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Should Canadian Parliamentarians Praise Human Rights Violators and Meet and Greet with Suspected Perpetrators of Crimes against Humanity?

An Open letter to Ruby Dhalla – Prospective Candidate for Brampton-Springdale. Mrs. Dhalla, Human Rights is an Election Issue.

by Satnam Singh Sangra

Ruby Dhalla is a self-professed "ardent admirer" of Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi was the leader who unnecessarily declared a national state of emergency in India to save herself from criminal prosecution. The Emergency was declared to suppress the people's democratic aspirations. During the Emergency the fundamental rights of the people were suspended and any recourse to justice was smothered under authoritarian rule.

The destruction and burning of the Golden Temple complex on the orders of Indira Gandhi.

Dead bodies lying in the Golden temple complex during operaion blue star on the orders of the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandi. Her chosen means of conflict resolution was VIOLENCE and MURDER. Would you be an "ARDENT ADMIRER" of a person like this?

A young Muslim in Gujarat begging with tears not to harm him and his family, during the 2002 Gujarat massacre of muslims in India.

Charred remains of a Muslim woman in Gujarat state. The result of Genocide under the leadership of Narindra Modi.

Genocidal mobs burning-muslim homes in Gujarat, all under the eye of Narindra Modi the chief executive of the state.

Muslims doused with-gasoline and set on fire by Genocidal mobs. Western democracies and human rights groups the world over accuse Narindra Modi for complete complicity in these heinous crimes.

Ruby Dhalla,hand in hand with Narindra Modi, the man standing accused of allowing the genocide of muslims in Gujarat under his leadership.

This instrument is the Trishul. Genocidal mobs hung dead fetuses on this instrument during the sexualized violience in Gujarat. These heinous crimes occurred under the watchful eye of the head of state Narindra Modi.

Gujarat pogram run by Mr. Narendra Modi. This picture shows a Muslim woman raped and burned in pre-planned genocidal violence against Muslims in Gurjarat in 2002.

Honorable members of parliament represent the Canadian values of respect, acceptance, cultural pluralism and harmony within diversity.  It is these very values that make Canada stand clearly apart from other parliamentary democracies. As Canadians we try hard to espouse these values in our daily lives. Maybe this is why Canada is fast becoming the place of choice to raise families for millions of people beyond our borders. 

It is very disheartening to see our elected representatives, people who are supposed to model these great Canadian Ideals conducting themselves in ways which go against the very core of our Canadian values. During her recent trip to India, Ruby Dhalla (Member of Parliament) praised Indira Gandhi, and posed for photos holding hands with suspected mastermind of genocide Narindra Modi. Mrs. Gandhi and Mr. Modi are two notorious Indian politicians known for their lack of respect for the law and very poor track records on human rights issues.

The January 13th, 2011 edition of the times of India has reported Mrs. Dhalla as stating that she is an “ardent admirer of Indira Gandhi.” A close examination of Indira Gandhi’s political career reveals a picture of a person with no respect for the rule of law or human life. Here are the hard facts about the woman who Ruby Dhalla so-ardently admires:

1. On June 12, 1975 Mrs. Gandhi was found guilty of corrupt campaign practices by an Indian high court. She was unseated from parliament and debarred from political office for 6 years.
2. Indira Gandhi displayed complete disrespect for the rule of law by openly rejecting the court judgment. In civilized democracies rejecting the order of the court of law mounts to a violation of political ethics, democratic norms and constitutional propriety.
3. To save her political career, Indira Gandhi abused her political power by suspending the Indian constitution for nearly 2 years. Indira Gandhi declared a national state of emergency effectively shelving the rule of law and disabling the judicial system. She ruled as an oppressive dictator in violation of all democratic norms.
4. During the emergency she ordered the imprisonment of 140,000 Indian citizens including elected members of parliament, journalists, academics and students. In Indira Gandhi’s India the right to protest or dissent was against the law.
5. Lawyers in the Indian capital protested Indira Gandhi’s highhandedness only to have Mrs. Gandhi order the demolition of 1000 lawyer’s chambers in New Delhi.
6. During Indira Gandhi’s imposed state of Emergency thousands of men and women were forced to undergo sterilization as a means of population control. Forced sterilizations are recognized as a crime against humanity according to the Rome Statute.
7. On July 22, 1978 the Indian courts formally charged Mrs. Gandhi with conspiracy and criminal misconduct. She was expelled from the Indian parliament and sent to prison.
8. In the 1980’s Mrs. Gandhi’s government passed several laws denying basic civil liberties to people in the Indian state of Punjab. These acts gave a free hand to police and paramilitary forces to torture and harass people at their leisure. In 1984 Mrs. Gandhi’s government further attacked the basic civil liberties of Sikhs in Punjab by giving security forces the power to detain any person without charges and two year imprisonment without trial.
9. Indira Gandhi directed the Indian army to attack the holiest of Sikh shrines - the Golden Temple complex -  to flush out a hand-full of so-called terrorists. Mrs. Gandhi chose one of the busiest days on the Sikh calendar to launch the assault.  Thousands of innocent men, women and children were killed mercilessly at the hands of Indira Gandhi’s Indian army. According to eyewitness accounts, the Indian army burned down the Sikh reference library, which housed precious and priceless artifacts of the history of the Sikh Nation. 

This is a brief synopsis of Indira Gandhi. The woman of whom Ruby Dhalla is an “ardent admirer.”

Continuing her absolute disregard for human rights Mrs. Dhalla posed for photos with Narindra Modi the man standing accused of supporting the Genocide of Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat. During the days between February 28th and March 2nd, 2002, violent Hindu fundamentalist mobs let loose a reign of terror on the Muslim populace of Gujarat. This was one of the worst cases of mass murder of genocidal proportions in independent India, next only to the Genocide of the Sikhs in 1984. Here are the hard facts about the man Mrs. Dhalla is seen holding hands with:

1. In Mr. Modi’s Gujarat, grade 10 textbooks portray Adolph Hitler as a hero. (Times of Indian, September 30th, 2004).
2. Narindra Modi was the chief executive of the state of Gujarat at the time of the Muslim Genocide in 2002. According to the Indian Human Rights Commission, as head of state Mr. Modi had complete command of the police and law enforcement.
3. Despite this, Narindra Modi stands accused of taking absolutely no precautionary measures to prevent the imminent violence.
4. The European Union, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and every major Indian human rights organization have held the government of Gujarat (Mr. Modi) responsible for the Genocide of the Muslims.
5. Independent human rights observers all point to the fact of the mass murder of Muslims in Gujarat conforming to the specifications of Genocide.
6. Narindra Modi stands accused of supporting, aiding and abetting the Genocide of Muslims in Gujarat. A senior Indian civil servant Sanjiv Bhatt deposed in court that he was present at the meeting of senior police officers of Gujarat state called by Mr. Modi on February 27, 2002. Mr. Bhatt states that he heard Mr. Modi telling the police officers to be “indifferent” to the rioters…that “Muslims be taught a lesson” and that the “Emotions were running very high among the Hindus and it was imperative that they be allowed to vent out their anger” (see tribuneindia.com, April 23rd.)
7. Eye witnesses state seeing police see the brutality take place and telling the Muslim victims “we have no orders to protect you”
8. Under Narindra Modi's watchful eye, the genocide of Muslims included the utmost horrific acts of sexualized and gendered violence.
9. Women and girls were beaten, thrown alive into wells, targeted for rape, gang rape, sexual mutilation and burning. Under Mr. Modi's watchful eye the genocidal fundamentalist mobs participated in the severing of women’s breasts and horrific violence targeted at womens’ genitalia. Pregnant womens’ wombs were torn open resulting in forced abortions. The dead fetuses were displayed on Trishuls by the genocidal mobs (see picture).
10. Narindra Modi justified all of this by calling it a natural reaction.
11. Modi ordered liberal media who were actively reporting the genocide of Muslims to leave Gujarat state.
12. In March, 2005 the United States denied Narindra Modi entrance into the United States. His tourist / business visa was also revoked.

Mrs. Dhalla how do you reconcile the fact that you were holding hands with a perpetrator of genocide? It is indeed shameful that an elected official who is supposed to represent the Canadian values of peace and harmony would choose to associate with and eulogize such grave violators of human rights. These actions serve to legitimize their horrid criminal actions and betray the cause of the victims seeking justice. As an honorable member of one of the most respected parliamentary democracies, do you think your actions were reflective of the values of your office?  Do you deserve to represent Canadian interests?

Mr. Ignatieff, as the leader of the Liberal party of Canada can you please tell us if the Liberal party of Canada condones the praise of and association with persons known to be human rights violators? Are these actions reflective of the values of the Liberal party of Canada? If not, has there been any disciplinary action taken against Mrs. Dhalla for her conduct? It is only fair that you clear the air on this issue before expecting Canadians to vote liberal in this election.

     Human Rights is an election issue.