Propaganda Makes The World Go Round: My Perspective As A Sikh 

_{* This topic forms a natural sequence to the previous article,} highlighting the perils of being ruled by an _{inferior ruler.*}
Jennifer Freyd, an American psychologist, introduced the concept of DARVO to better understand the perverse psychology of a perpetrator, with her focus on crimes against women. But I believe that any psychological state is universally applicable to all scenarios that a perpetrator engages in, regardless of gender or age . Hence, I’ve based the article on the model of DARVO to give impetus to the subject matter in hand.
Let me begin by deciphering DARVO: Deny (own wrongdoings), Attack (the accuser), and Reverse (the role of) Victim and Offender.
In other words, it’s a perverse psychological state when the perpetrator accuses the victim of being the guilty party.
This is a cunning genius of a villainous mindset at play, creating a popular narrative, vociferating that even an unlawful action is a legitimate need incited by the victim, who thence becomes the offender by default.
In slang, we hear, ‘he/she was asking for it.’ Familiar with this fallacious rationale of a guilty mind? In the political sense, it can be referred to as the State (or Country) Narrative. With further manipulation by the state-controlled media, it becomes the official news, forming a global opinion either in favour of or against an individual, a community, or the entire country.
I am sure many people, especially from the minority bases, would understand the pain such a corrupt system can cause.
In this context, Sikhs have been inhumanely persecuted in India for decades by the majoritarian rule of Hindu-Tavi-Brahminic ideologists. The politics here is not any party-based, but ideology-based. I must add that not all Hindus represent this category, as they too are divided by their individual castes and classes, engineered by Brahminism ^{(A self-acclaimed supreme Hindu caste)}. But the difference is that they do not speak up either, leaving only the audacious Sikhs to make a stand against the consistent oppression. Hence, Sikhs remain on the target.
As described many times in my previous articles, the term, Hindu-Tavi-Brahminism, represents the extreme ideology, which is dogmatic and tyrannous in its enforcement, and is derived from multifarious intolerance through caste, class, religion, gender, faith, and language.  However, the undertone of this post is neither anti- Hindu-‘ism’ nor a blanket description of everyone living in India, except those who are affiliated with divisive ideology.
In this light, let me present just a few scenarios to stress how the model of DARVO is applied and marketed by a particular country to defame an individual and the whole community. I must add that such propaganda is successful only because the short-sighted and money-minded world politics allows it.
1. Many Sikhs have been arrested in India without committing a provable crime, but the national headlines always report it as ‘terrorists’ being apprehended. Yet, no one has ever been established of being terrorised!
When a Wrong is incorrigibly propagated to be Right over a long period, even a partially awakened conscious begins to black out. As a result, an emotional and mental immunity grows against recognising a crime, even if it happens in front of your eyes. For example, when someone witnesses a single Sikh youth being beaten up in the streets by a mob of predators, the crowd happily turn a blind eye, thinking a ‘terrorist’ has been punished. It is because a negative image is created to manipulate its association with anti-social depiction. This is the power of Propaganda, controlled by the States.
Most people are too busy to research or dig deeper to find the truth, especially when it does not affect you, your family, or your community. Life is a hamster wheel chasing one’s own personal mundane needs. Our mindset has been programmed to accept it as the norm, and the media has played its crucial part in it. This is the global model and destiny of a common man. Most often, government agencies themselves tame, train, and breed the ‘workforce’ of haters, and the media provokes further to spread this hatred, encouraging the division to suit the party in power.
An engineered terrorism under the guise of street vigilance can be a lucrative way to make easy money, with extra benefits. Not only does one become a famous gangster, but one also gets protection from law enforcement to do their dirty deed. Sikhs are attacked from both sides- either by the authorised gangsters, or are killed in police encounters. Sikh males who are twelve years and above in age often become the natural target in an attempt to stop the family line. It’s always the same cover story for the fake encounters- ‘He tried to escape the police custody’- The End. Thousands of such unaccounted murders have taken place over the last four decades. Bravo, the world’s biggest democracy!
But the endangered species of common sense continue to ask questions- Why do such fatal encounters only involve a particular community, when there is prevalent higher crime rate in other states than Panjab? Why have so many people gone missing without a trace, despite their so-called arrests being witnessed? However, if so many prisoners are escaping police custody, then surely there is a lapse in security; thus, shouldn’t there be a revamp in the system? Also, why can’t the police ever re-arrest an escapee alive, avoiding a fatal shooting? The reality behind the scenes suggests that something which has been deliberately broken can’t be mended.
Induced selective blindness and muteness prevent people from speaking up. But not the Sikhs, though. In the 1990s, one Sikh who was a human rights activist began the perilous task of collecting data on these murdered victims and the ones gone missing. He believed that at the very least, the families deserved closure, however tragic the truth might be. This Sikh activist’s name was Jaswant Singh Khalra, who travelled from village to village, and several funeral homes to collate evidence. No surprise that he was ‘picked up’ from outside his home by the police, and tortured before being killed. However, it was too late for the terrorising authorities, since Mr Khalra had already presented his findings in writing concerning the illegal killings and secret cremations in the UN and in his speech to the Canadian audience (still available on YouTube channels, for the interested readers). Such role models have motivated the Sikhs to continue their struggle against oppression to this day. Because our Gurus have taught that ‘It’s better to die while fighting righteously than live by surrendering’.
Regardless of all such efforts, DARVO never ceased to resound the national slogan, ‘Hindu Khatre Main Hai’- meaning that the Hindu is in danger. Common sense can’t rest in mute, fortunately, so it asks- In danger, but where? In a country where Hindus are in the majority? In a country where minorities don’t seem to have any rights as equal citizens? And, who is posing this so-called danger? The minority of Sikhs who form less than 2% of the population? So, 2% of human mass is endangering the 80% of the 1.4 billion populace who have security of all the national forces?
Maybe, there is an element of genetic phobia amongst the majority. If so, those who fit the profile are in danger, indeed, but not from the minority; they deserve a thorough mental cleansing and psychological treatment. If even this is incorrect, then surely the DARVO virus is endangering the national majority.
On the World’s diplomatic stage, human rights remain a political nuisance. So, bravo, G7, for shaking hands with inhumanity!  
2. I’ve already written a detailed account of the invasion of the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, called the Harmandir Sahib (also known as the Golden Temple), in the previous four-part article. Since the blood bath of thousands of pilgrims in the religious complex has already been examined, let me begin by invoking common sense to poke DARVO agents again.
Was the country’s whole paramilitary force and police machinery necessary to ‘arrest’ the few activists? Was the use of war weapons like tanks and grenades required to ‘arrest’ these few alleged defaulters of the law? Were the National forces on compulsory leave on any other day except the busiest period of religious celebrations, to be chosen for the attack? If the Sikh activists were terrorists or militants with arms, then why did the shooting start with the Indian Army ‘first’? Also, did it necessitate shooting to kill blindly, including the babies and children, women, and the elderly? The only time the State rulers became indiscriminatory had to be in such a hateful context! Alas! Alas!
Needless to say, there was an absolute denial of initiating an ‘unnecessary’ attack, and on the contrary, DARVO was fed with hyperbolic narrative on steroids to prove that it was the Sikh activists who instigated the action, and that the Army was reluctant to attack but safety and security of the country was paramount. The World lapped up the State narrative because it was politically convenient, especially when a few Western countries themselves were guilty of providing direct or indirect support, which ended in mass killings. No wonder DARVO remained a political vogue for four decades. Bravo, the global cooperation! But humanity is appalled. 
3. Genocide didn’t happen the first or the last time in human history when the Sikhs were butchered in the streets of India in 1984. In previous posts, I’ve already described the massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs by the ignorant fanatics, hypnotised by the national mantra of ‘Hindu Rashtra’- meaning, a country only for the Hindus.
A part of humanity died over those four days of devilry, for sure. When the stench of blood becomes seductive for the base appetite, it becomes inhibited to rape children and their mothers alike, burn their fathers alive in front of family’s eyes, butcher a son in the streets and forcing the parents to watch, loot and torch all their belongings, while onlookers clap, and the law enforcement encourages a ‘once more’ act of evil. Yes, if there is a devil in reality, it danced in the streets of India in all its naked nefariousness during those four days of November 1984.
Few people had seen the Government officials putting an X-sign outside the houses belonging to the Sikhs, for easy identification, days before the actual attack. Many people also saw the policemen supplying the mob with kerosene oil to burn men and properties alike, while the local political leaders were seen managing the mob for maximum damage. While these witnesses were silenced by all means necessary, the State narrative was telecast worldwide, claiming it to be a clash between two religious communities. Once again, the State narrative accused the Sikhs of having instigated the majority population. DARVO reported the clashes as rioting, and all credit was attributed to the responsible ruling party of the time for containing the situation quickly. Not quick enough when the fire had spread countrywide and killed only one community in thousands. The data was obviously tweaked and under-estimated deliberately. 
Thank God, Common Sense survived the target killing, even if amongst a few minds: A mob of hundreds of armed hooligans against one target is not a mere skirmish, but massacre, and when killers are seen from behind the window curtains dancing and beating drums while the victim was set ablaze alive, it becomes a hunting party. Also, planned and country-wide managed action is not a sudden violent eruption. Hateful and targeted killings of unarmed and defenceless men, women and children is not rioting, but a blood bath. When the country’s law enforcement agencies deliberately refuse to help the victims and promote fatal hatred against a particular community, it is called Genocide. 
While the World was merrily going round on the carousel of diplomacy, the Sikh genocide was officially called ‘Riots’, even though only one side killed the other without a counterattack. In more than forty years, no one has ever been convicted of crimes against humanity in any Indian court. A whole generation has died in wait. But the slogan of ‘Hindu khatre main hai’ (Hindu is in danger) is still popular.  
If this is not an archetype of DARVO, then what is? 
4. Sikhs might have been battered and kicked, but the Sikh spirit refused to bow down to the oppression. Many Sikhs began to emigrate and seek political asylum in other countries when they saw that it’s not just the majoritarian ruling power, but even the common masses, can be driven to kill their fellow countrymen at the instigation of the divisive politics. 
So, it was for the safety of life and survival of the community itself that the Sikhs were forced to leave their homes and land behind, not as an act of opportunism to seek a better life- as many ignorant people might have felt in their foggy understanding of humankind from a foreign land.
Sikhs also felt that in order to educate the world, it was necessary to tell their side of the story too. They knew the World wouldn’t reach them, so they had to reach their message across in a peaceful but effective manner. Sikhs are law-abiding people, and so they took the legal path in every country that allowed them the freedom of speech and self-representation. The right path is always the longest, but it leads you to the destination. The world began to understand the scenario more clearly, slowly but surely. However, this sent alarm bells towards the Indian agencies! They could not let this cat out of the bag alive; they must declaw, depilate, and behead it first. So, DARVO escalated its sinister smear against the Sikhs. 
Transnational repression was thus unleashed to penetrate the boundaries of other countries. A new industry of contract killings emerged through engaging with overseas gangs to harass and murder Sikhs, especially those who were campaigning to tell the truth and seek support on a worldwide stage. Cases of assassinations and attempted murder plots have been uncovered in countries like the USA, Canada, and the UK. It was a long legal battle by the Sikhs to get to this stage.
But DARVO had not given up yet; many killings were attributed to gang feuds, implying that the Sikhs are criminals and gangsters who break the law wherever they go. However, nothing remains the same forever by the law of the universe. The persistent struggle by the diaspora Sikhs is weakening the strength of the DARVO propaganda, gradually and steadily. 
For example, the killing of a peaceful activist, named Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada in June 2023 put a temporary break on the Indian rhetoric. Thanks to the Canadian police for managing the case efficiently which resulted in arrest of three hired killers, and another person linked to the Indian secret agency is currently been held in an American prison for accused murder plot against another Sikh activist who is raising awareness about the Sikh issues and organises peaceful and democratic referendums worldwide to give diaspora Sikhs the opportunity to vote for self-determination. These referendums are held with official permission by the local authorities. Yet, India calls it an act of terrorism, and the organisers are labelled as terrorists. 
Many more potential cases of transnational repression have surfaced since. This includes pursuing the reopening of an old, tragic case of an Indian airline bombing in which all the passengers were killed, sadly.  Obviously, the blame was placed on the Sikhs. After the Sikh-genocide of 1984, the community organised collective protests worldwide, so the truth could be divulged. As the world was beginning to listen, the shocking news of the painful incident of the bombing occurred in Canada. Coincidence, or planned execution? The jury is still out. It is unsafe to tread on even the green turf when reptiles lurk underneath. Once again, the World believed the political power, against the evidence.
With this, the Indian propaganda was at its peak and succeeded in reversing the world’s focus from real Sikh issues to name-calling them as terrorists. However, not a single Sikh accused of this inhumanity was charged formally due to the absence of any evidence in the Canadian court, despite every possible effort by the Indian agencies. Sikhs have persistently been demanding the reopening of this case so that the planted stigma on their image could be cleansed forever. Even though it has come to light recently that there were many lapses in presenting the evidence in court, the Indian representatives are categorically against the reopening of the case. Common sense spells out the only possible reason for resisting the findings.
Credit where it is due-  the former Canadian Prime Minister himself stood in the parliament last year to highlight the Indian Government’s involvement in acts of transnational repression on Canadian soil. No surprise that the Indian Hindu-Tavi media slandered him as well as Canada as a country in the most vulgar smearing campaign. Despite that, with the recent change in the Canadian Government and the volatile state of world politics, it seems that there is another pause in the progress towards justice. Where the world might see it as a readjustment of the global economy, the Indian State’s DARVO is claiming it as a victory. Only time shall tell, but today, my satirical instincts shout- Bravo, the free and open world trade! How about free and open humanity, instead?
But till the brave, even if few in numbers, defy evil with righteous determination, there is hope for the world. There might be other communities too who haven’t had the chance to tell their account to the world, so I appeal to them- unite and weaken DARVO and its authors with our collective strength. Let the truth be emancipated. Here’s to a better World order and may peace prevail.

For further news on Sikh affairs, especially the podcast, explosing how torture is normalised in India, please press the link below.
Courtesy: Satluj tv- Presented by Angus Scott and James Cousineau.