1984 never forget.
When the month of Chet came around last year, murmurs of discontent were born anew from the banks of the Satluj in Punjab to the shores of the Pacific in California, in the hundreds of thousands, Sikhs pledged orange.
For a brief moment it appeared that Sikhs across the World could no longer turn a blind eye to the ills of the society. But the summer months came and the ire vanished, even though the circumstances had not changed, they had just been prolonged.
There is no one single solution, moreover the root-problem itself is multi-dimensional here and so greater input is required if we are to progress.
Realise that nothing will come to be unless you make it happen.
You need to become educated; you need to learn; where now there is ignorance you need to find light. The House of Guru Nanak is built on the founding principle that you are the master of your own destiny so take this opportunity; don’t wait for an age that isn’t coming or a guardian that doesn’t exist. You have the unequivocal words of Guru Nanak to guide you and the navigational directions of the millions who have forged this path before you.
This is the path of a true Sikh – a student of the Guru who wants to grow and expand the state of their being through putting that which they learn into practice. This is the Sikh who will forever pledge orange for as the third Guru Nanak declared in Raag Basant, “Those who are imbued with Truth, are forever in the bloom of spring.“
Twenty-five years ago, India suspended part of its Constitution and launched a brutal campaign against Sikh separatists in its Punjab province. Today, India must provide reparations to the victims and vow to uphold human rights, especially in Kashmir and the northeast states.
June 1984 Sikh memorial nearing completion
“Work on the Gurdwara (the memorial) is almost complete. Only finishing jobs on the marble are left. The memorial will be completed much before the due date (late May). It will be thrown open to devotees on June 6, the Bluestar anniversary, with special prayers”.
Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, the head of Damdami Taksal
In June 1984 Under “Operation Blue star” Indian army attacked Sri Darbar Sahib, commonly known as Golden Temple of Amritsar. Thousands of civilian Sikh pilgrims were killed by Indian forces and Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, eternal seat of Sikh sovereignty was targeted with tanks, bombs and rockets and was badly damaged. It was followed by various phases of genocidal violence against Sikh population in Punjab and India, including “Operation wood rose”, November 1984 Sikh genocide and mass level human rights violations in Punjab (1984-1994)
It remains to be seen that how much more time Indian government to enable justice to Sikhs.. We have been denied justice despite the elapse of 28 years wherein millions of innocent Sikhs were brutally murdered, hundreds of women were raped and all their property burnt and looted by brazen mobs under leadership of Congress ..
Here I tried to illustrate some of the lines from my spoken word piece on the Sikh Genocide aftermath from 1984. I cannot wait to perform this piece tomorrow, hopefully I can get the audience to see the picture I see.
(via tukyajaane)
Faced with photographs of atrocities from recent genocide, visitors read the captions beneath the pictures in stunned silence, their heads bowed.
As they reflect on the images before them, only the haunting lilt of an Indian sitar can be heard within the walls of the Gurdwara.
During the first week of November 1984, the then ruling party of India, Indian National Congress “also known as Congress (I)” organized and carried out attacks throughout India on Sikhs with intent to destroy the Sikh community, an identifiable religious minority.
These attacks on Sikh lives, properties and places of worship were carried out in a meticulous and identical manner resulting in more than 30,000 (thirty thousand) Sikhs killed; Sikh women raped; Sikh Gurudwaras burnt; Sikh properties looted and more than 300,000 (three hundred thousand) Sikhs uprooted and displaced.
The gravity, scale and specially the organized nature of these attacks was concealed by the Indian governments’ portraying them as “November 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots of Delhi”. These attacks were neither “riots” nor were they confined to Delhi alone. In fact, during November 1984, Sikhs were attacked in 18 states and more than 100 cities throughout India with specific intent to destroy the Sikh community.
The intentional and deliberate nature of the attacks on Sikh lives, properties and places of worship during November 1984 makes them crime of “Genocide” as per Article 2 of the U.N. Convention on Genocide.
Please visit http://www.1984yesitsgenocide.org/
Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) has launched an international campaign to have United Nations investigate the killing of Sikhs in 1984 and declare it Genocide.
The 1984 Yes It’s Genocide campaign will obtain more than 1,000,000 signatures requesting the UN to independently investigate the organized killing of Sikhs. It is clear that India is unable to objectively investigate itself.
Please visit http://www.1984yesitsgenocide.org/ sign the petition and mail the scan copy.
There are years that ask questions and years that answer
In June 1984 Under “Operation Blue star” Indian army attacked Sri Darbar Sahib, commonly known as Golden Temple of Amritsar. Thousands of civilian Sikh pilgrims were killed by Indian forces and Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, eternal seat of Sikh sovereignty was targeted with tanks, bombs and rockets and was badly damaged. It was followed by various phases of genocidal violence against Sikh population in Punjab and India, including “Operation wood rose”, November 1984 Sikh genocide and mass level human rights violations in Punjab (1984-1994)
It remains to be seen that how much more time Indian government to enable justice to Sikhs.. We have been denied justice despite the elapse of 28 years wherein millions of innocent Sikhs were brutally murdered, hundreds of women were raped and all their property burnt and looted by brazen mobs under leadership of Congress ..
