Connecticut recognise Nov 1st as ‘Sikh Genocide Remembrance Day’, weeks after India force memorial removal

The Sikh community of Connecticut have hailed a decision to honour November 1st as ‘Sikh Genocide Remembrance Day’, just weeks after the Indian consulate forced the removal of a plaque commemorating the genocide.

The decision from the Connecticut governance was pushed by  local Sikh community figure Swaranjit Singh, a member of the board of City of Norwich Board of Education (shown in the picture above) and President of the Sikh Sewak Society International USA. Swarnjit Singh spoke with Sikh outlets such as World Sikh News confirming the decision.

The decision comes just weeks after an incident which caused an outcry from Sikhs across the world, when a Connecticut library removed a memorial to Sikhs killed in India 35 years ago after a protest telephone call from the Indian Consulate in New York.

The memorial, which was put up in June, included a plaque, flags and a portrait of revered Sikh leader and activist Sant (Saint) Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale, who was among those killed in a June 1984 attack by the Indian army on Sri Harmandir Sahib (Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar).

Nicholas Fortson, the president of the board of trustees at the Otis Library in Norwich, said the library removed the memorial in September. He said the memorial had generated both support and criticism, including a call from the Indian consulate.

“The library is a nonpolitical organisation,” Fortson told the Norwich Bulletin on why the plaque was removed.

How the Indian consulate will react to this latest Sikh Genocide recognition remains to be seen. However, Sikhs across the world will be delighted to see continuing recognition of the Indian state facilitated genocide of 1984.