“This is not political…vote for this motion”: Derby Council pass motion regarding #SikhGenocide

The council of Derby City (Midlands, UK) unanimously approved a motion referring to the #1984SikhGenocide. However, the Sikh Federation UK (SFUK) have backed an “amended and better worded motion” since, but also requested more amendments.

The motion by Ajit Singh Atwal, a Lib Dem Councillor of the city of Derby was welcomed by SFUK for its sincere effort to relay Sikh community sentiment, with Atwal saying “This isn’t political” during his speech. Since then, SFUK have backed an amended motion put through by Labour Councillor Gurkiran Kaur.

Watch a video of Ajit Singh getting the motion passed here.

The new motion, also backed by fellow Sikh Labour councillors Balbir Sandhu and Hardayal Dhindsa, requests a timeline from the Labour Party to fulfil a promise of an independent inquiry into the UK government’s role (than under Conservative Party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher). Read it in full via an SFUK statement.

Along with support for the motions, SFUK, a community advocacy NGO, have also highlighted how neither motion used the word “genocide”, something the group is working on. Dabinderjit Singh, spokesperson of the SFUK, was quoted in the statement, saying, “We will be pushing for the wording of motions to be improved so the 1984 Sikh genocide is properly acknowledged”.

Speaking on why the motions did not reference the word genocide, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said:

“There is still an Indian nationalist lobby which aggressively pushes back against terming what happened to Sikhs in 1984 genocide, despite the fact senior Indian political figures and establishments have branded what occurred genocide, echoing what Sikhs group have said for 40-years.

“This is perhaps why there is still some effort within political circles to avoid using the word genocide. However, it would be wise for all UK politicians to know that the 1984 Indian State facilitated massacres of Sikhs have been ratified as genocide by various North American legislatures, and UK Sikhs will no doubt expect the same of their representatives, both individual and organisational.”