You’ve got to admire the chutzpah of the folks over at Tory Home when it comes to making up excuses to cover the decision to draft in Tony Lit, a now former direction of Sunset Radio, as their chosen candidate for Ealing Southall before the ink was even dry on his party membership card, especially in the face of comments like this, from one of the site’s visitors:
CCHQ has approved Tony Lit, not even a party member, as a Parliamentary by-election candidate!!
What sort of message does that send out to those who were kicked off the candidates list or have failed a Parliamentary Assessment Board?
Up until now, only the best candidates were approved to stand as by-election candidates. Now a non-member can. Standards seem to be slipping!
How can we be sure that Mr Lit is a bona fide Conservative and not an infiltrator from another party? Are there no suitable local candidates with a proven track record as a Conservative activist, officer or councillor?
The party could pay a high price for taking such an unprecedented risk.
And…
I was told to become a Parliamentary candidate one has to be a Party member for at least 3 months and must pass PAB, but in this case ??????????????????
His father I have been told supported Labour candidate in 2004 GLA election (Ealing & Hilligndon)and they have never been a Tory supporter.
Only qualification is money, if Tory party thinks that being a Sikh he will get votes from local Asian (Sikh) community they must be kidding.
Labour party candidate will be also from Sikh community and he/she will have support among all the local Asian and religious communities, Sikh, Hindu, Muslims.
Toni lives in Osterly, London Boorough of Hounslow. Party has made a big mistake by chosing him. He will not win. Local politics has changed since his father stood as an Independent in 2001.
And…
The secretive process demonstrated here is typical of the new Cameron approach to selecting candidates. Other local non-Asian candidates were not even informed the Party was actively selecting. It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re a Tory supporter anymore, as long as you fit Cameron’s new candidate profile. Why is it that this candidate with no history of support for the Party is parachuted into a seat which many people believe we have a chance. It is because he is Asian and his father is well-known locally. If we started placing white candidates into seats where the electorate were predominantly white there would be an uproar, and rightly so. Can someone at CCHQ or in the local association (if there is one) tell us how many people applied for this seat and how the process was undertaken, so at least we know that this wasn’t as much of an opportunistic set-up as it appears.
And…
I informed CCHQ the same day MP Piara Khabra died.
This is the reply I got today from a high profile MP.
Dear Atiq,
Many thanks for your email and for your work on pulling together this data.
I am writing to let you know that Francis Maude has decided that our
candidate will actually be from Ealing Southall on this occasion which I’m
afraid does rule you out this time round.However, with your great knowledge of this area in mind we would be most
grateful if you would still come and support the Conservative campaign in
Ealing Southall throughout this very short by-election. We expect polling
day to be 3 weeks today.I have told Francis Maude of your interest and he has asked me to thank you
for your interest and also to ask the above question about whether you will
still be prepared to bring in support to help us achieve the best possible
result?
Which eventually brought out this feeble excuse…
Re: some of the comments about how long Lit has been a member, I’ve added an update to the post:
Just to be clear, Tony did become a member of the Party before passing the Parliamentary Assessment Board. He has always voted Conservative but couldn’t join the Party earlier due to his directorship of the radio station, a position which he has duly resigned from. Also, much credit is due to Grant Shapps MP for getting Campaign Together off the ground.
OFCOM might well have had kittens about his staying on the radio station while a candidate, especially after his father’s run in with the then Radio Authority in 2001, which cost the station a £10,000 fine, but whether or not he joins a political party as a member has precisely fuck all to do with OFCOM, not to mention that I can find nothing in legislation, regulation or in the OFCOM codes that would permit them to restrict rights of political affiliation which are, of course, covered by provisions on freedom of association in the Human Rights Act.
This looks a lot to me like making bullshit excuses to conceal a bit of blatant opportunism on the part of CCHQ.
To which I can add only that if holding a directorship of the media company is incompatible with membership of the political party, then perhaps the folks at Tory Home would care to explain this list of directorships, extracted from the House of Commons register of members’ interests
Gerry Adams (Belfast West - Sinn Fein)
Adfero Ltd; news and information services company, of which I am an unremunerated director.
Tony Baldry (Banbury - Tory)
Chairman (non-executive) of Multi Media Television plc (interactive digital television through the Job Channel and interactive digital television consultancy) - no longer in current register
Executive Partner in Diamond Film Partnership; a UK partnership promoting UK film and television production rights.
Kenneth Clarke (Rushcliffe - Tory)
Director (non-executive) of Independent News and Media (UK).
John Selwyn Gummer (Suffolk Coastal - Tory)
Catholic Herald (non-executive); newspaper.
Robinson, Geoffrey (Coventry North West - Labour)
New Statesman Limited
Stuart, Graham (Beverley and Holderness - Tory)
CSL Publishing Ltd; publisher of consumer magazines and newspapers.
Wyatt, Derek (Sittingbourne and Sheppey - Labour)
Non-executive chairman (unremunerated) of opusmedia sports; an IPTV company (resigned
15 March 2006).
As they say on the terraces at football matchs - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-bull-shit-ahhhhhhhhhhh!
“You’ve got to admire the chutzpah of the folks over at Tory Home when it comes to making up excuses to cover the decision to draft in Tony Lit, a now former direction of Sunset Radio, as their chosen candidate for Ealing Southall before the ink was even dry on his party membership card,”
Clearly appalling. Why, next thing you know people will be appointing Ministers before the ink is dry on their party membership cards and where would that leave us?
June 30th, 2007 at 8:50 am[…] UPDATE: There also seems to be some fun moaning about the speed of Toby Lit’s selection on a Conservative website sumamrised here. […]
June 30th, 2007 at 4:35 pm[…] The claim that Tony Lit’s job stopped him from previously joining the Conservative Party doesn’t seem to hold up to close examination […]
June 30th, 2007 at 8:59 pmGlad to see there is some mention of the fact the radio station he used to work for is actually owned by his VERY RICH (£60M as 2001 when daddy stood in the GE and Sunrise was fined). Not the usual self-made Tory candidate then (cough cough).
July 9th, 2007 at 1:02 pmThe following has been posted in response to a negative write up by Chris Paul of Gurcharan Singh, his involvement in the turban campaign in France and allegations he was pro-Khalistan. It appears the details relating to 1984 are to be posted on prominent Conservative and Liberal Democrat blogs so they can challenge Virendra Sharma.
I’m not into party politics, but I am a Labour Party member as well as someone who works for the good of the British Sikh community. I find the contents of the article you have written is everything that puts ordinary people off party politics. I am a Labour Party member, but also a person who passionately believes in campaigning for Sikh rights.
Upset you may be with the Labour Party defections, but if you and others thought so little of prominent local Labour Party members in Southall you should have done something about it when they were in the Party. Also I find some of your comments offensive.
Why should Sikhs children not be able to practice their faith in French schools? Why should Sikh teachers, lecturers, police officers in London not be able to freely travel and work in France without having to compromise their faith? What is wrong with Gurcharan Singh showing his support for religious freedoms in France for Sikhs that live there and others that may choose to go and work there from the UK (even Ealing Southall). You are in serious danger of resorting to racist behaviour as you are upset. You should be upset with the likes of Keith Vaz who has put Labour in this position.
You also link Gurcharan Singh with the pro-Khalistan movement and make allegations about him rejoicing after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Anyone in the Sikh community in Southall or elsewhere in the UK will tell you that Gurcharan Singh’s role in promoting the Khalistan movement in the last 23 years is minimal to say the least?
You however make no mention of the official Labour Party candidate having strong family ties and being the agent and member of a foreign political party – the Indian Congress. How can the Labour Party allow someone to stand as a Member of the UK Parliament who has open allegiances to Congress and will always be at the beck and call of the Indian High Commission in London rather than the constituents of Ealing Southall? This also explains the pivotal role of Keith Vaz, an Indian Government stooge, in ensuring a one horse race in the Labour Party short list.
Given Labour friends of Virendra Sharma have bought up the Khalistan issue and the events of 1984 I thought it only right to share the following information more widely so the opposition parties can challenge the ‘invisible and silent’ Labour candidate that owes his allegiances to the Indian Government and the Congress. Although recent revelations have also shown that as a prominent Hindu he also has close ties with right wing Hindu groups, such as the VHP and RSS.
Congress was not only responsible for the massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs at the Golden Temple Complex that ultimately led to two of her Sikh bodyguards taking revenge for the desecration, but also for the anti-Sikh pogroms that took place in over 130 different cities in India that took the lives of over 20,000 innocent Sikhs following a four day orgy of violence.
India’s whole scale military crackdown in Panjab in June 1984, resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Sikh civilians during the Indian Army attack on the Golden Temple complex and the subsequent draconian sweep through Panjab.
Preceding the attack on the Golden Temple there was a non violent agitation for political, religious and economic rights for Sikhs and all Punjabis. This was due to the non fulfilment of promises made to the Sikhs by Nehru and Gandhi on independence from Britain in 1947.
This was the biggest non violent agitation for rights since Indian Independence movement and thousands of Sikhs were thrown in jails for simply protesting for their rights. Many Sikhs were also killed in extra judicial murders carried out by the police.
Under this persecution Sikhs used their historic centre for political and religious rights the Golden Temple and Akal Takht to pursue their agitation. This was nothing new as the Sikh Guru’s had done this in the past when standing up against oppressors, and told Sikhs to do the same if they faced persecution in the future.
Then from June 1984 India launched a brutal attack on 125 Sikh Gurdwaras including the Golden Temple and Akal Takht. Thousands of innocent civilians died during the initial attack with thousands of others being simply disappeared in an army operation across the entire of Punjab. The worst aspect of the massacre was the killing of women and children by the army.
http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/bluestar/ (weblink giving full background to the attack)
Media Quotes on 1984
On 4 June, a day of pilgrimage for Sikhs when thousands had gathered at the Golden Temple, army tanks moved into the Temple Complex, smashing into the sanctum and shooting everyone in sight…. Those left alive were then prevented from leaving the building, many wounded were left to bleed to death and when they begged for water, Army Jawans told them to drink the mixture of blood and urine on the floor. Some 3000 dead, including many who were only unconscious, were piled high in trucks and removed. Four months later no list of casualties or missing persons had yet been issued. Then can the army occupation of Panjab with frequent humiliations, arrests and killings of Sikhs by soldiers. It caused a feeling voiced by many ordinary people who had never before been separatists that …Sikhs could not be safe there.”
Amrit Wilson: New Statesman - 16 November 1984
PUNJAB UNDER SIEGE
‘For five days the Punjab has been cut off from the rest of the world. There is a 24-hour curlew. All telephone and telex lines are cut. No foreigners are permitted entry and on Tuesday, all Indian journalists were expelled. There are no newspapers, no trains, no buses -not even a bullock cart can move.
Christian Science Monitor - 8 June 1984
‘HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL’
“As long as the army keeps news reporters and other outsiders from traveling in Punjab except on tightly controlled military tours, there is no way of knowing what excesses might be committed”
New York Times - 8 June 1984
COLD BLOODED MURDERS
“The Amritsar deputy police superintendent who helped remove bodies from the temple grounds said at least 13 of the victims were shot with their hands bound. It was a virtual massacre,” said the Jullundar doctor. “A large number of women, children and pilgrims were gunned down.”
Associated Press - 14 June 1984
INHUMANITY
“…medical workers in Amritsar said soldiers had threatened to shoot them if they gave food or water to Sikh pilgrims wounded in the attack and lying in the hospital.”
Christian Science Monitor - 18 June 1984
SILENCING THE PEOPLE
“Mopping up after the death of Jarnail Singh Bhindanwale…the government has now arrested more than 3000 of his….followers. The government has also turned up its propaganda machine
Newsweek - 25 June 1984
DISINFORMATION
“As for anti-Sikh feeling, the word ‘Sikh’ and ‘terrorist’ became almost synonymous in the government controlled media and in the speeches of politicians. The storming of the Golden Temple at Amritsar was reported by most national papers and radio and television in a shamelessly biased fashion.”
Amrit Wilson: New Statesman - 16 November 1984
During the Golden Temple attack, young boys ages 8 to 13 were taken outside and asked if they supported Khalistan, the independent Sikh country. When they answered with the Sikh religious incantation “Bole So Nihal,” they were shot to death. The Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scriptures, written in the time of the Sikh Gurus, were shot full of bullet holes and burned by the Indian forces.
Other useful points that could be put to the Labour Party candidate, Virendra Sharma, include:
India has not allowed Amnesty International or UN Rapporteur for Torture to be allowed to visit and investigate in Panjab for almost 30 years. What is India hiding?
Three Early Day Motions that were tabled on the 20th anniversary of 1984 are reproduced below and attracted cross-party support from over 150 UK MPs. Would Virendra Sharma sign such EDMs?
EDM 664 - 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STORMING OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE COMPLEX
That this House notes with sadness the 20th anniversary of the June 1984 assault by the Indian army on the Golden Temple complex, the Sikhs’ holiest shrine, where sacred buildings and historic artefacts were destroyed or damaged beyond repair; further notes that the unprecedented action using artillery and tanks took place on one of the most important days in the Sikh calendar, when there were huge numbers of pilgrims in attendance, which resulted in thousands of innocent Sikhs being killed in cold blood, many with their hands and feet bound, including women and children; is appalled that scores of other Sikh Gurdwaras were stormed by the Indian army throughout Panjab and that thousands of Sikhs were arrested, tortured, and killed, including children; recognises that these actions by the Indian authorities continue to have an immeasurable impact on Sikhs throughout the world; and extends its sympathy and support to the law-abiding, hard working, and well respected international Sikh community.
EDM 663 - VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF SIKHS IN INDIA
That this House notes and applauds the efforts of human rights activists in India to highlight atrocities, including false imprisonment, torture, deaths in custody, extra-judicial executions and disappearances, perpetrated against Sikhs in the last 20 years; further notes that it is estimated that over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered and/or disappeared since June 1984; is deeply concerned that 20 years later the Indian Government continues to deny full access to Panjab to international human rights groups and to the UN Rapporteur on Torture; regrets that thousands of families are still waiting to know the fate of relatives who have disappeared; and calls on the Prime Minister, on behalf of the estimated 700,000 Sikhs in the United Kingdom, to lead the international community in demanding full access to Panjab to international human rights groups and the UN.
EDM 662 - 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF NOVEMBER 1984 ATTACKS ON SIKHS
That this House notes with sadness the 20th anniversary of the November 1984 pogrom against thousands of innocent Sikhs in a matter of days in cities across India; further notes that Sikhs became the target of organised violence with murderous gangs swarming into Sikh houses, hacking the occupants to pieces, chopping off the heads of children, raping women, tying Sikh men to tyres set aflame with kerosene and pulling Sikh passengers from public transport to be lynched or burned alive; recognises that Amnesty International in a memorandum to the Government of India, complained that far from being spontaneous expressions of popular grief and anger as made out by the authorities, the killings were the outcome of a well organised plan marked by acts of both deliberate commission and omission by important politicians of the Congress and by authorities in the administration; believes that investigation and criminal proceedings are long overdue; and calls upon Her Majesty’s Government to take the lead in the international community to establish an independent UN inquiry into the failure of successive governments in India to take sufficient actions against those responsible for the events of November 1984.
1984 to the Present
In November 1984, thousands of Sikh civilians in New Delhi and other major cities, were systematically hunted down and murdered in their homes and on the streets; with the open complicity of the Indian police.
• Over the last 25 years, India has imposed a regime of gruesome repression and murder on the Sikh population in Panjab. Tens of thousands of Sikh civilians have been killed in a combination of staged ‘armed encounters’ and ‘disappearances’.
• Amnesty International(2) and Human Rights Watch (3) have together produced over twenty separate reports, documenting widespread human rights atrocities in Panjab by India’s police and army. Torture, arbitrary incarceration, and custodial deaths, are reported as routine and widespread. India has refused to open up to an international scrutiny of these incidents. It has barred Amnesty International, since 1978; and has refused to permit access to the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture and Disappearances.
• Many human rights activists, such as Jaswant Singh Khalra (4), have been killed in police custody or ‘disappeared’ in sinister circumstances.
Human rights should be enjoyed by all people at all times. We believe that awareness of these issues will help the struggle to end grave abuses of the fundamental human rights in Panjab and elsewhere in India. We come from all walks of life, with widely different political and religious views, united by our determination to ensure everyone enjoys basic human rights. We want to give hope to the people of Panjab that justice will be done. At the same time, we strongly and unequivocally condemn the killings of other innocents, including Hindus, that took place during the same period. Acts like these were used to further communalise the situation and impose further draconian measures.
Will Virendra Sharma call upon the British Government and European Union to bear pressure on the Government of India to prosecute those who have committed these crimes against humanity. Will he also call upon the United Nations to establish and supervise in the Panjab a full and independent Commission for Truth & Justice in order to document the atrocities that have been committed over the past 20 years.
Notes
(1) Politics of Genocide (1995) by Inderjit Singh Jaijee of the Movement against State Repression, p 41 quoting three human rights groups and three Advocates Generals who researched the killings for the period 1984-1994.
(2) Break the Cycle of Impunity and Torture in Punjab (2003), Amnesty International.
(3)Dead Silence: The Legacy of Abuses in Punjab (1994), Physicians for Human Rights.
(4) A Mockery of Justice – The case concerning the ‘disappearance’ of human rightrs defender Jaswant Singh Khalra severely undermined, Amnesty International (1998
Continuing Violations
The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1948, over 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands of Tamils, Assamese, Bodos, Manipuris, Dalits, and others. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government’s murders of Sikhs “worse than a genocide.”
The police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and murdered, then their bodies were declared unidentified and secretly cremated. He was murdered in police custody. His body was not given to his family. The police never released the body of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna murdered him. Ghotna has never been brought to trial for the Jathedar Kaunke murder. No one has been brought to justice for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Human Rights Reports on Sikhs and Punjab
Amnesty International
India: Punjab - Twenty years on impunity continues - Amnesty International
Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200992004
India: A vital opportunity to end impunity in Punjab - Amnesty International
In 1996 in response to two petitions filed in the Supreme Court containing allegations of human rights violations in Punjab, the Court ordered th National Human Rights Commission to examine the al…
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200241999
India: Will past human rights violations in Punjab remain forgotten? - Amnesty International
Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200291999
India: Break the cycle of impunity and torture in Punjab - Amnesty International
Torture and custodial violence continue to be regularly reported in Punjab, despite the end of the militancy period in the state in the mid-1990s. In this report Amnesty International makes the …
India: AI membership expresses solidarity to the families of the disappeared in Punjab - Amnesty International
There is no abstract for this document
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200052003
India: Fear of torture/Fear for safety - Amnesty International
Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of at least 100 individuals including social activists, human rights defenders and lawyers in Punjab. Some are being illegally detained in connect…
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200022004
India : Fear of torture/fear for safety of Rajiv Singh - Amnesty International
Rajiv Singh, a key witness in the trial of police officers accused of abducting a human rights activist has been arrested by Punjab police. Amnesty International fears this is an attempt to prevent …
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200482000
India: A Mockery of Justice: The case concerning the “disappearance” of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra severely undermined - Amnesty International
This brief report documents the means used by accused police officers, including delay of proceedings and intimidation of witnesses, in their search of impunity for the ‘disappearance’ of Jaswant …
URL: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA200071998
Human Rights Watch
Letter from Human Rights Watch to the National Human Rights Commission of India
On the upcoming decision in the Punjab mass secret cremations case
As the National Human Rights Commission prepares to issue a decision in the Punjab mass secret cremations case, we urge the Commission to order a full accounting of the systematic abuses that occurred in Punjab, determine liability after detailed investigations into the violations, and provide for compensation for surviving family members based on a detailed understanding of the scope of violations suffered by each individual.
Other Screams of Terror
By Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch researcher
Published in The Asian Age
People who lived through 1984 in Delhi are unlikely to forget the horrors. After years of inquiries, commissions, accusations and denials, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has, last month, expressed regret for the horrifying anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi, saying that, “I have no hesitation in apologising not only to the Sikh community but the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood and what is enshrined in our Constitution.”
India: Justice Eludes Families of the “Disappeared” in Punjab …
July 12th, 2007 at 7:15 pm“Ending state impunity for abuses in Punjab must become a priority. … We hope it will do the same in Punjab.” Smita Narula, senior researcher for South …
www.hrw.org/press/2003/06/india061003.htm
No, sorry - you’re not spamming every fucking post that mentions the by-election with this same cut and paste crap.
Any more of this from you and in the spam bin you go.
July 12th, 2007 at 7:36 pm