Author: Rajeev Sharma
Publication: Tribune India
Date: November 27, 2002
In a letter dated October 30, 2002,
written to Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Jalil Abbas Jilani, Mr Simranjit
Singh Mann, MP, has made insinuations that Sikhs in India were not being
allowed to practise their faith and has sought his help "formally and informally
in speaking to our rulers in allowing us Sikhs to practise our faith."
A copy of the letter was made available to The Tribune by a Pakistani source
here today. It shows that Mr Mann has kept Mr Jilani abreast of his recent
efforts with the Government of India regarding the Sikh jatha's visit to
Nankana Sahib in Pakistan on Guru Nanak Dev's birth anniversary.
Mr Mann has also stated that 'Sikhs
who are neither Hindus nor Muslims, can act as bridges between these two
(India and Pakistan) historically embittered civilisations.'
Well-placed sources in the Vajpayee
government expressed a sense of outrage over Mr Mann's letter to a diplomat
of a hostile country, more so because Mr Mann is a Member of the Consultative
Committee of the Ministry of External Affairs and also considering that
Mr Mann is a Member of Parliament who is oath-bound to bear faith and allegiance
to the Constitution of India.
Each MP has to make the following
oath or affirmation: "... having been elected (or nominated) a member of
the Council of States (or the House of People) do swear in the name of
God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India
as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity
of India and that I will faithfully discharge the duty upon which I am
about to enter."
