Today many Indians will be celebrating Independence Day. Many will see it as the day they gained their right of self determination. Though there are some who will be less happy.

The British plundered the subcontinent of India, right until the end. Before Britain conquered the subcontinent, the northern areas of the subcontinent, accounted for 25% of the entire global economy. After Independence, the subcontinent as a whole accounted for a fraction of that.

To see some more information on how the Indian Subcontinent used to be before the British check link

Of course it was great that Britain was finally kicked out the subcontinent, although what was left behind was something which can never be admired. Hundred of thousands of Punjabi’s died during the turmoil of partition and millions of people lost everything they owned forcibly having to relocate. Punjab, my ancestral home land, was torn completely. Lahore, the great capital of the Sikh Empire and important financial centre, was lost to Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus. They say a Jatt (an ethnic group) would rather die than leave his land and indeed many did die.

Now to the point that many people ignore. The idea of India is a British invention. Indeed “India” could be word invented by the British, as the common term before the British arrived for the subcontinent, was Hind. “India”, was once a collection of many different nations, with many different ethnic groups and multiple dozens of languages, with the same broad diversity of Europe. Indian Independence day was the death of these national identities, instead replacing it with newly invented false identity of this newly established India.

The Indian side of Punjab was once again cut up after partition, by the creation of two new states on Punjab territory. Haryana was created in south Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh was created towards the east in the mountainous Himalayan region of Punjab. Shimla the former summer capital was now lost. Punjab is now a fraction of its former size. It accounts for 2% of Indian land mass, though it is without doubt the largest Indian breadbasket as it accounts for most home grown food.

It is unfortunate that the former Governments of India have often been anti-Punjabi, in an attempt to destroy the Punjab Nation which possibly they see as not concurrent with this new Indian identity.

Punjab during the 90′s had 6 times the GDP per a person, than any other state, along side Maharashtra. Although today, Punjab receives very little development, in terms of modern technologies, in comparison to other states.

During periods in the 70/80′s Punjabi’s where refused the right to vote in elections, under the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. It would be fair to call Indira Gandhi a dictator then surely? Punjab was the only state, who’s people where not allowed to vote. Though today many Indians, hold Indira Gandhi in great regard, whilst totally disregarding her actions.

Even the state capital of Punjab is not even in Punjab. The state capital of Punjab is in the union territory of Chandigarh where only 10% of the population are Sikh (many probably politicians) and the primary language is Hindi and not Punjabi. Chandigarh was a new city built by the treacherous former Prime Minister, Nehru in an attempt to decentralize power, from Punjabi’s and specifically Sikh’s.

The education system is also biased against the national language of Punjab, which is Punjabi, and instead favours a language which is alien to Punjab called Hindi.

It is a common belief that the Indian government and intelligence services still have an active operation to destabilize Punjabi political parties. Without doubt they did for sure during the 70/80/90’s.

The Indian government, have also siphoned off some of the rivers in Punjab to other states with giant man-made canals. Punjab depends on the rivers for agriculture, and because the actions of the Indian government, the water table in Punjab has dropped dramatically. Agriculture is the main income source in Punjab. UN agencies, expect the bread basket of India to become arid and un-farmable land, because of this. A humanitarian catastrophe is expected.

The most obvious example of Indian repression on Punjab was the military attack on the spiritual centre of Sri Harimandir Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in 1984 under the command of the dictator, Indira Gandhi. The Golden Temple is considered a Holy place for Sikhs, though if you go there, many the people you would see are Hindu’s from all over India. Once upon a time (and for some still now), it was also a special place for Muslims. In previous centuries, only Muslim musicians from the ancestry of Guru Nanak’s best friend Mardana (who was a Muslim), where allowed to perform in Sri Harimandir Sahib. The Golden Temple was a place where all people came and still come together.

The Indian Army launched an offensive to attack this site, in an attempt to capture a Sikh human rights observer and commentator who had taken refuge in the Akaal Takht (which is within the Golden Temple complex). Though in reality it was all an excuse, as Sant Jarnail Singh Bindranwale, was in Police custody just 4 days previous to the attack (according to a Supreme Court Judge of Singapore). If they wanted to kill him, they could have done it then.

The Indian Army attacked Sri Harimandir Sahib Complex during a religious festival when there would have many more pilgrims than usual. The offensive was called Operation Bluestar by the Indian Army. Thousands of innocent men, women and children died. The Akaal Takht which is the parliament of the Sikhs and the highest temporal seat was destroyed. The holy pool was filled with blood. The entire Golden Temple Complex was bullet ridden.

The excuse Indira Gandhi gave for the attack was that she was trying to capture terrorists. But how can anyone who hasn’t killed anyone be called a terrorist. You couldn’t even call Sant Jarnail Singh Bindranwale a separatist, as he never called for Punjab to separate from the union of India. All he asked was for the human rights violations to be addressed.

During the attacks all TV and electricity was cut in Punjab. This was so the people wouldn’t find out what was happening. When the media did start again, the governments grip manipulated reports to create an immense amount of confusion as to what actually happened.

A few months later, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikhs. But what happened later was an even bigger stain on Indian Democracy. Mob’s organized by politicians ran through the streets of Delhi, murdering and raping Sikhs. Thousands more died. The politicians are still free, and still in active politics. Out of the thousands of people in mobs not one person had been put on trial. The Delhi Police, just watched, even possibly actively taking part. There has been no justice.

The Delhi Genocide.

Then of course there are the actions of the Punjab Police during the 80’s and 90’s. Tens of thousands more died. After the attack on the Golden Temple, only then did a quite large selection of Punjabis desire independence. The Indian Government crushed the freedom movement by crushing all Sikhs, quite literally. Punjab during this time was very unsafe. Police killed innocent people in what is now known as false encounters. They would kill an innocent person, and then falsely accuse them of being a militant. The family of the murdered was very often tortured, and raped. You can find many accounts of this.

There are also claims that Punjab Police launched an operation called Bandi Chor, where Hindu Police Officers would go and rape Sikh women. No doubt there was rape on a relatively large scale, though if it was a targeted operation, I can not confirm.

I recommend that you do not take my word, and instead do your own research. There is a lot of information available, though institutions like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch where banned from entering Punjab by the Indian Government. The fact that the Indian Government banned them, says plenty in itself.

Many Indians would call Sant Jarnail Singh Bindranwale a terrorist. But in my research suggests he killed no one, didn’t speak hate, and definitely was not a Separatist, as he never asked for Independence from India.

Today there is a big influx of drugs into Punjab. I know politicians in Punjab through family ties, and I know the type of people they associate with. It has been suggested that political families are involved in the drug trade, and it wouldn’t surprise me. Politics is very ugly in India.

Recently a prominent human rights activist called Ram Narayan Kumar, died. He was a Hindu Punjabi, and was equally appalled as to what happened in Punjab. The Indian Government might think they attacked a select community in Punjab, but in reality they attacked the whole of Punjab. The definition of religion is very loose in Punjab. People never used to call themselves, Hindu, Sikh or Muslim. Religious beliefs in Punjab where very much amalgamated and it was a great collective fusion.

I do not want Punjab too leave India. I don’t think most Punjabi’s want to leave India, otherwise it would have happened by now. Rather, there should be much more autonomy, as was agreed by Punjabi’s when they agreed to enter the union of India. I believe states should have strong powers, similar to German system, where the individual regions, are very powerful.

Maybe I am being uber naïve, but if theirs enough compassion, I think things will be alright.