00:00Hello and welcome to this episode of Meet the Game Changers where we bring you the esteemed
00:06and renowned people of their special field. This is me, Ansh Pandey from One India. And
00:12today we have got Mr. Surendra Singh Lally, who is a foreign affairs commenter and also
00:18a political analyst. Mr. Surendra, thanks for coming to the show.
00:22Thank you, Harsh. And thank you. It's a pleasure and honor for me to be here. Thank you.
00:27Okay. Sir, I would like to start with a very major question from you. So as a member of the
00:34executive committee and the national spokesperson for the Sikh Forum, what were the primary goals
00:39and objectives of the organization when you were there?
00:45Thank you, Ansh. And just to give you a background, the Sikh Forum came into existence post
00:501985-84 riots. And it was created by no other but then General Arora, the gentleman who was
01:00responsible in handing over Pakistani 90,000 prisoners of war and signed the accord.
01:09I come with a very heavy heart because I think it's very sad that in 1984, it's been over almost
01:1540 years and still the perpetrators have not gone to prison. I mean, there were thousands and
01:20thousands of people killed and I wouldn't even call it a riot. It was an act of genocide, you know.
01:26So it's very unfortunate. But the beauty of our forum, which I joined about four years ago,
01:33is that we are seeking justice within the parentheses of the law in keeping it very civil,
01:40in keeping it extremely legit and legal. Because you know how things are today, anything can,
01:46you know, a bad WhatsApp message can even get down to lynching of people. But I take pride in saying
01:53that we have been trying to fight for justice and we are still fighting for justice
01:59within the parentheses of the law and keeping it civilized. So I spoke at Jantar Mantar about two
02:04years ago and that speech was covered by India Today. And I'll tell you two lines since I do a
02:09little bit of shiry. How I started was, that we want to forgive, but we don't know who to forgive.
02:20So that line was, I made my life so much easier. I apologized to some and forgave others. So we've
02:29been looking for 40 years now, who to forgive. But unfortunately, the way law is and we badly need,
02:36you know, reforms in our country and especially in the judiciary.
02:41Definitely, sir. Sir, I would also like to know that the Sikh Forum, what we were talking right
02:47now, how exactly it is promoting the interest and the rights of the Sikh community, India and
02:54globally. Actually, you know, Sikh Forum is a very apolitical organization with a single-pointed
03:01agenda of only seeking justice for 84. So non-the Sikh Forum aligned with any political parties and
03:07neither do we exceed our brief, because there are many other forums and I'm part of the, you know,
03:13these days the advisory body to the minority commission also. So that's a different question.
03:18But in the Sikh Forum, it's a very single-pointed agenda, which is justice for 84. So every year,
03:23we organize a lecture or a symposium where people come, people speak on it, so that we still keep
03:30the case alive. Definitely. And Mr. Lally, I also read about you that you have also experienced as
03:39a radio jockey. So can you tell us about that and how did it influence your communication
03:46and the public speaking skills? You know, that's a great question. I was a radio jockey, not only
03:52with Times FM in New Delhi, but I was also a radio jockey in my college in America. The beauty of,
03:58you know,
04:14and being a radio jockey, you know, since I used to speak at Stanford, so it allows you to go deep
04:22dive into yourself and pick up the best voice of words to put the message across. Because, you know,
04:28you cannot prepare like an examination before you become a radio jockey, because it's all live.
04:33So your question was, how has it, you know, influenced my life?
04:38So being a radio jockey gave me a great insight and a journey within myself to be very judicious
04:53with the choice of my words. Okay. Okay. Sir, as we talked about that, and I have also got to know
05:03that you are right now also in connection with the Ministry of Minority Affairs. And so can you
05:09also share some key initiatives and projects that you were involved in and you are right now even
05:15also involved, even in your tenure as the in the National Monitoring Committee for Minority
05:23Education under the HRD Ministry? Yeah, that's again a great question, because I think as if
05:29now if you see the globe is absolutely getting polarized, even if you look at the French elections,
05:35although the right wing didn't win, but you know, everywhere in the world, it is polarization
05:41happening. And religion is becoming a great, you know, source of not just unity anymore, but it's
05:47becoming a great factor to divide people. So at the current dispensation along the chairmanship
05:55of Iqbal Singh Lal Padaji is a very accomplished individual. He's an IPS from Punjab. So he
05:59understands. So we organize lectures, we organize symposiums, and if any minority in the length and
06:07breadth of India has an issue, and if they write to us, then we make sure that we take the issue.
06:11For example, there were some Sikh children who were not allowed to wear their kada. You know,
06:16kada is part of Sikh religion and they were not allowed to wear it in the examination. So once
06:21the issue was brought to our forum, so you know, our chairman spoke to the vice chancellor, our
06:25chairman spoke to the principal, and we had this sorted out. And similarly, with other religions
06:29also, when the issue does come, we quickly intervene to the state governments, to the right
06:35offices, and make sure that nobody in the secular India gets discriminated of purely because of their
06:42personal beliefs, and especially religion being one. Well, definitely, sir, that's actually a
06:47nice thing that has happened. I'm expanding this through you to all the viewers, that if you feel
06:54you could be from any religion, even from major religion, that's not an issue. If you ever feel
06:59that you have been discriminated upon, I mean, I'm on the internet, my email IDs are available,
07:05please come to us and we will ensure that we fight for your right as long as it's legit and for the
07:11right cause. Well, definitely, sir, we'll try and surely this message will get spread through
07:17the channel. Sir, just one last question. Can you also tell us about some major challenges
07:25that even you have faced in improving the minority education in India? And how did your committee
07:31has addressed them? That's a great question, because I was, you know, the central government,
07:37and you know, education has become a state issue. So what happens is sometimes,
07:43you know, certain religions think through the prism of their religion and their religious
07:48practices, and they're not that open to the new Western way of education. So that's a very thin
07:56line we had to very, you know, carefully cross, that we want people to get educated, we want
08:05people to, you know, be a part of the new India, the emerging India, the global force.
08:10But we don't want to hurt their religion sensibilities. Because, you know, as they say
08:16that religion is opium of the masses. So if you, we are not able to pick the right approach,
08:23we could end up rubbing people the wrong way. And unfortunately, in that rubbing the wrong way,
08:29the right message could be lost in the process. So that thin line, and that is a problem not with
08:35us India, but with South Asia, because you know, religion is a big force here. And a lot of people
08:41choose religion as a way of life. And sometimes it crosses the threshold of practicality and
08:47pragmatism. True that. Well, Mr. Surinder Singh Lally, a very big thank you once again,
08:55for joining us in this interview. So, and we hope that you continue to excel in all these fields and
09:03keep fighting for the cause that you have picked. So this was Mr. Surinder Singh Lally
09:07in the Meet the Game Changers episode of today. We hope you enjoyed the show. Thanks for watching.
09:13Thank you Ansh. And I believe I will end up being a bigger game changer with your best wishes. Thank
09:19you and God bless you. Subscribe to One India channel and never miss an update.
Comments