Latest news with #anti-Sikh
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
UK Sikhs threaten Labour boycott over Operation Blue Star inquiry delay
File photo: UK PM Keir Starmer (Picture credit: AP) LONDON: Sikh Federation UK has warned PM Keir Starmer it will campaign to no-platform Labour MPs from Aug 1 unless a judge-led public inquiry into Britain's role in 1984's Operation Blue Star is announced in Parliament by the end of July. No-platforming is a political strategy where people actively work to prevent certain politicians or public figures from speaking publicly, often due to disagreements with their views. The warning, delivered in a letter signed by 455 gurdwaras and Sikh organisations, follows a rally of more than 10,000 Sikhs at Trafalgar Square Sunday marking the 41st anniversary of the military operation at Amritsar's Golden Temple against Sikh militants hiding there. Deputy PM Angela Rayner had publicly committed to the inquiry just before the 2024 general elections. Labour also promised it in two consecutive manifestos. The federation insists the inquiry must investigate both UK involvement in the Indian military operation and anti-Sikh actions in Britain during Margaret Thatcher's tenure. It plans to contact every MP individually, asking them to confirm written support for a judge-led inquiry by July-end. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Ile-de-france: Voici l'astuce pour avoir des panneaux solaires sans payer l'installation ! Programme Ecologique Undo The letter warns Starmer that failing to act 'could have massive consequences for the re-election of many Labour MPs', citing rising support for Reform UK and independent candidates. Sikh Federation UK also said it is in talks with Reform UK, Liberal Democrats, and SNP to secure broader political backing. Documents declassified in Jan 2014 showed Thatcher's government sent an SAS officer to India in Feb 1984 after Indian officials requested help planning an operation to remove Sikh militants from the Golden Temple. In Feb 2014, then-cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood concluded there was 'no record of any assistance to the June 1984 operation other than the limited military advice provided in mid-February,' describing it as a 'one-off'. Sikh Federation disputes this, citing its 2017 Sacrificing Sikhs report. 'The papers released prove training and equipment was secretly provided by Britain before the Indian army assault in June 1984,' the letter says. 'In addition, counter-insurgency training and equipment were provided to Indian army and police to deal with the Sikh uprising that followed the massacre. We are confident a judge-led public inquiry will prove the UK involvement had a massive rather than limited impact. '
The Hindu
29-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
The Congress, and AAP ‘betrayed Sikhs for decades', says BJP
Both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had 'betrayed Sikhs for decades', the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) national spokesperson R.P. Singh said on Wednesday (May 28, 2025), while the BJP government in Delhi had provided government jobs to the families of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims within 100 days. 'In just 100 days of forming the Delhi government, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has fulfilled a long-pending promise by issuing government job appointment letters to the families of the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. This landmark move comes after decades of betrayal by the Congress, and deliberate neglect by the Aam Aadmi Party,' Mr. Singh said here. Ahead of the by-election to the Ludhiana West Assembly constituency slated for June 19, the party hopes to garner the support of the Sikhs and make its presence felt in Punjab, where it has not been on a strong foot electorally. The Ludhiana West seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January. 'This (the issuance of job letters) is not merely an administrative action, it is a step toward restoring dignity, justice, and rightful compensation to Sikh families who suffered one of the darkest chapters in Indian history. The AAP not only failed to deliver justice to the victims of the 1984 riots but no Sikh was made a Minister in their 10-year rule. On the other hand, the Congress shielded and rewarded the culprits of 1984,' Mr. Singh said. The BJP has been reiterating decisions it has taken in interests of the Sikhs since 2014, when the Narendra Modi government was formed the government at the Centre. They include the setting up of a Special Investigation Team to probe the cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots; the commencement of the Kartarpur Corridor from the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district; the waiver of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on langars (community kitchens); enabling registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for the Gurdwara Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), facilitating the receipt of foreign donations.
Hindustan Times
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Punjab: HC notice to state govt over ex-jathedar ‘killing' case
The Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) has issued a notice to the state government in connection with the 'extra-judicial killing' of former Akal Takht jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke over three decades ago. The case, which will be heard on July 28, was filed by Kanuke's son Hari Singh. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee's (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Wednesday said the gurdwara body, with the support of the former jathedar's family, had on January 14, 2024, submitted an application to register a case against those responsible. 'However, due to the anti-Sikh intentions of the Punjab government, the application was dismissed,' he said. 'Now, the court has issued notices to the government and the SHO of the Jagraon police station,' he said. Criticising the Punjab government, he said, 'The AAP government, which came to power on false promises of justice, is now avoiding delivering justice to the family of the Sikh community's jathedar.' Kaunke was appointed as acting jathedar of the highest Sikh temporal seat with the support of pro-Khalistan groups during a 'sarbat khalsa' (grand Sikh assembly) on January 26, 1986, when militancy was at its peak in Punjab. On December 25, 1992, the police took him away from his house. He never returned. It is alleged that he was tortured brutally in custody and murdered in January 1993. In 1999, the then Punjab ADGP (security), BP Tiwari, conducted an inquiry and submitted his report after which it was buried under the files of the state government. The report questions the role of the police and considers its version 'unbelievable'. The report was made public in December 2023 by the Punjab Human Rights Organization (PHRO). Panel soon on jathedar's appointment, retirement Dhami said a committee would be formed soon to consider the suggestions received regarding the appointment, qualifications, responsibilities and retirement of the Akal Takht jathedar. In a statement, Dhami said that in light of the resolution passed during the SGPC's budget session, suggestions were invited from Sikh organisations, intellectuals and others by May 20. He further explained that this committee would include representatives from various Sikh organisations, leaders from Sikh institutions and intellectuals. The SGPC president emphasised that, for a long time, the Sikh community has been demanding and discussing the creation of formal guidelines regarding the appointment and retirement of the Jathedar of Akal Takht Sahib. Considering this, the SGPC initiated the process and called for suggestions. Based on the received inputs, regulations would be finalised soon.
Scroll.in
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Anti-Sikh pogrom: Without tangible reparations, Rahul Gandhi's apology is symbolic
In response to a Sikh student's question in the US early this month, Rahul Gandhi accepted responsibility for the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom on behalf of the Congress. His admission adds to the series of apologies made in 1998 by Sonia Gandhi and, later, Manmohan Singh. Their apologies have redeemed the Congress to some extent given how in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi had put his school physics lessons to use in order to justify the anti-Sikh attacks (' when a big tree falls, the earth shakes '). Narendra Modi probably took lessons from Rajiv Gandhi when, in 2002, he offered a similar analogy for the anti-Muslim attacks in Gujarat in a speech ('every action has an equal and opposite reaction'). But unlike the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party has never issued an official apology or taken responsibility for the Gujarat killings. Without doubt, official apologies in the wake of mass violence are important. They are a symbolic acknowledgement of human rights violations committed in the past that caused irreparable harm to victims. The Congress's apology certainly has reparative value. But, at the end of the day, they are only words. Apologies mean nothing to victims of brutal violence unless matched with more tangible forms of reparation – convicting the perpetrators for one. India has an abysmal record of convicting rioters. Investigations are a farce even as endless number of commissions are set up year after year only to achieve nothing. Governments over the years set up 11 inquiry commissions to investigate the Sikh violence and two to investigate violence in Gujarat, rejecting one that did not suit the ruling party's agenda, apart from scores of independent investigations. The result? A little over 100 convictions in Gujarat and worse in the case of Delhi. While the official conviction figure in the anti-Sikh violence lies at 442, there is little clarity on the actual number of convictions carried out or are under appeal in a higher court. As senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India, HS Phoolka said, 'The number of commissions and committees set up to probe the murders... is more than the number of convictions.' Importantly, those convicted are only the foot soldiers – the actual murderers. Organisers of violence have gone scot-free usually. Or, as in the case of elected politicians, the 'organisers' of violence, Sajjan Kumar or Maya Kodnani, they have either been penalised decades later or acquitted after perfunctory imprisonment, defeating the purpose of the exercise. A perfect example is the Liberhan Commission report investigating the Babri Masjid demolition. The commission took 17 years and 48 extensions, at a cost of Rs 7 crore, to submit its report. Stating 17 years later that the demolition was 'neither spontaneous or unplanned' and indicting the top rung of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh makes no sense. The indicted leaders had reached the pinnacle of their careers by then. The damage was done. In the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 too, a BJP legislator, Vikram Saini, was convicted in 2022 but got bail soon after the judgement was passed. As for the massacre of 3,000 people in Nellie in Assam in 1983, who even remembers that? Such laxity is logical once we realise that 'riots' in India are not clashes between groups but very often state-orchestrated attacks on a specific group. No wonder investigations are botched and judicial redress delayed. This makes official apologies all the more hypocritical. The reason that 796 people in the anti-immigration riots of 2024 in the UK were arrested and charged almost immediately after the riots is simply because the state had no role in instigating rioters. Similarly, for the 2013 riots in the UK, within two months, 1,984 were prosecuted and an immediate custodial sentence given to 331. Such precise figures are rarely released by the government in India, be they for the number of deaths or for convictions. When released, they are ambiguous. For example, as I show in my research, the official death toll in the Gujarat violence (excluding the 59 Hindu passengers who died in the train fire) was 1,044: 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus. But this also excluded the 228 people who had gone missing during the violence. Seven years later the 228 missing were declared dead. The final official death toll was publicized as 1,180 (again excluding the passengers) instead of 1,272 (1,044 + 228), but the government never explained this anomaly. There is one more crucial reason why convictions are important. Most perpetrators of violence are people known to the victims, usually their own neighbours. This is true for India and many other parts of the world. Courts investigating the murders of 2002 in Gujarat found identification parades to be unnecessary in several cases because the witness knew the victim. For example, I show in my research that the mean distance travelled by perpetrators of the anti-Sikh attacks was 0.37 km from their homes, a walk of four-five minutes. Similarly, for Ahmedabad in Gujarat, this distance was 0.92 km, a walk of 8-10 minutes. In state-orchestrated violence, the involvement of insiders makes strategic sense as they play a key role in identifying victims and navigating escape routes for attackers. Since convictions are few or protracted, the state finds no obligation to relocate victims who are usually the poor and have little means to relocate on their own. For years, many are forced to live alongside the very neighbours who attacked their family and looted their property, with no legal or social recognition of their guilt. Once victims are compelled to share everyday spaces with their own perpetrators, they are also compelled to forge superficial relationships with them after the cessation of violence. Such survival mechanisms may not last very long for they hold serious implications for the recurrence of violence. Talk is cheap. Apologies are necessary but rarely sufficient in helping repair the trauma of victims of mass violence and to prevent recurrent violence. But when the state itself is complicit in rioting, who will bell the cat? Raheel Dhattiwala is a sociologist. She is the author of Keeping the Peace: Spatial Differences in Hindu-Muslim Violence in Gujarat in 2002 (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
Hans India
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
CM hands over job letters to kin of 1984 riot victims
New Delhi: In a significant move aimed at delivering long-overdue justice, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, along with Cabinet Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, on Tuesday distributed government job letters to family members of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims. At the ceremony, held in the capital, 19 individuals received their appointment letters. A total of 125 riot-affected individuals are expected to be offered government jobs under this initiative. 'Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Delhi government has issued appointment letters to 125 individuals from families affected by the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. We are committed to delivering justice to these families,' said CM Rekha Gupta during the event. Cabinet Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who has long advocated for the rights of the riot victims, reiterated the government's commitment to justice. 'Today, our government has given jobs to the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. It is historic. Congress failed to do justice during its tenure. Prime Minister Modi had promised to support these families, and we are fulfilling that promise. Over 600 jobs are still pending, and we have begun the process of distributing them,' he said. Speaking to IANS, several recipients shared their thoughts on the long-awaited appointments. Jaswinder Singh, one of the recipients, expressed mixed feelings: 'I am not truly happy. I am receiving this job letter at the age of 46. It's too late to celebrate. Still, I appreciate the government's support.' Another recipient, Manjeet Singh, expressed gratitude: 'I am very happy. This government is thinking about us. It means a lot.' However, not everyone felt the gesture was enough. Another recipient remarked, 'To be honest, I don't feel any happiness. It's too late for joy.'
