Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Amritsar, The radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa today joined issues with right wing Shiv Sena on the issue of deleting the word “secular” from the Preamble of the constitution saying the minorities were in no doubt going by their experience about the Hindu character of this country.
The organisation was responding to the Shiv Sena contention of india being a Hindu country after US President Barack Obama had counselled india in his parting speech to maintain its secular character as defined in Article 25 of the constitution..
Party spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh in a strong worded reaction said the word secular in the Constitution was a mere show piece to hoodwink the international community and mislead minorities. “We are clear that india is a Hindu country and the minorities residing here are not considered to be part of it”, he added.
He asserted it mattered little whether the word secular was deleted or not as the Sikhs had fully understood that they were not better than slaves with the community having been subjugated by the majority forcibly. “Punjab was indeed part of Indian sub-continent but never part of so-called Bharat at the time of Mughal rule. It was the last to be annexed by British rulers. Since then the Sikhs have been aspiring to be independent of Hindu-India”, he said.
“Just hours after the visiting dignitary left the Indian soil the Hindutva forces have shown their true colours sending Obama a message that they don’t need his sermons on religious freedom and tolerance. Like US president, the minorities especially the victims of politics of genocide and persecution fully know that they are now facing far more serious right-wing Hindutva dominance in the country” he said adding undoubtedly, Hindutva chauvinism was not only a hindrance but a huge barrier to peace within india.
While showing his concern, he said a sea-change in US policy and perspective on present Indian leadership especially present Prime Minister of india who was a persona non-grata for the US few months back, was acutely worrisome for victims of human rights violations and minorities who had been facing state repression since long.
However, Dal Khalsa spokesperson said US president Barack Obama has rightly hinted towards the growing religious intolerance in india. He said the US president has shown a mirror to india.
He said it was their expectation that during his interactions with the Indian leadership, Mr Obama would take up the issue of human rights violations and political aspirations of minorities.
