Meet the Game Changers|  Surinder Singh Lali Shares his Journey and Quest for Justice| Watch Here - video Dailymotion

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Surinder Singh Lali shares insights from his diverse career in this exclusive interview. He discusses his work with the National Monitoring Committee for Minorities Education, challenges in improving minority education in India, and his role in The Sikh Forum. Lali also talks about his quest for justice in the 1984 Riots and how his experience as a radio jockey shaped his communication skills.       #MeettheGamechangers #SurinderSinghLali #TheSikhForum #1984SikhRiots #Sikhs #Oneindia #Oneindianews                  ~HT.178~PR.320~GR.124~ED.155~

Transcript

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.

Meet the Game Changers| Surinder Singh Lali Shares his Journey and Quest for Justice| Watch Here

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