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05/11/2008: "Delhi rushes team to Nagaland for review OUR CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph"

Delhi rushes team to Nagaland for review OUR CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph

Kohima, May 10: Delhi today reviewed the situation in Nagaland where escalation in factional clashes in and around Dimapur has killed at least 24 people, including security personnel and civilians, since April 15.
The meeting in Dimapur was attended by officials of the Union home ministry, Nagaland commissioner H.K. Khulu, inspector-general of Assam Rifles Maj. Gen. K.S. Sethi, Ceasefire Monitoring Group chairman Lt. Gen. (retd) K.V. Kulkarni and several top security officials. The Centre’s representatives were led by Naveen Verma, joint secretary in charge of the Northeast in the ministry of Union home affairs.
Central, state and security officials held a closed-door meeting with representatives of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) to clear doubts cast over the outfit and the recently floated NSCN (Unification).
The Khaplang group agreed to shift its camp from Vihokhu, which is about 10 km from Dimapur, to avoid clashes near the civilian areas.
Mulatonu, a senior kilonser (minister) of the Khaplang faction and the supervisor of its Ceasefire Supervisory Board (CFSB), said the group would relocate its camp about 8km from Vihokhu and also control its cadres. He, however, said that the Union and state governments should also control the cadres of its rival group, the NSCN (Isak-Muivah).
He also claimed that there was no NSCN (K) or NSCN (U), only a single NSCN. Sources said Union home minister Shivraj Patil would visit Dimapur on Wednesday.
Thousands of women organised a torch-lit rally in Dimapur this evening to protest against the factional clashes in civilian areas and Naga legislators from Manipur expressed their willingness to broker peace between the warring Naga factions.
One person was killed by the NSCN (I-M) in Peren district. The Khaplang faction said the victim was a jawan of the IRB from Lazami village under Zunheboto district.
NSCN (K) to move out from Vihokho camp Correspondent MorungExpress
Kohima | May 10 : The Union Home Ministry and the State government had reportedly come out in no uncertain terms today pointing out that there is no such organization as NSCN (Unification) in its book and that the present camp occupied by the group at Vihokhu village under Dimapur district is not authorized and should be vacated.
The same was made known to the NSCN-K representatives during the Ceasefire Supervisory Board meeting held at Dimapur today which was also attended by Joint Secretary of Union Home Ministry in-charge Northeast, Naveen Verma. The NSCN-K representative led by Supervisor CFSB NSCN-K, Kughalu Mulatonuo, Wangtin Konyak member, Nitovi Secretary CSFB, Hokato, member and RM Lotha, member reportedly told the representative of the Government of India and the state government that they came as representatives of the NSCN-K and not as NSCN (U).
The NSCN-K, when contacted revealed that today’s CSFB meeting confined mostly on the issue of the present Vihokhu camp. There was discussions for a designated camp in and around Vihokhu area as the representatives of GoI and State Government had objected to the existing camp. We have decided to locate another place and jointly work out the same, said NSCN-K CFSB member Wangtin Konyak who also attended the meeting.
On the nomenclature of NSCN-K or NSCN-U, he denied any confusion as there is no NSCN-K but only “NSCN/GPRN” and the former was the “invention” of the media and other agencies purely to differentiate between the NSCN group led by Khaplang and the other by Isak and Muivah. “Even when we enter into Ceasefire with the Government of India, we signed as NSCN/GPRN,” he added. Further, he said that all the members of the NSCN (U) are NSCN-K as the members of the group led by Azheto Chophy came from the NSCN-IM Hebron camp and were “inducted” into the “GPRN ministry” led by S.S.Khaplang recently.
Similarly, another NSCN-K CFSB member Hokato revealed that the representative of the GoI and the State government had suggested shifting the existing Vihokhu camp to another place which is about 7 to 8 Kms away. But the NSCN-K strongly objected to this claiming that the land of the existing NSCN-K camp located about 3 Kms away from Vihokhu village was “willingly donated” by the villagers and “developed” by the NSCN-K. However, following strong objection from the MHA, following the State government’s pressure to shift the existing Vihokhu camp, “we’ve at last agreed to shift to another location as soon as we located a suitable place”, he said.
The meeting also discussed on the prevailing situation in and around Dimapur, besides the earlier NSCN-K demand for setting up Ceasefire Supervisory office in Dimapur and also some substantive issues as well, he said. On the demand for Ceasefire Supervisory office in Dimapur, it was agreed to be settled in the next CFSB meeting. When queried to elaborate on the substantive issues, Hokato said it is premature to divulge but at the same time said that the NSCN-K had hinted again its willingness to come to a negotiating table for political dialogue if the GoI is sincere to solving the Naga political problem.
Apart from the Chairman of the CSFB, Lt.Gen (Retd) R.V.Kulkarni and Jt.Secretary MHA Naveem Verma, the Government of India was represented by IGAR(N) Maj.Gen K.S.Sethi and the state government by Commissioner Nagaland H.K.Khulu, and DGP Nagaland, J.Changkija in today’s CFSB meeting.

Ceasefire Supervisory Board asks NSCN(K) to shift camp Zee News
Kohima, May 10: In view of spate of violence perpetuated by rival Naga underground groups in and around Dimapur, the Ceasefire Supervisory Board (CFSB) on Saturday reviewed the situation in the state.

The meeting of CFSB, a truce surveillance mechanism with NSCN(K), attended by Joint Secretary (north-east), Union Home Ministry, Naveen Verma, identified the location of NSCN (unification) camp, not a designated one, near Dimapur as a cause of concern since it is not very far from their rival NSCN(I-M)'s camps.

The board asked NSCN(K) to shift a particular camp of the newly floated unification group to pre-empt clashes with their rival NSCN(I-M).

It also asked NSCN(K) leaders present in the deliberation at Dimapur to pursue NSCN (unification) to shift their Vihokhu camp to some other mutually agreed places to avoid clashes with their rival NSCN(I-M) and adhere strictly to agreed truce ground rules, official sources said.

The deliberation chaired by Lt Gen (Rtd) R V Kulkarni, CFSB chairman, clarified that it regarded the unification group a part of NSCN(K) since the latter joined hands with former as per their statements and inclusion of unification group leaders in the recently reconstituted NSCN(K) council of ministers, the sources said.

The meeting also told underground representatives that the government recognized the truce monitoring mechanisms only with NSCN(K) and NSCN(I-M) since both had signed separate cease-fire agreements with the centre, the sources said. The meeting at Diampur was attended by Nagaland DSP J Changkija, Nagaland Commissioner H K Khulu, senior Assam Rifles and CRPF officials and NSCN(K) representatives.
Mothers take ‘torch rally’ for peace morungexpress
HEAR US, FOR ONCE...Naga mothers from Dimapur hold up torches in a symbolic rally for peace, condemnations for bloodshed and appeals for peace and healing, at the torch rally in Diphupar today.
Dimapur, May 10 (MExN): In a perfect precedent of a mother’s role on the eve Mother’s Day, womenfolk of Dimapur came out strongly against the continuous factional clashes and bloodshed in the district, by carrying out a symbolic torch rally along National Highway-39 this evening at the Diphupar area. The area has remained tense for the past few weeks due to the presence of armed underground cadres and also a serious factional fight on May 8.
The torch rally, organized by the Naga Women Hoho and attended by around two thousand people mostly women, gave out a strong message to the factions that the mothers are pained to see the Nagas kill each other. ‘The pain of the mothers on seeing the factional killings’ was the catchword of women representatives who spoke during earlier rallies in different parts of the city; ‘the pain’ transformed into a symbolic and silent procession up to the Diphupar ‘B’ gate, this evening.
The torch rally comes after months of appeals by the suffering civil society for peace in the society, peace rallies in different parts of the city and also the daring intervention by the public into the factional clash in Diphupar ‘B’ on May 8. “If you love your sisters and mothers, then don’t kill each other,” said a women speaker at a short programme held at Diphupar junction along the highway.
The mothers said if the underground factions do not comply with the appeals of the mothers, then there can be no regard to the pompous claim of being “national workers”. The mothers would not extend cooperation to any faction that ignores the appeal of the mothers, said a speaker. The Naga Women Hoho, Dimapur president exhorted the mothers to be bold and come out strongly against the factional clashes and bloodshed.
Others speakers included the DNSU president, chairmen of Diphupar villages, Naga Women Hoho Dimapur President and some others. They all condemned the factional clashes and appealed to the factions to restraint themselves from engaging in conflicts.

NISC says Naga society coming apart morungexpress
Dimapur, May 10 (MExN): The Naga International Support Center (NISC) laments that the Naga society today is coming apart at the seams and the land has been turned into killing fields. A press note from the NISC appealed to all to stop the senseless killings while urging the government of India to take certain suggested steps.
“Accusing, bickering, defecting fighting and rampant killing has turned the Naga Homeland into the ‘killing fields’ of the northeast of India” the NISC stated and held that “the Naga Society is breaking at its seams; tribalism has cropped up and as tension builds the results devastating. people are killed, innocent ones too, civilian law and order has evaporated. It further charged that the “new State Government does not do anything despite the fact that it declared to work for a respectable solution of the Indo-Naga conflict.”
The NISC held that the gun now rules while the police “idly stands by and arrests nobody and no one is held accountable for murder.” It also observed that bitter fighting in the local press demonstrate that “all parties concerned” are trying to justify what they are doing while blaming the others, ‘yet no proper investigation is carried out.’ “A nation once proud to be Christian has fallen flat on its face. Love thy neighbor, turn the other cheek are pillars of Christianity but in Nagaland these humanistic notions are flaunted” it lamented.
Appealing to the “parties” in concern, the NISC suggested taking responsibility for the “utter disunity, envy, anger, tribal feelings of superiority”; arresting “the culprits and masterminds” so they can be brought to justice; setting up an impartial investigative team to “unearths the deeper seeded animosities between the parties by presenting the facts”
The NISC also reminded to all to respect human rights; “to be truthful, open and accountable by revealing policies on which killing fellow Nagas are justified.”
To the Government of India the NISC urged it to restore law and order by deploying law enforcing agencies and to “instruct the Sate Governments to take their governance seriously.” It also urged the GoI to “begin talking peace in earnest and to abandon the divide and rule policies aimed to dividing and destroying the culture and resilience of the Nagas; to respect human rights for a democratic society; to repeal the Armed Forces Special powers Act; remove all Indian troops from Naga soil as a sign of good will; “fortify” the police force and install investigative teams; to appoint impartial judges so that law and order will be restored and the Naga peoples feel that the Government of India is finally taking responsibility through its State Governments
“This is a serious matter which affects the international standing and democratic recognitions of the Government of India and the Nagas. The Naga Peoples are yearning for pace with dignity” NISC stated. It urged “all parties, groups, factions and governments” involved to pave the way for genuine unification and true democracy. As well as cast aside personal tribal and intertribal grievances. It called upon the Government of India to show “flexibility and accommodation.”

GPRN diktat to Senapati DC office John Baso Pao

SENAPATI, May 9: Many offices of the state government under the deputy commissioner Senapati district of Manipur have closed down while some staffs of other offices have stopped attending office or official works following a diktat from a faction of the NSCN. The deputy commissioner Nidhi Kesarwani, Senapati and office staffs received a notice from the Government of the People`s Republic of Nagalim, GPRN on May 8 asking to cease office works for not settling the issues between the DC and the outfit.
The notification of the outfit said, "As per the directive from the higher authority all the civil servants/staffs attending or servicing under the deputy commissioner, Senapati are directed to cease attending office with effect from May 8, 2008 until the issues that have been challenged by the DC on the GPRN is settled."

The notification further threatened that anyone who defies the order will be considered negligent and shall be punished as per the `AZHA` without any further order.

The notification did not give any reason behind their diktat. Inspite of the threat from the outfit, some offices still remain open with few staffs in it while some remains closed. Many staffs are seen sitting outside the office even though they turned up office without attending official works.

There is a speculation among the public about the possible reason behind the order, and visitors are going back with their works undone. Assam Rifle personnel also visited the office today.

The concern DC was not immediately available for comment on the arising situation as he had been in imphal attending an emergency meeting at the time of reporting.

Highlights from International Sikh Conference (UK) Ranjit Singh Srai, Admin Secty, PNSD
INTERNATIONAL SIKH CONFERENCE AND UK SIKH PARLIAMENTARY ADVISORY GROUP VOWS TO TAKE FORWARD STRUGGLE FOR NATIONAL SELF-DETERMINATION
Birmingham, UK - An international conference in Birmingham, UK to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Declaration of Khalistan in 1986 saw a united call from leading Sikh organisations to step up their campaign to secure self determination for the Sikhs in their homeland. Following on from last week's endorsement of Khalistan by the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, the Conference raised the demand for a UN supervised plebiscite in Punjab, so that the Sikhs can democratically and peacefully demonstrate to the world their commitment to adhere to the historic 1986 decision taken by their national body (the Sarbat Khalsa) to establish an independent sovereign Sikh state. High profile backing for their struggle was delivered by leaders of other nations that are also being denied freedom by the colonialist, Hindutva-based entity that India has become.
A separate meeting of the Sikh Advisory Panel of the cross-party Westminster group 'Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination' (PNSD) endorsed the Conference resolutions and agreed to ramp up its campaign to win international support for Sikh self-determination and to bring to justice those within the Indian ruling elite that have wantonly carried out systematic and massive human rights abuses in order to suppress the Sikh freedom struggle. The Advisory Panel received substantive engagement from local parliamentarians on the issues it has raised with them and resolved to lobby for effective action at UK, EU and UN levels.
Khalistan Day Conference Justice (ret'd) Ajit Singh Bains, Convenor of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation, in a key note address to the Conference, said the Sikhs faced grave threats to their very identity which was being deliberately eroded by a calculating Indian establishment. From the genocidal assault on the Sikh nation over the last 25 years, the constitutional categorisation of their religion as part of Hinduism, the worsening economic deprivation, the theft of their precious natural water resources in defiance of accepted riparian law, deliberate demographic changes in Punjab, marginalisation of the Punjabi language and culture to the blatant suppression of Sikh political activism, India has a complete stranglehold on the nation and its territory. He urged the Sikhs to take a unified and principled stand in their struggle for freedom and said that if they did so, no power on earth could stop the establishment of Khalistan.
Prithipal Singh of Dal Khalsa International pledged to step up his already significant efforts to expose, on the international stage and especially at the UN, India's shameful human rights record. Khalistan he said was the birthright of the Sikhs who would not rest until they secured that freedom which the Sarbat Khalsa had freely determined as the nation's destiny. Simranjit Singh Mann, President of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) - who has been denied his passport by the Indian courts unless he agrees not to raise the demand for Khalistan when abroad - took part in the proceedings by telephone. He said the Sikh struggle for Khalistan will be pursued by peaceful and democratic means to its successful conclusion, so that the dreams of the tens of thousands of Sikhs who have laid down their lives for the cause would be realised. He derided those puppet Sikhs who, having once themselves demanded a sovereign Sikh state in a written memorandum to the UN Secretary General, have now backed down under Indian intimidation and become allied to the fascist forces of Hindutva.
Professor Tim Kaping of the Naga Support Centre, UK delivered a powerful message of friendship and goodwill from the top leadership (Qhevihe Chishi Swu) of the NSCN, which is itself currently engaged in a peace process with India aimed at securing Naga self determination in Nagalim. The Naga leadership spoke of their admiration for the "indomitable revolutionary spirit of the people of Khalistan and the resolute stand they have taken for keeping alive the torch of freedom". They did not espouse enmity with India or any other party but condemned "any state which uses military might to crush the legitimate movements of the dominated nations for self-determination as colonial".
Gulam Mohammad Safi, a representative of Syeed Ali Geelani of the All Party Hurriet Conference from Indian-occupied Kashmir, urged the Sikhs to stand firm in their quest for freedom and to be wary of traps that India will lay to frustrate them. He spoke of his admiration for shaheed Sant Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale who was able to give the Sikhs direction at a crucial time in their history. Dr Mukul Hazarika of Assam Watch also said Sikhs should be wary of India's tactics and duplicities in dealing with nations who wanted nothing other than to peacefully enjoy their right to freedom, security and control over their natural resources. The Assamese have also had recent experience of India's refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue, as well of course as its reliance on state terrorism and notorious draconian laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (condemned by the UN itself) to defeat their political struggle.
Lord Nazir Ahmed, Chair PNSD, spoke of the legitimacy of the Sikh nation's struggle for Khalistan and the urgent need to hold India to account for the atrocities against a proud and enlightened nation. He said the UK Parliament should establish a commission to investigate India's systematic abuses against the Sikhs, Kashmiris, Nagas and others; it is clear that India itself will not deliver justice and it therefore falls on the international community to step in.
Avtar Singh Saghera of the 'Kar Seva Committee' which has carried out extensive work on Sikh Gurdwaras in Pakistan compared the treatment of Sikhs in that country (where the Sikh Anand Marriage Act was recently adopted) to the humiliation heaped on Sikhs in India which refuses to scrap Article 25 of its constitution (which brands Sikhs as Hindus for the purposes of personal law and religious classification). There was no doubt he said that Sikhs have no future as a nation without establishing Khalistan in their homeland, in line with the historic decision taken in 1986. Kashmir Singh, Gen. Sec. of the British Sikh Federation, said that all minorities will be safe in Khalistan as the Sikhs had an unwavering belief in egalitarian principles and human rights. The country he said would have huge economic potential and would serve as a beacon for the entire sub-continent. The international community should welcome the break up of another multi-national and artificial state which has lost its legitimacy, just as it has done with the Soviet empire and former Yugoslavia.
Sukhvinder Singh, of the Sikh Federation, UK urged Sikhs to intensify their efforts to raise awareness amongst the international community about the violation of Sikh human rights in India, as well as the sound legal and democratic basis for Khalistan. This is particularly important given the Indian propaganda machine's new attempts to malign the Sikhs and their cause. Gurmej Singh Gill praised the organisers for marking this key event in Sikh history and thanked fellow freedom loving nations for their support and solidarity. Manmohan Singh Khalsa, founder member of Dal Khalsa International, said that Sarbat Khalsa's decision was a befitting response to Indian aggression and that Khalistan was the only means by which Sikh aspirations could be met as a member of the global community of nations.
Amrik Singh Sahota, OBE, President of the Council of Khalistan which organised the Conference, expressed his gratitude to the participants and said it would send an important message to the Indian state - no amount of repression will end the Sikh's lawful and democratic struggle for freedom. The Sarbat Khalsa's decision on 26 January 1986 and the Declaration of Khalistan on 29 April 1986 were forever part of the Sikh nation's heritage and each passing day reinforces our resolve that independence is the only way forward for the Sikhs.
PNSD Sikh Advisory Panel Annual General Meeting The Sikh Advisory Panel meeting was chaired by Lord Ahmed, Chair of PNSD and attended by representatives of all the leading UK Sikh organisations pursuing the struggle for self-determination for the Sikh nation. PNSD has provided a platform at Westminster for a number of nations seeking to exercise self-determination - a fundamental human right recognised as such by the UN- by exclusively peaceful and democratic means. It promotes this as a process based on international law and as a crucial means of conflict resolution. PNSD, as does the UN, recognises the critical nexus between the denial of self-determination and the systematic abuse of individual human rights. Respect for both collective and individual human rights are seen by it as key to a just and equitable world order.
A number of important messages were received from local parliamentarians who were invited to share their views as to how to address the numerous human rights concerns that had been raised with them by the Advisory Panel. John Spellar MP's message, in relation to the massive human rights abuses suffered by the Sikhs in India since 1984, spoke of the "considerable number of atrocities" that took place and noted that "these events are still deeply felt by the community and there is a strong and legitimate feeling that those responsible at all levels should be brought to justice". It is important he said "not only in the Sikh community, but also for the state of India as it faces up to aspects of its past". Khalid Mahmood MP in his message to the organisers said all UK parliamentarians should uphold self determination as a means to deliver civil liberties and fundamental human rights to protect the very identities of peoples around the world. He said that the Sikhs, as a nation, were fully deserving of that approach and added that he fully endorsed the Panel's call for international action to bring those guilty of rights violations to be brought to justice in view of the impunity which has protected them to this day.
A message from Roger Godsiff, MP said "self determination and the respect for human rights is the cornerstone on which all civilised societies are based and we must be prepared to speak out and to take international action through the UN and other international forums to try and ensure that all countries in the world observe these two principles". In a statement issued to the Advisory Panel by John Hemmings, MP said that it was important to consider how minorities are treated by majority communities across the world and that self-determination is relevant to this. In terms of those who campaign for self-determination he stressed that "self determination does not give any country the right to oppress minorities". Malcolm Harbour, MEP wished the meeting success and pledged that he would ensure that Sikh human rights concerns were raised at the EU's bodies dealing with foreign affairs and human rights.
The Sikh Advisory Panel's activities over the last year were reviewed, including participation in numerous PNSD events at Westminster, organising a briefing to the head of the India Desk at the UK Foreign Office on the legitimacy and history of the Khalistan cause and participation in key briefings to UN bodies and NGOs at the UN in Geneva.
Plans for future activities of the Panel were discussed and will include continuing to raise awareness of the causes of the Indo-Sikh conflict and the means to resolve it - ultimately a UN sponsored plebiscite in Punjab. An independence referendum, held under international supervision, is the only democratic way forward towards a settlement of the conflict as India has shown no willingness to engage with the Sikhs by way of bilateral settlement. It has defied the UN's own human rights bodies by refusing to accept that the right to self-determination, as enshrined in the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which it has acceded to, applies to any nations or peoples in its territory.
The example of Kosovo is a clear precedent of how the world can successfully intervene to protect human rights. The meeting warmly appreciated a message of support from Mehmed Stublla, an Imam of the UK Kosovo community: "In a momentous year for the people of Kosovo, when we secured the freedom that is our birthright, I am delighted to extend my goodwill to your gathering on Khalistan Day to commemorate the historic decision taken by the Sikh Nation in 1986 to establish a sovereign state in the Sikh homeland, in accordance with your right in international law. We have, like you suffered oppression as the hands of a state which has lost its legitimacy to govern your people by systematically violating their basic human rights. I wish your people every success in their noble struggle for freedom".
In addition, protection of individual human rights as well as the bringing to justice of those guilty of genocide against the Sikhs will be a key focus for the Sikh Advisory Panel. Next year will be the 25th anniversary of the November 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms in India, which saw 10,000 butchered in three days of state sponsored carnage - it will be a milestone in the continuing scandal that allows the perpetrators to walk free. Justice Bains spoke of the immediate need to abolish the use of the death penalty which has been used disproportionately against minorities even where the evidence against the accused was poor. Concern was also expressed for Sikhs who continue to be arrested and detained on false charges of terrorism, despite the armed conflict in Punjab subsiding some 16 years ago. The use by the discredited Punjab Police of false sedition charges to arrest, detain and silence Sikh leaders in Punjab who merely call for Sikh rights to be respected was also condemned - it was agreed that this needs to be exposed at international level to show how the democratic rights of the Sikhs have been denied, whatever India's tall claims to democratic credentials might be.
Members of the Panel and the organisations they represent were congratulated for their efforts. In particular there was deep appreciation for Justice Bains, who has been illegally detained by Indian security forces for his work as a leading human rights defender in Punjab. As a leading member of the Panel, he had travelled to the UK specifically for this key meeting and was able to welcome new members Sukhvinder Singh (Sikh Federation, UK) and Pritihipal Singh (Dal Khalsa, Switzerland). They join existing members Balbir Singh (Kar Seva Committee), Amrik Singh Sahota, OBE (Council of Khalistan), Chain Singh (SAD(Amritsar), France), Kashmir Singh (British Sikh Federation), Manmohan Singh (Dal Khalsa).
The meeting fully endorsed the Resolutions unanimously passed earlier in the day by the congregation at the Khalistan Day Conference. These are set out below:
RESOLUTIONS
1. Today's Panthic gathering affirms its commitment to the establishment of a sovereign independent Sikh state pursuant to the decision of the Sarbat Khalsa of 26 January 1986 and in accordance with international law. In taking forward our just struggle we salute the sacrifices made by hundreds of thousands of Sikh martyrs who have laid down their lives in the face of the genocidal policies of the Indian state.
2. Given the investigations and reports carried out by numerous human rights organisations, we urge the UN Human Rights Council and other UN organs to take effective steps to deal with India's systematic and massive violations of human rights including extra-judicial killings, secret cremations, illegal detentions, torture and state sponsored pogroms and to give severe punishment to the war criminals responsible for these atrocities as well as to ensure that India, as a serial violator of human rights, is not given a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
3. Today's gathering welcomes all Sikh participants as well as the representatives of the other nations, such as the Kashmiris, Nagas and Assamese, who have today joined us and pledged to align with us in defeating oppression and colonialism and who, through their representative panels, will work with PNSD's Sikh Advisory Panel in the UK Parliament to advance that cause.
4. This conference calls on the Indian Government to immediately re-deploy and relinquish control of Sikh army units to Punjab and to withdraw all Sikh forces from regions where the Indian state is oppressing our fellow nations as an occupying force. The Sikh army should take over security in Punjab from the discredited Punjab Police, so that the Sikh human rights can be properly protected.
5. Today's gathering heartily congratulates the Government of Kosovo which has this year secured freedom and independence its people in accordance with their right of self determination, established the world's newest sovereign state and given great hope to other aspirant nations across the world.
6. This gathering warmly welcomes the recent public assertion of Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Singh Sahib Joginder Singh Vedanti Ji, of the Sikh nation's right to establish Khalistan and indeed the certainty of that outcome. We warn the BJP's servants Badal, Makkar and others not to take any action or the security forces to intimidate the Jathedars and call on the UN to stop political suppression in Punjab and, under its supervision, procure a plebiscite in the Sikh homeland to allow the Sikhs to demonstrate to the world their freely determined wish to establish Khalistan.
7. This gathering urges the Western media to treat with great caution the false propaganda of Indian agencies which have sought, in order to distract attention from India's appalling human rights record and suppression, to portray the peaceful and democratic struggle of the Sikhs to establish Khalistan as a terrorist movement. We condemn those journalists who recently have blindly accepted this racist and completely defamatory falsehood.