Sikh Genocide 1984: Sikh Rights Group Protests Sonia Gandhi’s Presence in the United States
Published: March 3, 2012
SJF submitted memorandum to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Demands Exclusion of Ms. Gandhi
New York, USA (March 3, 2012): As per information available with “Sikh Siyasat” Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a US based human rights advocacy group, has approached Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanding the exclusion of Sonia Gandhi from the United States. Sonia Gandhi, who is currently visiting the U.S., is President of the Indian National Congress party, the ruling political party of India that organized and carried out the genocide of over 30,000 Sikh men, women and children in November 1984, many of whom were burnt alive. The Indian National Congress party had organized the genocide to avenge the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the Party’s leader, who was murdered by her two bodyguards who happened to be Sikhs.
According to SFJ’s legal advisor, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, “Sonia Gandhi’s entry and presence in the U.S. is in violation of section 212(a)(3)(E)(ii) & (iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and section 604 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 which prohibit entry into the U.S. of any individual who, outside of the U.S., has ordered, incited, assisted or in any way participated in the commission of any act of torture or extra judicial killing. Sonia Gandhi is ‘inadmissible’ to the U.S. because as President of the Indian National Congress party she has been actively covering up the Sikh genocide and shielding her party leaders who were key players in executing the atrocities of November 1984.”
“SFJ’s demand to exclude Ms. Gandhi is not unique as previously Narendra Modi, a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat, was denied entry into U.S. due to his role in the 2002 massacre of Muslims”, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun informed Sikh Siyasat.
SFJ’s March 1st memorandum to Ms. Clinton states that since November 1984 the Indian National Congress party has been ruling the country for 23 of the past 28 years and has continually covered up the Sikh genocide and shielded the perpetrators; Sonia Gandhi, who has been President of the Party since 1998, has been actively following the Party’s practice of impunity towards its leaders who were involved in the gross human rights violations committed in November 1984; Ms. Clinton’s duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution and its laws and order the exclusion of Sonia Gandhi is not absolved due to India’s economic status and political relations with the United States.
Ms. Gandhi’s visit to the U.S. happens to coincide with the March 15th, 2012 hearing before Judge Robert W. Sweet of the U.S. Federal Court in which a “default judgment” is sought against the Indian National Congress Party which has failed to respond to charges of conspiring, aiding, abetting, organizing and carrying out attacks on the Sikh population of India in November 1984. A class action law suit {SFJ v. Indian National Congress S.D.N.Y. (10-CV-2940)} has been filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) by the survivors of Sikhs killed in India during November 1984. The plaintiffs will ask the court to enter a judgment in the amount of 17.5 billion U.S. dollars against the Indian National Congress party for rehabilitation of survivors and compensation for the loss of life and property. The plaintiffs’ demand for 17.5 billion is based on records obtained via the Rights to Information Act, according to which a total of more than 35,000 thousand claims for deaths and injuries suffered by Sikhs during November 1984 were filed from the states of Delhi, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir; Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Uttara Khand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Indian Congress leader ‘incited’ 1984 Sikh Genocide
Mr Kumar and five others on trial with him have denied all the charges.
‘Not a single Sikh’
In his final arguments, CBI prosecutor RS Cheema told the court that the riots [Genocide] which targeted a particular community were “backed by both the Congress government and police”.
“There was a conspiracy of terrifying proportion with the complicity of police and patronage of local MP Sajjan Kumar,”the prosecutor told Judge JR Aryan, who will eventually pass judgement in the case.
Mr Cheema said that witnesses at the scene heard Sajjan Kumar tell a crowd that “not a single Sikh should survive”.
Sajjan Kumar and five others on trial with him deny charges of being involved in the killing of six people at Delhi Cantonment – or military area – during riots that were sparked by the killing of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
The trial began after a government inquiry found “credible evidence” that some Congress party leaders incited crowds to attack Sikhs during the riots and that they were not spontaneous.
Courtesy: sikhactivist.net
of new york
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, June 12, 2001
Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, in June 1984, the Indian government attacked
the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion.
Attacking the Golden Temple is the equivalent of attacking Mecca or the
Vatican. It is a great affront to the Sikh Nation. As the Sikh martyr
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed in the Golden Temple, said,
“If the Indian government attacks the Golden Temple, it will lay the
foundation of Khalistan,” the name of the independent Sikh homeland
which declared its independence on October 7, 1987.
This attack included the desecration of the Sikh holy scriptures, the
Guru Granth Sahib, which they shot with bullets. Young Sikh boys were
murdered. How can a democratic country commit this atrocity?
On June 2, Sikhs from around the East Coast demonstrated in protest
of the Golden Temple massacre. Sikhs came from Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Miami, and other places on the East Coast. They let it be known that
the Sikhs still remember their martyrs and that the flame of freedom
still burns in their hearts.
This launched a wave of violence which has killed over 250,000 Sikhs
since 1984. In a new report, India is quoted as admitting that it held
over 52,000 Sikh political prisoners without charge or trial. India has
also killed more than 200,000 Christians in Nagaland and engaged in a
wave of terror against them since Christmas 1998. Over 75,000 Kashmiri
Muslims have died at the hands of the Indian government, as well as
thousands of people from Assam, Manipur, and Tamil people, and Dalits
(the dark-skinned “untouchables.”)
America should not accept this kind of activity from a country that
calls itself democratic. We should cut off aid to India until it allows
full human rights for every citizen within its borders and we should
support self-determination for all the peoples and nations of South
Asia, such as the people of Khalistan, Kashmir, Nagalim, and others.
Mr. Speaker, I submit the Council of Khalistan’s very informative
press release on the June 2 demonstration into the Record.
Sikhs Observe Khalistan Martyrs Day
Indian Attack on Golden Temple Laid Foundation of Khalistan
Washington, D.C., June 2, 2001.–Sikhs of the East Coast
gathered in Washington, D.C. today to observe Khalistan
Martyrs Day. This is the anniversary of the Indian
government’s brutal military attack on the Golden Temple, the
Sikh Nation’s holiest shrine, and 38 other Sikh temples
throughout Punjab. More than 20,000 Sikhs were killed in
those attacks, known as Operation Bluestar. These martyrs
laid down their lives to lay the foundation for Khalistan. On
October 7, 1987, the Sikh Nation declared its homeland,
Khalistan, independent.
“We thank all the demonstrators who came to this important
protest,” said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the
Council Khalistan. “We must remind the Indian government
that Sikhs will never forget or forgive the Golden Temple
desecration and the sacrifice the Sikh martyrs made for our
freedom. These martyrs gave their lives so that the Sikh
Nation could live in freedom,” Dr. Aulakh said. “We salute
them on Khalistan Martyrs’ Day,” he said. “As Sant
Bhindranwale said, the Golden Temple attack laid the
foundation of Khalistan.”
The Golden Temple attack launched a campaign of genocide
against the Sikhs that continues to this day. This genocide
belies India’s claims that it is a democracy. The Golden
Temple attack made it clear that there is no place for Sikhs
in India.
“Without political power nations perish. We must always
remember these martyrs for their sacrifice,” Dr. Aulakh
said. “The best tribute to these martyrs would be the
liberation of the Sikh homeland Punjab, Khalistan, from the
occupying Indian forces,” he said.
Over 50,000 Sikh political prisoners are rotting in Indian
jails without charge or trial. Many have been in illegal
custody since 1984. Since 1984, India has engaged in a
campaign of ethnic cleansing in which thousands of Sikhs are
murdered by Indian police and security forces and secretly
cremated. The Indian Supreme Court described this campaign as
“worse than a genocide.” General Narinder Singh has said,
“Punjab is a police state.” U.S. Congressman Dana
Rohrabacher has said that for Sikhs, Kashmiri Muslims, and
other minorities “India might as well be Nazi Germany.”
A report issued last month by the Movement Against State
Repression (MASR) shows that India admitted that it held
52,268 political prisoners under the repressive “Terrorist
and Disruptive Activities Act” (TADA). These prisoners
continue to be held under TADA even though it expired in
1995. Persons arrested under TADA are routinely re-arrested
upon their release. Cases were routinely registered against
Sikh activists under TADA in states other than Punjab to give
the police an excuse to continue holding them. The MASR
report quotes the Punjab Civil Magistracy as writing “if we
add up the figures of the last few years the number of
[[Page 10497]]
innocent persons killed would run into lakhs [hundreds of
thousands.]” There has been no list published of those who
were acquitted under TADA.
In March 2000, while former President Clinton was visiting
India, the Indian government murdered 35 Sikhs in the village
of Chatti Singhpora in Kashmir and tried to blame the
massacre on alleged militants. Indian security forces have
murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, according to figures
compiled by the Punjab State Magistracy and human-rights
organizations. These figures were published in The Politics
of Genocide by Inderjit Singh Jaijee. India has also killed
over 200,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, over 75,000
Kashmiris since 1988, and tens of thousands of Untouchables
as well as indigenous tribal peoples in Manipur, Assam and
elsewhere.
The Indian government has also targeted Christians. They
have been victims of a campaign of terror that has been going
on since Christmas 1998. Churches have been burned, Christian
schools and prayer halls have been attacked, nuns have raped,
and priests have been killed. Missionary Graham Staines and
his two sons were burned alive while they slept in their jeep
by militant Hindu members of the RSS, the parent organization
of the ruling BJP. Now his widow is being expelled from
India.
“The Golden Temple massacre reminded us that if Sikhs are
going to live with honor and dignity, we must have a free,
sovereign, and independent Khalistan,” Dr. Aulakh said.
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