Nov 1984 Sikh genocide a dark chapter in India’s history
Thousands of Sikhs killed, hundreds of women subjected to sexual violence
Islamabad: In India, November 1, 1984 was the day when such a story of cruelty and barbarity was created that blackened the country’s history forever.
According to Kashmir Media Service, this bloody chapter, which began after the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, consisted of massacres, looting and desecration of women of the Sikh community, the echo of which is still heard globally.
After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the massacre of Sikhs began across India. According to official statistics, 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi alone, while 3,350 Sikhs were killed across the country. However, independent sources say that a total of 8,000 to 17,000 Sikhs were killed, while hundreds of women were sexually assaulted.
Leading international newspapers around the world called this tragic incident shameful. According to the international journal Diplomat, extremist Hindus found out the identities and addresses of Sikhs from voter lists and then selectively killed them. Evidence proved that this massacre against Sikhs was supported by the Indian government.
Human Rights Watch in its report said that a regular genocide campaign was launched against Sikhs under the auspices of the Indian government. Hindu extremists would identify Sikh houses in the dark of night and attack them in mobs the next day, kill them, and burn their houses and shops. This bloody series continued unabated for several days.
Atrocities against Sikhs continued in India both before and after the 1984 massacre. Sikhs were targeted in Gujarat in 1969, Amritsar in 1984, and in Chhattisgarh in occupied Jammu and Kashmir in 2000.
Not only this, but during the farmers’ protest in 2019, the Modi government arrested thousands of Sikhs and put them in jail.
According to a report, the Indian government also continued to carry out targeted killings against Sikh leaders living abroad.
On June 18, 2023, Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Najjar was killed in Canada, to which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clearly said that the Indian government was directly involved in this murder.
Despite all this evidence, atrocities against Sikhs continue not only within India but also abroad, which has concerned human rights activists around the world.
