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Tomorrow may be too late!

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to you in regards to news that has been blacked out by the media in India and is causing uproar amongst the Sikh nation, where protests and demonstrations are being held across the world by Sikhs. India is preparing to break its moratorium on the death penalty by hanging Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana on the 31 March 2012 at 9am at Central Jail in Patiala, Punjab.

Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana is facing the death penalty for the assassination of the former Chief Minister, Beant Singh in 1995. Balwant Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment. Life imprisonment in India is 14 years and Rajoana served 17 years in Patiala jail. Having served more than the actual life imprisonment set by the Indian government, Rajoana has now been awarded capital punishment of being hanged.

Although his death sentence was capable of appeal, Rajoana instead willingly expressed his desire to be put to death instead of showing faith in the widely acknowledged corrupt Indian justice system. Balwant Singh confessed his involvement in the assassination of Beant Singh, who was responsible for overseeing the mass genocide of Sikhs in the 1980s and early 1990s and ran operations that deliberately targeted civilians of Punjab. This lead to a period of fake ‘encounter’ killings, illegal detentions, mass rapes, illegal seizure of property and widespread intimidation of the Sikh population.

In recent years Amnesty International has welcomed the lack of executions in India, with the last one taking place in 2004, but expressed its concern that at least 50 death sentences are passed each year by the Indian courts.

By making this announcement, India is signalling to the world that when it comes to Sikh prisoners it is prepared to break the moratorium and reverse the trend to abolish the death penalty. The most recent announcement also comes on the back of the pre-mature release last month of Kishori Lal, who was awarded the death penalty in the murder of 3 Sikhs with a chopper knife on the 1 November 1984. Many in the Sikh community feel the Indian authorities are blatantly targeting Sikhs. Those responsible for the Sikh genocide in 1984, which saw up to 250,000 innocent Sikhs brutally murdered, burned and butchered alive, electrocuted, stripped naked and raped by mobs hired by the Indian government, have not been sentenced in the Indian courts or even given the capital punishment of being hanged. These criminals still roam the streets in India and have been let off scot-free!

I urge you, on behalf of the British Sikhs in the United Kingdom to please highlight this atrocity in any of your news coverage’s so that the world is aware of the injustice doings of the Indian government. We also urge you to also send any of your news reporters to India to take footage of what is happening. Peaceful protests and demonstrations are being held throughout Punjab. The Indian government has set curfews across Punjab and have moved in the Border Force and army to stop Sikhs from protesting and holding demonstrations against the ongoing injustice that India is showing Sikhs.

Sikhs in the UK have appealed to the Foreign Secretary to bring this matter up with Amnesty International and the Houses of Common. Other international Sikhs across the globe have also appealed to the state governments regarding the Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana hanging.

We hope that you will cover this story soon.

Kind Regards,

(Your Name)