Senior Advocate Sardar HS Phoolka Honoured in Switzerland
LANGANTHAL, Switzerland (June 20, 2013)–Mr. H.S. Phoolka, leading Advocate for the Supreme Court of India and Human Rights Activist, during his vacation tour paid a visit to the Sikh Gurdawara Sahib in Langenthal, Switzerland.
Mr. Phoolka’s visit to the Gurdawara Sahib and this special Congregation to honour him was jointly organised by the Centre for Sikh Studies, run by Gurdeep Singh, Human Rights/Social Activist and the Sikh Gurdawara Sahib.
S. Karan Singh, welcomed H.S. Phoolka, on behalf of the Sikh Sangat and thanked him for his never ending struggle to get Justice for the Victims of the 1984 Sikh Genocide which took place after the death of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
More than 3000 Sikh men, women and children were killed and hundreds of Sikh men were burnt alive and women raped in this well organised carnage by some of the leading members of the ruling Congress Party.
Karan Singh added that H.S. Phoolka’s struggle and contribution will be written in golden letters in the modern History of the Sikhs and is an eye opener for all human rights activists and organisations throughout the world. H.S. Phoolka has received many threatening letters and telephone calls and he has faced all of them with a lion heart.
Mr. H.S. Phoolka, in his short speech, said “I am very positively surprised to see the young Sikh children maintaining their Sikh identity, language and culture and praise the children in singing Gurbani Hymns and playing traditional musical instruments.”
He said, “it is very important to maintain our Sikh Identity, Culture, Language and Religion but it is more important for us to propagate the valuable teachings of our Sikh Gurus, open [the] doors of our Gurudwara to Swiss Citizens and help [the] needy.”
On the Sikh Genocide, he said that the denial of justice to minority communities is a typical example wherein the organisers of this crime–members of the ruling Congress Party–are protected by the State apparatus and the process of getting justice for the Sikh minority is deliberately delayed and denied. The Indian Government cannot simply deny Justice to the victims of genocide, with the blessings of God, justice will be granted to the Sikhs and leading Congress Party members shall be booked.
H.S. Phoolka was presented with a “Gurdawara Shield” by Ragi Santokh Singh and the traditional siropa blessing was bestowed upon him by S. Harminder Singh Khalsa.
Sikh Gurdawara Sahib, Langenthal seriously evaluates and maintains the practice of bestowing siropas and honouring Sikh personalities–prominent among them was S. Simranjit Singh Mann–for his valuable contributions to the Sikh Panth.
Karan Singh, in short, highlighted the activities of Sikh Gurdawara Langenthal. Besides organising Gurmat Camps, preaching and practicing the teachings as laid out in our holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib to Sikhs and local Citizens, Gurdawara Sahib and Centre for Sikh Studies are jointly involved in organising Inter-Faith Dialogues, Inter-Cutural meetings and Workshops on Diversity at Local, Regional and National Levels.
When Karan Singh learned that H.S. Phoolka’s family missed the last train to go up the