The Indian Govt has today opened fire and sanctioned the use of water cannons and brute force by Punjab police on thousands of it’s own citizens whilst they were peacefully staging a sit-in protest. Sikhs had gathered to protest the lack of police action in a case of the desecration of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji in the area of Kotakpura Punjab. Disturbingly the Indian Govt has ordered a media blackout in Punjab. Yet still news, images and video footage is emerging on social media of the violence being perpetrated against innocent civilians – three civilian deaths have been reported and hundreds of casualties, with the death toll set to rise as more reports come to light.

This is the most recent episode in an escalation of violence by the Indian Govt against the Sikh minority of India. They have also been torturing and force feeding an octogenarian who- protesting against the illegal detention of prisoners who have long since served their sentences- has been on hunger strike for over 280 days. The Punjab police has been harassing his supporters and illegally detaining prominent Sikh figures who’ve been peacefully protesting the state's interference in matters concerning the Sikh governing body.

Despite the BBC having large presence in India with many reporters stationed there – it has not picked up this story. There is no mention of this on any of the their news media outlets in India or here in the UK, despite the fact that their express global purpose is to “provide international news broadcasting of the highest quality, enabiling individuals to participate on the global debate on significant international issues”. This is a significant issue for the 20 million Sikhs worldwide. We rely on the BBC as (in their own words) an “independent, objective and honest” news organisation to report on such issues.

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