Sikh Genocide 1984: Human Rights group urges UC Berkeley to withdraw invitation to Rahul Gandhi

Berkeley, USA: Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US based Sikh human rights and advocacy group has urged the University of California, Berkeley to withdraw invitation to Rahul Gandhi, Vice President of an Indian political party called Indian National Congress.

Rahul Gandhi, grandson of former Indian PM Indira Gandhi and son of another former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi, is invite to speak at the UC Berkeley on September 11, 2017 on “India At 70: Reflections On The Path Forward”. The event is being sponsored by Institute of International Studies and Institute for South Asia Studies.

In a letter written to the Professors of the UC Berkeley, the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) said: “[w]hile the violence against the religious minorities in India has escalated under the governance of Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the seeds of the communal hatred and religiously motivated aggression were planted and propped up for the past 70 years by the Indian National Congress party which is now being run by Rahul Gandhi. Thus, the violence against the religious minorities is a common trait between ultra right wing Hindu supremacist parties like BJP and pseudo-secular-liberal Indian National Congress party”.

SFJ further said that Rahul Gandhi is the Vice President of Indian National Congress party that, perpetrated with impunity, in November 1984 genocidal violence against the Sikh community throughout India.

“These attacks on the lives, homes, businesses, properties, and places of worship of Sikhs in India were carried out in an organized and meticulous manner resulting in the death of over 30,000 Sikhs – most of them burnt alive, rape of thousands of Sikh women, burning of scores of Sikh Gurdwaras, displacement of over 300,000 Sikh families and over three million Sikhs being affected”, reads the letter sent to the Professors of UC Berkeley by Sikhs For Justice.

“Today, Rahul Gandhi is running the Indian National Congress party with the help of same front line leadership that was involved in organizing genocidal attacks against the Sikh community in November 1984. In fact, sponsoring the violence against the Sikh community and shielding the killers has become an established legacy of the heads of the Indian National Congress party”, the letter reads further.

SFJ further said that Rahul’s mother, Sonia Gandhi who has been heading the Indian National Congress party since 1990s, has been protecting, shielding and rewarding the leaders of her party who incited, organized and participated in the genocidal violence against the Sikh people. Rahul’s father, Rajiv Gandhi who became Prime Minister and head of the Congress party after Ms. Gandhi’s assassination, justified the November 1984 genocidal violence against Sikhs by stating that “When a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes”. Rajiv’s grandmother Ms. Indira Gandhi who was the Prime Minister of India and head of the Congress party, ordered the “Operation Blue Star” against the Sikh[s at Darbar Sahib] in June 1984 in which thousands of pilgrims were massacred.

“The involvement of top ranking leadership of Rahul’s Indian National Congress party including Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, Kamal Nath, HKL Bhagat, Lalit Maken, Arjun Singh, Arun Nehru, Dharamdas Shastri, bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan and many others in November 1984 Sikh Genocide is well established by the reports of several human rights NGOs, inquiry commissions, journalists and research scholars”, the letter reads further.

SJF added that the gravity, scale and specifically the premeditated and intentional nature of these attacks was concealed by the Indian National Congress party who remained in power for three decades. The official narrative of the Indian government portrayed these events as the “November 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots of Delhi”. The evidence shows that these attacks were neither “riots” nor were they confined to Delhi alone. In fact, in the first four days of November 1984, Sikhs were attacked in eighteen (18) states and more than 100 cities of India. The attacks against Sikhs were carried out in an identical manner in several parts of the country simultaneously, in which the hordes of marauders were incited and lead by the leaders of the Indian National Congress party and facilitated by the local administration.

In 2011, a mass Grave of Sikhs in Hondh-Chillar, a village in the state of Haryana, was unearthed which was followed by the discovery of similar mass graves, ruined villages, burnt Gurudwaras and other traces of Sikh population annihilated during November 1984 in the sates of Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

The human rights group also quotes a research paper by Lionel Baixas. The research paper titled “The Anti-Sikh Pogrom of October 31 to November 4, 1984 in New Delhi” (2009) concludes that:

“Contrary to what is commonly believed, this pogrom was not the result of a spontaneous reaction of the masses due to anger caused by the death of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was rather an organized, politically engineered action involving Congress politicians, Delhi police officers and Hindu civilians”.

SFJ also noted that Barbara Crossette, a former New York Times bureau chief in New Delhi, in a report for World Policy Journal, stated that:

“Almost as many Sikhs died in a few days in India in 1984 than all the deaths and disappearances in Chile during the 17-year military rule of Gen. Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990”

– “India’s Sikhs: Waiting for Justice”, Barbara Crossette, World Policy Journal
Vol. 21, No. 2 (Summer, 2004), pp. 70-77

SFJ also mentioned that Jasbir Singh, who lost 26 members of his family, is a key witness against Congress party leader Jagdish Tylter’s role in the killing of Sikhs and is a resident of California. Another survivor, Mohender Singh whose father was butchered to death during November 1984 is also a resident of the state of California. Ms. Janki Kaur, a resident of California who suffered the loss of 20 members of her family and rape of her mother at the hands of workers of Indian National Congress party led by the same politicians who today are Rahul’s advisors.

Based on the evidence presented by the witnesses and survivors of carnage, several cities of California including Bakersfield, San Joaquin, Sanger, Stockton, Fresno, Kerman, Union City, Lathrop, Selma, Fowler and Madera have passed resolutions recognizing the November 1984 anti-Sikh violence perpetrated by Indian National Congress party as “Genocide”.

The Human Rights groups stated that Rahul’s speaking engagement at UC Berkeley will be tormenting experience for hundreds of witnesses and family members of November 1984 victims who have found solace in the state of California escaping the haunting memories of the genocidal violence perpetrated by the leaders of Indian National Congress party.

SFJ further said that Rahul Gandhi as Vice President of Indian National Congress, the party responsible for Genocide of Sikhs, has no place in an institution of learning as it will set a bad precedent that persons who inhumanely condone human rights violations and protect the perpetrators are invited to lecture the students and academia about the future of human society.

“Looking at Rahul’s legacy and the blood soaked hands of his party, his vision of the future is bound to be marred with violence against minorities and thus the students, academia and humanity is better off without his mentoring”, the letter reads.

The SFJ has also issued an appeal asking people to urge UC Berkeley to withdraw invitation extended to Rahul Gandhi.

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