Sikhs for Justice – November 1984 Sikh victims are denied justice – Canadian Law Makers

Several hundred Canadian Sikhs stood strong together outside the Parliament of Canada today to remember the victims of November 1984 and were greeted warmly by Canadian lawmakers, who acknowledged the need to pursue justice by bringing the perpetrators of such violence to trial.

The demand for justice outside the Parliament of Canada also echoed in the chambers of the House of Commons when Conservative MP Parm Gill (Brampton-Springdale) stood to raise the issue of denial of justice and to advocate for perseverance until justice is fully served to the victims of November 1984. “Mr. Speaker 27 years ago today following the assassination of Indira Ghandi thousands of innocent Sikh men, women and children were mercilessly killed in the streets of Delhi and other parts of India.

During this violence at great risk to themselves, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and others sheltered and rescued their Sikh neighbors from the mobs.  As Prime Minister Singh stated in his apology on behalf of the nation in 2005, what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our constitution.  He also said ‘I bow my head in shame that such a thing took place.’  Last year, during his trip to Canada Prime Minister Singh also indicated that the perpetrators of these crimes need to be brought to justice and I agree Mr. Speaker.”  Stated MP Parm Gill.

The Honorable Jim Karygiannis, MP (Scarborough-Agincourt) and former law maker Sheila Copps, who is currently running to become the President of the Liberal Party of Canada, while addressing the justice rally, emphasized the need for accountability and the denial of justice to the victims of November 1984.

Navkiran Singh, Advocate Supreme Court of India and Chief Legal Counsel for Sikhs for Justice in India stated “The recognition that justice has been denied is a huge step forward.  For too long, it has been easy for the people behind these crimes to hide behind the political machine in India to skirt justice.  Today, Canadian lawmakers are helping us publicly and behind the scenes to raise the issue in India.”

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a human rights lawyer and Legal Advisor for Sikhs for Justice stated that “The Genocide that took place in November 1984 will never be forgotten, nor will we stop in our pursuit of justice.   Families were destroyed and the impact transcends generations.  It’s not just the older generation, but our young people feel the impact too. Over the past few months, there have been startling discoveries of new evidence relating to the events of November 1984, which clearly show that Sikhs, a religious minority, were intentionally, deliberately and systematically attacked and killed.”

Jatinder Singh Grewal, Sikhs for Justice Youth Coordinator while addressing the rally stated “Today’s rally was another step in the right direction for our community.  Our emotions run deep during this time of year.  It feels like we’re making headway with politicians in Canada and internationally, who recognize that justice must prevail.  I’m truly proud to be Sikh and I’m proud to be a Canadian.”

Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) a human rights advocacy group with the support of Gurudwaras across the country is spearheading the justice campaign for the victims of November 1984, pleading with Members of Parliament to take up their cause. The goal is to introduce a motion in Parliament to debate whether organized killing of Sikhs in India during November 1984 was “Genocide” as defined in Article 2 of the UN Convention on Genocide.

“Canadian Sikhs have launched a signature campaign to press on the newly elected Parliament to stand with the victims of November 1984 by conducting a debate on the issue of Sikh Genocide. SFJ aims to collect 100,000 signatures in support of the community’s demand to bring forward a Genocide Motion in Parliament” added attorney Pannun. In June 2010, a petition sponsored by former MPs Sukh Dhaliwal and Andrew Kania asking the Canadian government to recognize the Sikh Massacre of November 1984 as “Genocide” was presented in Parliament.

Sikhs for Justice
The Exchange Tower
130 King Street West, Suite 1800
Toronto, Ontario M5X 1E3
T: 416.825.5756
support@sikhsforjustice.org
www.sikhsforjustice.org

The Tribune – State government fails to pay PSPCL for free power

Jangveer Singh, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3. The Punjab government may have pulled out all the stops to host the Kabbaddi World Cup but it failed to pay the Rs 282-crore subsidy quotient on account of free power to the agriculture sector to the state electricity utility for October.

Since the subsidy is to be paid in advance at the start of the month as per the order of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the government is now due to pay the subsidy for the month of November also. Non-payment of subsidy has created a financial crisis in the PSPCL and could also result in curtailing of the electricity supply from central sector companies to Punjab. The state owes central companies around Rs 140 crore in unpaid bills for power purchase and the 60-day payment deadline ends tomorrow.

According to the tripartite agreement signed between the Punjab government, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Union Govenrment, in case the central sector power bills remain unpaid for more than 60 days, the central power companies can curtail or regulate power supply to Punjab.

Also, the RBI will be empowered to make deductions from central plan allocation funds to Punjab and utilise this deducted amount to make the payment of energy bills directly to the central sector power companies, including NTPC, NHPC, Powergrid Corporation, Nuclear Power Corporation, Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation. If Punjab defaults on making the payment tomorrow, it will also be charged late payment surcharge at the rate of 15 per cent per annum. PSPCL officials said the matter was being taken up with the government and efforts were on to get the subsidy for the month of October released at the earliest.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111104/punjab.htm#4

The Hindu – Focus on structural reforms in G20: PM

“The world is watching G20′s steps to tackle financial instability emanating from eurozone periphery”

Vaiju Naravane

Cannes, 4 November 2011.  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told leaders meeting in this southern French resort town on Thursday that the entire world was watching and that “our summit will be judged by our ability to deal with financial instability emanating from the eurozone periphery.”

In the face of uncertainty over events in Greece, Dr. Singh said he hoped “ways can be found to manage the situation so that a package can be put in place as quickly as possible.”

Dr. Singh’s tete-a-tete with French President Nicolas Sarkozy was postponed due to an emergency meeting of eurozone leaders. Aides are attempting to reschedule the meeting, which will most likely take place on Friday afternoon. Dr. Singh met his counterparts from Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa at the invitation of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Liquidity requirements

In his address to the G20 during a working lunch, Dr. Singh said India supported the International Monetary Fund’s role in restoring stability in Europe. However, “the IMF must also keep in mind the liquidity requirements of developing countries who are not at the centre of the crisis, but may nevertheless be adversely affected as innocent bystanders.”

Orchestrating a broad-based recovery and sustainable growth in industrialised and developing countries was what the Mutual Assessment Process, decided upon at the last G20 summit, is meant to do. “The task of restoring fiscal sustainability over the medium-term calls for very different policy prescriptions,” Dr. Singh said.

Stressing the need to intensify and deepen the Mutual Assessment Process, he said the global community must focus on structural reforms in all G20 countries to increase efficiency and competitiveness over the medium-term. “This would help revive the animal spirit of investors, which is necessary to allow us to shift the burden of sustaining demand from the public to private sector. Such rebalancing is necessary to make the recovery sustainable. We in India are taking steps to ensure a return to high growth.”

The Prime Minister also told the assembly that short-term problems of financial instability should not be allowed to cloud the development needs of poor and emerging economies whose nascent growth is threatened by “slowing trend growth in developed countries.” Since multilateral development banks played a major role in mobilising and deploying global savings, the G20 should “raise its level of ambition for these institutions” so that they can play a transformational role.

Dr. Singh warned against the introduction of regulatory reforms such as a financial transaction tax as suggested by industrialist Bill Gates in his report on boosting development finance in the world. The Prime Minister said he was against reforms that “would end up hampering the developmental goals” of the emerging and poor nations. He called on the G20 to send a strong message to curb tax evasion and illicit capital flows.

Earlier, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, briefed journalists on the Prime Minister’s discussions with other leaders. Pointing out that India had no quarrel with “bilateral generosity,” Mr. Ahluwalia said India’s preference was for concerted action through the IMF — “through various mechanisms.” The quotas of countries could be increased or members could loan money using the IMF as a conduit for investment.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2595683.ece

Sint-Truiden, Limburg, Belgium – Levensloop 1 and 2 October 2011

Levensloop is a walk/run raising money to help cancer patients. Each team had to keep a walker or runner on the course from 4 pm on Saturday till 4 pm on Sunday. The Sikh community took part with a team of nearly sixty walkers/runners. The pictures were all taken on Sunday 2 October.

Walkers on their rounds
To the left and right tents occupied by participating organisations

 A part of the walk/run going to a woodland area

The route in between the Speelhof buildings

The central area with two running girls

To see more Sint-Truiden pictures go to :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622046344528/ 

More Belgian pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
 Man in Blue

The Tribune – Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi to chug off from today

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3. The Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi train, which will traverse via Rohtak and Sangrur, will be flagged off by Minister of State for Railways KH Muniyappa from Ludhiana tomorrow. The Shatabdi, which has come about following an initiative of Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari, is in fact the restarting of an earlier service which ran for only three months in 2008.

Manish Tewari said the Shatabdi would be a boon for commuters of Ludhiana who wished to reach Delhi late in the evening to catch international flights. He said the reverse was also true for Punjabis coming from abroad as the train restarted on its journey back to Ludhiana early in the morning from Delhi.

Tewari claimed that the train had been temporarily routed through Rohtak-Sangrur because of congestion on the main Ambala trunk line.

The Railways authorities, however, claim that the Shatabdi is likely to continue plying on the Rohtak-Sangrur track.

The Northern Railway General Manager SK Budhalakoti, when contacted, said the present route was a permanent arrangement. He said the route via Ambala was saturated and moreover it was the endeavour of the Railways to provide superior Shatabdi services to new places. “The present train is serving new points of Rohtak and Sangrur”, he added.

The Rohtak-Sangrur route is likely to increase the journey time because the Shatabdi cannot travel on high speed on it.

There is only a marginal increase of 11 km as far as distance is concerned. The Railways GM said the train, which was presently scheduled to run for four days a week on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, would start running for six days a week once the Railways got a new rake for the train.

Meanwhile, the Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla claimed he had submitted a written letter to the former Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on the day she announced the train in the Railway Budget urging the train run through Sangrur. He said he had made a similar request to the Prime Minister who had acknowledged the same and assured him that he would look into the matter. He thanked both of them for providing this service to the Malwa region in Punjab.

A New beginning

- The Shatabdi will be a boon for commuters of Ludhiana who wish to reach Delhi late in the evening to catch international flights

- The train has been temporarily routed through Rohtak-Sangrur because of congestion on the main Ambala trunk line

- The train, which is scheduled to run for four days a week on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, will start running for six days a week once the Railways gets a new rake

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111104/punjab.htm#15

BBC News – Salman Butt and Pakistan bowlers jailed for no-ball plot

3 November 2011

Former Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt has been jailed for 30 months for his part in the conspiracy to bowl deliberate no-balls in last year’s Test match against England.

Former world number two Test bowler Mohammad Asif, 28, was jailed for one year and bowler Mohammad Amir, 19, has been sentenced to six months.

Cricket agent Mazhar Majeed was jailed for two years and eight months.

Knowing when no-balls will be bowled can be of great value in betting scams.

The judge, Mr Justice Cooke, said cricket matches would forever be tainted by the scandal.

In his sentencing remarks, which have been published online, he told the defendants: “‘It’s not cricket’ was an adage. It is the insidious effect of your actions on professional cricket and the followers of it that make the offences so serious.

“The image and integrity of what was once a game but is now a business is damaged in the eyes of all, including the many youngsters who regarded you as as heroes and would have given their eye teeth to play at the levels and with the skills that you had.”

‘Sad day’

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew tweeted: “Let’s hope this is the necessary deterrent to restore the integrity of cricket. Tempted? Think again. Caught=prison.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board said the conviction of the players was “a sad day for Pakistan cricket”.

In February all three players were banned for five years by the International Cricket Council. All three are appealing against their suspensions.

But former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan said they should have been given lifetime bans.

The three players have all been ordered to pay compensation towards prosecution costs. Butt, 27, was ordered to pay £30,937, Amir £9,389 and Asif £8,120.

The men were arrested after the fourth Test between Pakistan and England in August 2010.

An undercover News of the World (NOTW) reporter paid Majeed £150,000 for details of the precise timing of three no-balls, which the players were persuaded to bowl, which were extremely valuable on the spot-fixing betting market.

Majeed claimed to have paid Asif £65,000, Butt £10,000 and Amir £2,500.

Investigative journalism

The judge told all the players they would be released on licence half way through their sentences if they behaved.

The trial heard that the cheating would never have been exposed without the investigative journalism of the NOTW.

The judge said: “Whenever people look back on a surprising event in a game or a surprising result, or whenever in the future there are surprising events or results, followers of the game who have paid good money to watch it live or watch it on television will be left to wonder whether there has been fixing and whether what they have been watching is a genuine contest between bat and ball.”

He made no orders for compensation regarding the £150,000, adding: “I consider that the NOTW got what it bargained for.”

Butt, described as the “orchestrator” of the scam, was sentenced to 30 months for conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and two years conspiracy to help others to cheat at gambling, to run concurrently.

His solicitor, Paul Harris, said he would be lodging an appeal against the severity of his sentence within 24 hours.

The player’s wife has just given birth to a son and his sister, Rubab, said the family were under stress.

Speaking to the BBC’s Aleem Maqbool in Pakistan, she said: “His wife, ever since she had the surgery with the baby they haven’t been eating, they keep crying.”

Asif was sentenced to a year for both conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to help others to cheat at gambling, to run concurrently.

Amir, described by the judge as “impressionable” was sentenced to six months for both conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to help others to cheat at gambling, to run concurrently.

His barrister, Henry Blaxland QC, initially said he would be seeking bail pending an appeal against his client’s sentence.

But the BBC’s James Pearce on Twitter said: “His lawyer told judge that he wouldn’t apply for bail after all, but notified judge of intention to appeal sentence.”

Majeed received two years and 8 months for conspiracy to make corrupt payments and 16 months for conspiracy to allow others to cheat at gambling, to run concurrently.

Butt, Asif and Majeed are thought to have been sent to Wandsworth prison in south London while Amir will serve his sentence at Feltham young offenders’ institution in west London.

The sentencing of the cricketers is dominating news headlines in Pakistan.

BBC correspondents say there is a lot of public anger in Pakistan about the spot-fixing scams. Ordinary people say they feel the country has been let down by the actions of these cricketers.

Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said: “Instead of having pride in playing for their country, these players chose to disappoint their supporters, damage the image of their country and bring the noble game of cricket into disrepute. There is little sympathy in Pakistan for the sorry pass they have come to.”

He said the PCB was introducing measures to stamp out corrupt behaviour, which will include training courses particularly aimed at younger players. The Pakistan government will also be urged to make corruption in sport a criminal offence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15573463