CHANDIGARH: In a move that embarrassed the NDA government, its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday supported the recent resolution passed by the Ontario Provincial assembly in Canada, officially recognizing the 1984 sikh riots in India as genocide. SAD demanded that these riots, which took place 33 years ago, should be acknowledged as genocide by the government.
During the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, SAD MP Naresh Gujral asked the External Affairs Ministry to withdraw its statement rejecting the resolution. The Union Government had recently objected to the resolution passed by the Ontario assembly and termed it “misguided”.
“We reject this misguided motion which is based on a limited understanding of India, its constitution, society, ethos, rule of law and the judicial process,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay had said. He also said that the views of the Indian government had been conveyed to the government and political leadership in Canada.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal, however, said on Monday that the widespread massacre of Sikhs in Delhi and some other parts of the country in November 1984 was “most certainly genocide of the community.”
“We are grateful to the authorities and the people of Ontario for this touching gesture of compassion and solidarity. They have called this shameful chapter by its right name and they deserve our gratitude. Every Indian, except those guilty of this tragedy, considers it genocide” he said.
Sukhbir said that Sikhs across the world were grateful to the members of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) who stood by their Sikh brothers. “We now request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to heal the deep wounds of the Sikh community by personally intervening and ensuring that the guilty do not go scot-free any longer,” he said.
“There is no doubt about this in anyone’s mind that the Congress planned and executed the genocide of the Sikhs in 1984. Senior leaders of that party holding top positions in the government of India actively facilitated, directed and even participated in this gruesome episode. The entire world was shocked when the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi publicly justified it as a natural reaction to the falling of a big tree (Indira Gandhi’s assassination.) Another Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh later had to apologise for this to the nation,” said Sukhbir.
The motion was brought forward in the Ontario Assembly by Liberal MPP Harinder Malhi (Brampton-Springdale), which received support from all three provincial parties. The motion stated, “In the opinion of this House, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario should reaffirm our commitment to the values we cherish – justice, human rights and fairness – and condemn all forms of communal violence, hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance in India and anywhere else in the world, including the 1984 genocide perpetrated against the Sikhs throughout India. We call on all sides to embrace truth and reconciliation.”