Global push for Western Govts to commemorate Sikh Genocide 40th anniversary

Efforts for the Canadian and UK government to commemorate the 1984 Sikh Genocide are amping up in both countries.

As the annual remembrance periods for the Battle of Amritsar (Operation Blue Star) approaches in June and the government orchestrated genocide pogroms in November, global efforts are being made by Sikh community groups for their governments to recognise the atrocities perpetrated against them by Indian authorities, with Canada and the UK leading the way.

Groups in Australia, the USA and New Zealand are making similar effort. Read more about June 1984 here and November 1984 here.

Jagmeet Singh as head of the New Democratic Party (NDP) is leading effort for official recognition of the 1984 Sikh Genocide in Canadian Parliament through an online petition.

The petition aims to acknowledge the 1984 Sikh genocide as this is the “first important step towards community healing – and addressing intergenerational trauma.” The topic remains pertinent to Canadian Sikhs, as they are examples of how the Sikh community are still facing oppression from the Indian government, recently notable through the transnational repression that emerged in the assassination of Shaheed (martyr) Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey (BC) last year.

A petition has also been running in the UK by Sikh Federation (UK), a Sikh NGO and Political lobby group. This is a parliamentary e-petition for the UK government to formally recognise and commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Sikh genocide. So far constituents for over 430 MPs have signed, with over 10,000 signatures overall.

The 1984 Sikh genocide is recognised by several human rights organisations such as Amnesty International who have consistently called for justice. The Government of India’s own Nanavati Commission Report acknowledges that the killings that took place were systematic and organised, leading to an Indian court accepting that ‘genocide’ has been duly proved and established.

According to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Indian government must take all reasonable measures to bring those responsible for this genocide to justice, including criminal prosecution.

International recognition of the events as a genocide would be welcome by Sikh communities. However, justice for the massacres remains illusive to many Sikhs, as countless figures involved in the 1984 Sikh genocide still remain unpunished in India.