Sikhs have been victims of vicious attacks in India. They have been victims of character assassinations, of Goebbelian propaganda as saults, of discriminatory policies and thousands of them have been most brutally tortured and killed at the hands of the mobs, the police or both.

In November 1984 Sikhs were attacked by the mobs which were orchestrated by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his henchmen. Thousands of Sikhs died in Delhi, Kanpur, Bukharo and other Cities.

Because of television, the world saw what happened, the gory pictures of burning tyres being put around the necks of the victims and of mobs glee fully dancing around them as they burnt to death. While the shocked viewers in the US saw this, the government controlled Indian television saw to it that people in India did not get to see the truth, It was broadcasting pictures of Mrs. Gandhi’s funeral and of hoodlums in Delhi shouting slogans of “blood for blood,” and thus inciting further violence.

Those who directed the beginning of this act of vengeance of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi against the Sikhs were amply rewarded H.K.L Bhagat and Jagdish Tytler were made Cabinet Ministers, no action was taken against those who killed the Sikhs. Police had turned a blind eye, and in a number of cases had actually directed and helped the mobs in their killings and lootings.

An official inquiry was agreed to with much reluctance after prolonged and Persistent demand by the Sikhs and other human rights groups. Eventually, what was the duty of the government was sought to be shown as a concession to the Sikhs.

So blatant was the partisan nature of the Ranganath Mishra Commission that the non-Sikh human rights groups which were assisting it, bycotted it. Sikhs deposing on the first day of the commission were assaulted and their possessions burnt when they returned home. Police have been harassing the people who assisted the victims of the carnage.

The Commissions accomplished nothing and in fact the Jain Bannerjee Committee which was empowered to monitor police action on the matter and to file cases against the perpetrators was annulled by the Delhi High Court a few weeks ago and the killers still roam free privileged and protected five years after the carnage.

4f some amongst the Sikhs and others thought that the 1984 carnage was an anomaly, then the killings of the Sikh engineering students in Biddar, Karanataka last year, demonstrated tragically and conclusively that Sikhs are not safe anywhere inIndia, beita Congress (1) ruled state or an opposition state.

The virus of communal hatred has spread to hitherto unaffected areas and now Sikhs outside the Punjab are sitting on a powder Keg with a short faze. A report by the Punjab Human Rights Organization said that the politico criminal elements were emboldened by the fact that no action had been taken against the Delhi murderers.

In the Jammu carnage on January 13, 1989 at the commemorative parade to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, 14 people were killed. All of them were Sikhs and while there are instances of individuals helping the victims, the administration and political leadership bowed to the Hindu fundamentalists like Shiv Sena Leader Ashok Gupta and abetted in the attack on the Sikhs which left hundreds of them injured. A report on the incident tells of how the Sikh children were told “Kids like you will grow up and create problems for our community” before they were killed.

To say to the Sikhs, “forget 1984” is to say to the Jews “forget the Holocaust”.

In Punjab we have faced continuous injustice since Indian independence and it has been reduced to a police state in which the naked sword of the oppressor is continually kept over the heads of the Sikhs. They are killed with impunity in fake en counters, they are tortured by the police and Sikh women have now been targeted for harassment and humiliation by the authorities.

In this issue we report on the killings of the Sikhs outside Punjab. The carnages in Delhi, Biddar and Jammu. It is not pleasant reading, but then the situation is grim, the time is running out and we have to act before it is too late.

Article extracted from this publication >>  November 10, 1989