Brussels, April 2, KNT: Sikh and Kashmiri diaspora groups staged a protest outside the European Parliament in Brussels during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and submitted separate memoranda to European leaders, urging international engagement on issues concerning Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
According to a statement issued to KNT by Dal Khalsa, four Sikh organizations based in Europe joined hands with Kashmiri pro-freedom groups during Modi’s March 30 visit to Brussels to register their protest and highlight what they described as the plight and concerns of their respective communities.
The demonstration coincided with the India–EU summit in Brussels where the Indian Prime Minister participated in discussions relating to trade and other issues.
Dal Khalsa said members of Sikh and Kashmiri communities assembled outside the European Parliament while the summit proceedings were underway and submitted their memoranda separately.
The groups said the objective of the protest was to urge European institutions to engage the Indian leadership and question what they termed as India’s role, attitude and covert methodologies toward ethnic minorities and nationalities.
Dal Khalsa representative Jagmohan Singh Mand, who according to the statement handed over a memorandum to European Parliament President Martin Schulz on behalf of Sikh groups, said prejudice, discrimination and hatred against Sikhs and Muslims in India was not a new phenomenon.
“Earlier it stayed hidden under previous regimes. Today, it is out in the open. We are going through dangerous times,” Mand said, according to the statement.
The memorandum signed by Sikh representatives stated that fears regarding ultra-nationalism and jingoism associated with the RSS-BJP ideology had materialized.
The document alleged that various sections of society, including Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, university students, trade union leaders, professors and activists, were facing increasing pressure.
According to the memorandum, minorities and Dalits were being compelled to subscribe to what it described as a particular definition of nationalism and those rejecting it were labeled anti-national.
Rejecting this understanding of Indian nationalism, Sikh representatives asserted that Sikhs possessed a distinct sovereign identity and historical legacy.
The groups urged members of the European Union to keep the aspirations of ethnic minorities and struggling communities in mind while engaging with Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
They further cautioned that human rights concerns should not be subordinated to commercial and trade interests.
Dal Khalsa said the memorandum also contained references to alleged human rights violations, including torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Punjab and Kashmir over the previous three decades.
The documents additionally referred to what the groups described as illegal detentions of pro-freedom activists and killings of demonstrators in police firing incidents in Kashmir and Punjab.
While voicing criticism and political concerns, the protesters also expressed solidarity with the people and government of Belgium following the Brussels bombings, offering condolences and prayers to families of those killed in the attacks. [KNT]
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