration. This is the third helicopter tender in the recent months to have been scrapped by the government since the cancellation of ~3600 crore VVIP chopper deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland in the wake of bribery allegations on January 1 this year. The tender to procure 56 Naval Utility Helicopters has been scrapped and a fresh acquisition process would be initiated where these choppers would be made in the country involving Indian manufacturers who will be allowed to partner with foreign vendors, Defence Ministry sources said. Two contenders were in the race for this tender, including European Airbus Helicopters and AgustaWestland and they have been intimated about the decision, sources said. The Navy had plans of using these choppers to replace its fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, which have been in service for over 30-35 years. The tender was issued two years ago to procure twin-engine choppers and was sent to major chopper makers, including US firm Sikorsky, Eurocopter, Kamov and Italys Agusta Westland. The decision to get the helicopters built in India is in line with Narendra Modi governments plans to encourage and build the manufacturing capabilities of the Indian private sector. — Comments by Simranjit Singh Mann: Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) states that the ends of justice will never be met unless Mr. Pranab Mukherjee who is President of THIS (Theocratic Hindu Indian State) is also charge sheeted as he was the “Union Defence Minister when this deal was finalized and monies paid to Agusta Westland. Prior to this it was Mr Brijesh Mishra during the previous BJP-RSS regime at the Union headed by Premier AB Vajpayee who initiated the parameters of the altitude these helicopters would be capable of flying at. Mr. Mishra was the Security Advisor to Mr. Vajpayee. Mr. Mishra’s daughter is married to a Italian industrialist tycoon in Milan, who must have being in the conspiracy in this kickback deal. We hope the CBI will crack the nut by getting hold of the kernel. Simranjit Singh Mann The Tribune 15th October 2014 Black money: Top Indian tax team heads to Switzerland New Delhi, October 14 A high-level delegation of tax and revenue officials is set to soon travel to Switzerland in order to pursue cases of black money and secret accounts held by Indians in banks in the Alpine nation. Sources said that the delegation, which will lay special focus on a number of pending requests, will be led by Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and will have CBDT Chairman KV Chowdary and two other officials of the finance ministrys foreign taxation wing as its members. The official visit, sources said, was set up in quick time after the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) was taken into confidence by investigative agencies that a one-on-one visit between the officials of the two countries was necessary to take the probe in these cases forward. The meeting will happen during this week, sources said. Officials said that the decision to send the team has also been cleared by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the officials would be armed with legal documents, dossiers and the charter of the SIT to satisfy the Swiss authorities as to how much importance India is giving to unravelling the facts in these cases keeping in mind public sentiments and the governments commitment to unearthing black money. The upcoming meeting will be the first high-level one between the officials of the two countries after the Narendra Modi government came to power at the Centre with a poll-time promise that it would probe all cases of illegal funds stashed away abroad.PTI Speeding up probe • The official visit, sources said, was set up in quick time after the SC-appointed SIT was taken into confidence by investigative agencies that a one-on-one visit between the officials of the two countries was necessary to take the probe in these cases forward • The decision to send the team has also been cleared by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. • The team would be armed with legal documents, dossiers and the charter of the SIT, said officials. Comments by Simranjit Singh Mann: Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) states that it is possible the teams will squirrel away its own ill-gotten wealth in the secret volts of Switzerland. Simranjit Singh Mann The Tribune 15th October 2014 Badal raises issue of ‘Sikh black list’ Digging the past may not serve any purpose Kuldip Nayar THE Sikhs are a small, sturdy community in India. Since it is limited in size, it is very protective about its identity. It often over-reacts but that is the sign of its assertion that it does not want to be taken cursorily. Punjab, the community’s home state, has witnessed many “morchas” (movements) of the Sikhs. But if one were to probe every movement of theirs one would infer that its search for identity had propelled the community to defy the authorities. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has said that he will take up the Sikh “black list” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to conclude the cases against them and to get the release of Sikh “convicts” who had served the sentence awarded to them. No one will take exception to that. But one would think that the point which was settled in 1990 was being unnecessarily raised. I mean the demonstrations by the Sikhs abroad against Operation Bluestar, which led to the entry of the Indian armed forces into the Golden Temple, the Sikhs Vatican. Some other methods should have been adopted to flush out the militants from Akal Takht, the Sikhs highest authority. Sending forces inside the temple was a wrong step. And even though the government has apologised for it, that does not condone the mistake. Some heads should have rolled at the political as well as administrative level. But since the top Congress leaders were involved in ordering the armed forces to go inside the temple, none was punished. Even the official reports on the subject are biased and one-sided. Badal has raised the question of the “Sikh list” to tell the community that when it comes to the question of justice to the Sikhs, only a Sikh can help them. This is unfair and the purpose is to garner the Sikh vote. Badal, heading the Akali Dal, is understandably placating the Sikh community. But in the process, he is polarising society, neither in the interest of the Sikhs nor that of Punjabis. I do not think that there is any Sikh list now. This was true till 1990 when as Indias High Commissioner I got the list scrapped with the help of officials from the Home Ministry and the Intelligence Bureau whom I had invited to London. The officers spent one week in London and practically scrapped the list. I recall scrapping the list of 100-odd Sikhs who were blacklisted merely because they had raised the slogan of Khalistan in the front of Indias High Commission in London. The High Commissions front gate was closed following Operation Bluestar when the Army entered the Golden Temple at Amritsar. A British policeman stood guard outside while an Indian security man responded from within to whoever rang the bell, by opening a little window in the gate and sizing up the caller. The turbaned ones were often asked to come by the back door and not necessarily treated well. I do now know how digging the past serves any purpose except that the matter gets more tangled and more communalised. There is enough of bad blood between the two communities. The effort should be how to oust the poison that has got injected into the blood of the two communities. It is a pity that very little effort is being made these days in this field. In the late eighties, there was a Punjab group, headed by Inder Kumar Gujral before he joined the government, to make concerted efforts to bring the two communities closer. In fact, when Gujral offered me the assignment at London, he said that he was keen to fill the cleavage that had developed between Hindus and Sikhs following the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. I had never been part of official diplomacy because I was an active journalist. But when he said that I could do something to bring the two communities together, I thought that I should try to do whatever I could do in this direction. Therefore when I occupied the position of High Commissioner, my job was to explain that New Delhi was prepared to transfer all subjects to the state except the three. And the impression about New Delhi being against the Sikh community was not correct. It did not trust me because there was no love lost between the High Commission and the Sikh community. When I became the High Commissioner, I found to my horror that the Sikhs were not allowed to enter the building premises through the main door. The security man would see through the aperture at the main door whether the entrant was a Sikh or not. If he was, he was asked to come through the back door. The explanation given by the commissions official was that they did not want the terrorist to enter the building. When I asked that it was not written on anybody’s face whether he was a terrorist or not, the reply was that the Sikhs could not be trusted because many among them were militants and supporters of the Khalistan demand. I ordered the opening of the gates straightaway. Pat was the protest by the committee of secretaries to the Government of India that I would be personally responsible if anything happened to the staff. Nothing happened after the opening of the gates. It was a bogey which the biased officials had created against the Sikh community in the UK. The problem is not as simple as Badals Sikh list. Both communities have to find the reason for suspicion and bias. Its removal will serve the purpose, not any particular list. Comments by Simranjit Singh Mann: Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has always considered Mr. Kuldip Nyar as a Sikh baiter. Often Parkash Singh Badal has kept him on pay on the SGPC funds and now he is writing about Mr. Badal and his hie persue of Sikh grievances. However, our party can state with conformity that these arbitrary black lists of the Sikh’s are still on record with the Union Home ministry in Delhi. S. Ganga Singh Dhillong a protagonist of Khalistan who lived in America died recently, the Hindu state did not ever allow him to visit his homeland Darbar Sahib at Amritsar. Therefore, Mr . Niyar is somewhat short of the truth and The Tribune should have published this article before verifying the facts. It must be made clear that no Sikh is against any Hindu, Muslim or Christian. The Sikh’s are against the Hindu state as Sikh’s are a sue generis sovereign people and in their history have never recognized or accepted alien regimes or collaborated with any of these whether they be Moghal, Afghan, British and now Hindu. The Sikh’s want Khalistan which will be independent and sovereign, a buffer between three deadly nuclear armed states, those been Communist China, Islamic Pakistan and THIS (Theocratic Hindu Indian State) which can start of a nuclear war in which the Sikh civilization inhabiting Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, UT-Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Kutch in Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Leh and Ladhakh would be totally and completely annihilated. The Sikh’s are not naïve and we do not think Mr Badal or any of the Sikh lackeys of the Hindu state can solves the Sikh problem and dilemma by giving bouqcks to Premier Narinder Modi who only last year in 2013 dispossessed 60,000 Sikh farmers of their legitimately held land holdings. We hope The Tribune in future will not accept Mr. Kuldip Niyar’s articles before verifying the facts. Simranjit Singh Mann
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 16:29:37 +0000
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