Editor Ramachandran shamelessly defending the abrogation of articles 370 and 35A. Simranjit Singh Mann, Member of Parliament.

The Tribune dated 16th December 2023.

Comments by Simranjit Singh Mann: Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) states that this article entitled “The moral context of Article 370” dated 16th December 2023, by the editor of The Tribune Mr. Rajesh Ramachandran is full of a marjoritarians hubris and arrogance.

If Gandhi uses the names of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in the article, when Mr. Ramachandran begins to write he opinion, he omits the presences and names of Sikhs.

Moreover, as a hard Hindutva editor he would want the Muslims to kowtow to the majoritarian Hindu, then it would satisfy Mr. Ramachandran’s ego and he would appreciate why article 370 and 35A have been placed in the Constitution.

We wish to inform Mr. Ramachandran that the Muslims are going to fight this battle to its conclusion and they will go to the Supreme Court once again as the Supreme Court has done a shoddy job, as expected, just like Mr. Gogoi the previous Chief Justice of the Supreme Court gave a favourable verdict in the Ram Mandir case and then receiving a plum sinecure from the Modi Government and landing himself a job as a nominated Member of The Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha.

Now it remains to be seen what Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud will receive by giving another favourable Hindutva verdict.

We want to remind the extreme rightwing editor, that Kashmir was annexed in 1819 by the Lahore Darbar (Sikh Empire 1799-1849) from Afghanistan, of which it was a province. After that it was made an integral part of the Sikh Empire.

In 1834 the Lahore Darbar (Sikh Empire 1799-1849) annexed Ladakh and made it an integral part of its Empire.

What irks the Sikhs is that after 1947 neither Islamic Pakistan nor Hindu India could keep the Lahore Darbar’s annexation of Kashmir in one part and that applies to Ladakh too as in 1962 the Hindu state gave away 39,000 sq kms of Ladakh territory to Communist China and in 2020 and 2022 it surrendered another 2000 sq kms to Communist China.

Since the Hindu Indian state has no pride, these conquests by Communist China of Ladakh territory are never debated in Parliament and the Speaker of the House Om Birla shuts out any debate on this issue that pops up.

What is even worse is that Islamic Pakistan gave away the Shaksgam Valley territory of 1,942 sq kms in Kashmir to Communist China in 1963.

Therefore, we may say the two successor states of Islamic Pakistan and Hindu India are not worthy of keeping the gains of the Lahore Darbar (Sikh Empire 1799-1849) in one piece. Sometimes in the future both the states will need a wallop.

Simranjit Singh Mānn,
President,
Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar),
Email: simranjitsinghmann@yahoo.com
website: https://akalidalamritsar.in/
facebook page: @sardarsimranjitsinghmann