09) INDIAN ESTABLISHMENT GLORIFIES CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE OVER REAL VANCOUVER HERO

By Gurpreet Singh

     The recent decision of the Indian government to declare a martyr lacks wisdom. Sarabjit Singh died after being assaulted in a Pakistani jail. He was convicted by the Pakistani courts for 1990 bombings that left 14 people dead. Singh had claimed innocence, and there were efforts to get him released on humanitarian grounds, but the Indian authorities described him a martyr, or brave son of soil, following his death in Jinnah Hospital in Pakistan, after being viciously attacked by jail inmates.

     Until recently, Singh's family and his Canada‑based supporters claimed that he had accidentally crossed the border between India and Pakistan, and was wrongly implicated in the crime. A few Canadians spearheaded a campaign for his release.

     His native village, Bhikhiwind, is situated close to the zero line that divides India and Pakistan. His family claimed that he had mistakenly strayed into Pakistani territory. 

     Incidentally, Bhai Bhag Singh, a towering leader of the East Indian community in Vancouver, who was assassinated by a British spy in 1914, belonged to the same village. He was in the forefront of the struggle for the right to vote for Indian immigrants, and had challenged the racist immigration laws of the Canadian government.

     Bhag Singh was associated with the Ghadar Party, which believed in armed rebellion against the British Empire. Formed by Indian immigrants on the Pacific coast in 1913 to resist racism and foreign occupation of their homeland, the Ghadar movement was born out of discriminatory experiences endured by these men, disillusioned by the indifference of the Empire. Bhag Singh had previously served in the British army. As a mark of protest he organized an event where former British Sikh soldiers burnt their medals and uniforms. He died after being shot by Bela Singh, an agent of the Immigration department that spied on the East Indian community in Vancouver.

     The Indian establishment has completely forgotten Bhag Singh and his contributions, with no significant effort to raise a fitting memorial at his native village. But the controversial Sarabjit Singh has received extraordinary attention.

     The fatal attack on Sarabjit Singh followed the hanging of a Pakistani extremist, Ajmal Amir Kasab, who was behind the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai, India, that left more than 100 people dead. Had Pakistan declared him a hero, the Indian government would have quickly branded their neighbours a "terrorist state". How wise therefore to glorify Sarabjit Singh as a hero?

     Even otherwise, how can a man become martyr while being an innocent victim of circumstances? By declaring him a martyr, the Indian government has belittled real martyrs and national heroes, like Bhag Singh who fought consciously against injustices.

     At a strategic level, this is also a bad decision, an indirect endorsement of a terrorist crime allegedly committed by Singh in Pakistan.

     Let's face it: the Indian government failed to handle the whole affair appropriately. To pacify public anger and hide its own weaknesses, it is trying to silence critics by indulging in jingoism.

(The above article is from the May 16-31, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)