FREE THE SINGH

Dear Ban Ki-moon,

We would like to bring to your attention the continued human rights abuses, forceful confinement of political prisoners and denial of freedoms to seek self-determination as guaranteed by the United Nations.

Despite some small political reforms, and promises of more reforms, human rights abuses in India are increasing to include not just Sikhs, but Christians, Muslims, Dalits and members of other ethnic/religious minorities.

Bhai Daljit Singh is a Sikh leader in Punjab, India who is trying to give a voice to the oppressed Sikh Nation. The Sikh nation has been denied all solutions to the quandary of its existence within India, a festering issue that began with the British Empire's artificial division of the region in 1947.

All promises made by founders of the modern Indian state to safeguard the identity of the Sikhs have been broken. Instead, through constitutional and legal tools like Article 25 of the Constitution and Hindu Codes of 1954-1955, attempts are made to destroy the Sikh identity by aiming to absorb Sikhs into Hinduism.

For decades India has waged war on the Sikh Nation through systematic and widespread practice of enforced disappearances, torture, custodial killings, fake encounters, secret cremations and State Sponsored genocidal massacres. The Indian Judiciary and Human Rights Commissions have drastically failed to prevent or address these mass level violations and the impunity level in Punjab is very high as per the findings of international human rights organizations.

For years Bhai Daljit Singh has toiled to liberate his people from the suppression and murder orchestrated by India's notorious armed forces (including police and military). As Bhai Daljit Singh dedicated his life to securing the Sikh identity through the democratic process, he was targeted and forcibly kept confined behind bars on contrived charges of sedition. India uses Law of Sedition i.e. Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code as a weapon of political control to suppress progressive thoughts like Bhai Daljit Singh, charging them with sedition for using political discourse to peacefully improve the lot of the Sikh Nation.

Most Sikh political prisoners remain in jail (some for over 25 years), are kept in inhumane conditions, and the government of India denies most of them even exist.

Any future meeting with representatives of the Indian State is an opportunity to deliver a strong message that the international community will not be fooled by limited and cosmetic change in regards to the plight of the Sikh Nation. That for all Sikh political prisoners to be released and a genuine process of dialogue with Bhai Daljit Singh be started leading to fundamental reforms.

Yours sincerely,