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[PBN]

For Sikh Canadians, Ontario's Genocide Motion Was Courageous And Unifying

• Human Rights Advocate, Law Student and former Social Justice Fellow in Global Governance and Democracy at Windsor Law.

Hindustan Times via Getty Images

NEW DELHI, INDIA - JUNE 12: Devotees look at just laid foundation stone of November 1984 Sikh Genocide Memorial at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj on June 12, 2013 in New Delhi, India. Allegedly more than 8,000 Sikhs died including 3,000 in Delhi during the 1984 anti-Sikhs riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre by anti-Sikh mobs, in response to the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Earlier this month, in a historic move demonstrating commitment to democracy and human rights, the Ontario Legislature passed a motion to recognize the 1984 anti-Sikh violence as genocide.

 

The term genocide is politically charged and because of this it is rarely used. But, in this instance, acknowledging what happened in 1984 was genocide was truthful, sincere and healing.

 

 

In the 1980s, Canada opened its borders to Sikh refugees fleeing persecution at the hands of the Indian government. Sikh youths were being disappeared by the thousands, with the government claiming they were terrorists that had gone underground. With Canadian assistance, it was later revealed that the government had engaged in a campaign of extra-judicial killings.

 

 

The campaign to systematically exterminate Sikhs in Punjab lasted over a decade. In 1995, Jaswant Singh Khalra uncovered police cremation records proving the murders of innocent Sikh youth. He presented his findings to the Canadian Parliament in June of that year. Upon returning to India that September, he was abducted by police and tortured for a month. His body was cut into pieces and dumped into a river.

 

 

Belatedly, Indian Supreme Court Judges Justice Kuldip Singh and Justice Saghir Ahmed expressed 'horror and shock' at the evidence Khalra had collected, describing the acts it proved as 'worse than genocide'.

 

 

Today, Amnesty International recognizes Jaswant Khalra as an International Defender of Human Rights and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights has an entire exhibit dedicated to his honour.

 

Jaswant Singh Khalra shed light on a horrific historical episode that many including myself grew up witnessing. During my childhood, the weekly newspaper was full of photos of the bullet-ridden bodies of Sikh men, some emasculated and dressed in saris, but all photographed with police officers hovering over them the way that hunters might loom over their prey. Women, too, were objects of extreme sexual violence, including rape by officers of the State. This was the plight of Sikhs in India, a hunted minority that comprised 2% of India's total population.

 

Disappearances were unfortunately only the tip of the iceberg. Human rights violations were widespread and in November 1984, when the genocide climaxed in four days of State-facilitated, unhinged violence. While the Indian Government has often claimed that the violence was a result of Indira Gandhi's assassination, this canard was debunked by the Nanavati Commission report headed by the former Supreme Court Justice, G.T Nanavati. In his report, Justice Nanavati concluded that "[a]ll this could not have happened [in November 1984] if it was merely a spontaneous reaction of the angry public. The systematic manner in which the Sikhs were thus killed indicate that the attacks on them were organized."

 

At that time, anti-Sikh violence was facilitated by political leaders who used voter lists to identify Sikh homes and direct mobs armed with incendiary materials and bussed into the capital city of Delhi via the State-owned and operated transit system. For four days, Sikh men were burned alive. Women were subject to grotesque and inconceivable sexual violence. Children were beheaded.

 

Justice Nanavati confirmed that at many places the Police had taken away their [Sikhs'] arms or other articles with which they could have defended themselves against the attacks of mobs and that rumours to incite violence against Sikhs had been systemically circulated by many, including the police.

 

I was born in 1986 and raised in the aftermath of what has come to be known as the 1984 Sikh Genocide. I was raised among trauma-afflicted families, and carried much of my own. In university, I elected to study genocide. I completed an Honours degree in Social Justice and Peace Studies, a Master's in Conflict Studies, and weeks from today I will be graduating with a Law Degree from the University of Windsor.

 

From all of my studies and reviews of the academic literature, it is clear that the Indian government committed genocide. Arguments to the contrary overwhelmingly and disproportionately come from organizations heavily linked to India's consular services in Canada, who have exerted pressure on the Ontario Legislature with threats of economic sanction. Jagmeet Singh, Deputy Leader of Ontario's New Democrats, has been denied a visa to India, and has openly spoken about the Consulates attempts to blackmail him. Fortunately, the divisive message propagated by these organizations are not reflective of many, including India's very own Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who himself has referred to what happened in 1984 as genocide.

 

Canadian democracy is resilient, but more importantly it is compassionate. For decades, violence carried out by the Indian state has deeply traumatized Sikhs. That hurt has been intergenerational.

 

Nonetheless, there is a path to healing from all of this. As noted by leading trauma and reconciliation specialist Dr. Judith Herman, the path requires remembrance and truth-telling as prerequisites. That is why the Ontario Legislature's motion is unifying and healing.

 

Canada's and Ontario's democratic institutions have demonstrated their commitment to seeking the truth. I offer my thanks to those courageous MPPs that voted to support this motion, but also some counsel. The path forward will be unifying and healing, but it will also be difficult. As Dr. Herman almost prophetically notes:

 

"Secrecy and silence are the perpetrator's first line of defense. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure that no one listens. To this end, he marshals an impressive array of arguments, from the most blatant denial to the most sophisticated and elegant rationalization. After every atrocity one can expect to hear the same predictable apologies: it never happened; the victim lies; the victim exaggerates; the victim brought this upon herself; and in any case it is time to forget the past and move on."

 

I see this happening now. To those who are standing up for truth and justice, all I can say is, stay on the path. Stay strong. Truth, in the end, is the only way we can heal.

Edited October 5, 2017 by PBN

[Muloghonto]

1 hour ago, PBN said:

1. it's officially recognized as a genocide in Canada by the government.

 

Nope. 

I am Canadian. It is officially recognized by the Ontario government. That is not 'Canada'.

 

Genocide is a criminal charge against a state. It needs to go through a human rights tribunal/Un commission/national enquiry process, etc. to be held credible. Like it has been with labelling of every single genocide. 

Like i keep saying- go do the due process before you want serious people to take the charge seriously.

 

Simply walking up to the podium and saying 'we think its a genocide coz we talked to a few people' means jack ****, really.

 

I'd be happy to call the riots following IG's death as genocide- if you can make the charges stick or show evidence of govt. compliance in a court of law. 

But there is no budging from the fact that calling an exemplary military operation to eliminate a terrorist, Operation Blue Star, as genocide, is aiding and abetting terrorism and/or negotiation at gun point. That is a red line that i will never support crossing, period.

I don't care what religion or politics you are.We are a democracy, if you show up with crap ton of ammo and take over a building resisting arrest, we will blow you up, a million times out of a million. Period. Zero compromise on that and refusal to accept that, directly makes one an accessory to violent uprisings. 

 

 

[Muloghonto]

1 hour ago, surajmal said:

Big chunk are. Been to the 3 biggest gurdwaras in GTA, all 3 commemorate khalistanis. From what I hear, Vancouver is worse. 

Surrey technically, but yea. 

I was at last Vesakhi. Good news is when old lady went 'Yeha Khalistan', most people were busy finding food and crap for their kids and family while few people stood on the stage. Bad news is, people who stood on the stage yelling about Khalistan, are bat **** crazy and think its ok to show up in big huge numbers, with bazillion guns and ammo to blackmail govt. because, well, they are Sikh and it worked against the mughals, so it should be the way. That is their bottomline and that bottomline will now get exposure in Canada.

 

 

[coffee_rules]

http://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-jagmeet-singh-owes-the-public-an-explanation

Quote

At the very end of the interview, when directly asked “so you won’t denounce those posters of Parmar?” Singh, avoiding answering the question, replied, “I don’t know who was responsible, but I think we need to find out who was truly responsible.” This despite the terrorist in question, Talwinder Singh Parmar, being widely considered, including by a B.C. judge in a 2005 case, as having been the mastermind of the bombing of Air India Flight 182. Parmar was killed by Indian police in 1992.

If Jagmeet Singh is more concerned with the appeasement of some hardline elements of the Canadian Sikh community than with roundly condemning the architect of such an atrocious act of mass murder, he clearly does not possess the leadership qualities required to lead this country. If Singh himself believes that Parmar is a man who should be honoured as a martyr despite having orchestrated the deaths on June 23, 1985 of 329 people (of whom 268 were Canadian citizens) on Air India Flight 182, then he does not possess the moral qualities required to lead this country.

To have repeatedly dithered on such a simple yet meaningful question cannot simply be overlooked as an innocent gaffe. While he condemned the Air India bombing itself, his avoidance of an opportunity to condemn its mastermind was willful and unrelenting. One wonders whether this was the reason he had initially refused to come for the interview without being provided the questions in advance (a demand which, to its credit, was not conceded by the CBC).

The New Democratic Party would be well advised to either elicit an apology or an appropriate clarification out of Singh, and if one of those is not forthcoming, to elicit his immediate resignation from all leadership roles. Canadians cannot and should not be led by a man who can’t bring himself to say there is something amiss in the veneration of a terrorist. 

God Save Kanedians if this guy gets to be a PM!

Edited October 5, 2017 by coffee_rules

[coffee_rules]

You won't want to read this - The ugly story of the Air India bombing inches towards publication

[PBN]

3 hours ago, Muloghonto said:

Nope. 

I am Canadian. It is officially recognized by the Ontario government. That is not 'Canada'.

 

Genocide is a criminal charge against a state. It needs to go through a human rights tribunal/Un commission/national enquiry process, etc. to be held credible. Like it has been with labelling of every single genocide. 

Like i keep saying- go do the due process before you want serious people to take the charge seriously.

 

Simply walking up to the podium and saying 'we think its a genocide coz we talked to a few people' means jack ****, really.

 

I'd be happy to call the riots following IG's death as genocide- if you can make the charges stick or show evidence of govt. compliance in a court of law. 

 

 

 

ontario, the most populous province,  is in canada. and it OFFICIALLY  passed the motion declaring the 1984 actions against sikhs as GENOCIDE. 

 

Edited October 5, 2017 by PBN

[Muloghonto]

10 minutes ago, PBN said:

ontario, the most populous province,  is in canada. and it OFFICIALLY  passed the motion declaring the 1984 actions against sikhs as GENOCIDE. 

 

It does not represent Canada. Its a small part of Canada, so no, you cannot say Canada considers it genocide, unless the Federal government calls it a genocide.

 

Its declaration is politically motivated, pandering to the terrorist community amongst the Sikhs in TO region. hence its the only declaration of genocide that is not derived from a committee investigation but from knee-jerk political declaration. Either way, even Canada itself doesn't care, so its not genocide by Canadian official policy.

 

[PBN]

24 minutes ago, Muloghonto said:

It does not represent Canada. Its a small part of Canada, so no, you cannot say Canada considers it genocide, unless the Federal government calls it a genocide.

 

a small part of canada? it has 38% of canada's population. and it officially recognized the sikh genocide. who cares if you want to accept it or not. 

 

Quote

 

Its declaration is politically motivated, pandering to the terrorist community amongst the Sikhs in TO region. hence its the only declaration of genocide that is not derived from a committee investigation but from knee-jerk political declaration. Either way, even Canada itself doesn't care, so its not genocide by Canadian official policy.

 

 

terrorist community? the motion was presented by Harinder Malhi, the MPP. you're implying she's a terrorist ?  that's ludicrous statement and i can sense your burn. let me reiterate again. Ontario, which is in Canada, has  officially recognized the sikh genocide.

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2017 by PBN

[surajmal]

23 minutes ago, PBN said:

ontario, the most populous province,  is in canada. and it OFFICIALLY  passed the motion declaring the 1984 actions against sikhs as GENOCIDE. 

 

Like Pakistan assembly passed a resolution labeling India as a terrorist nation?

[PBN]

Rajiv Gandhi after the sikh genocide " "When a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes."

[PBN]

6 minutes ago, surajmal said:

Like Pakistan assembly passed a resolution labeling India as a terrorist nation?

In Canada, the motion to declare the 1984 sikh genocide was offcially passed by the ontario government with a 34-5 vote

 

ontario Officially Recognises 1984 Riots Sikh Genocide, Demands All Sides To Embrace The Truth

Indiatimes

April 07, 2017

8.6K SHARES

 

In a move that could impact the bilateral relations between India and Canada, the government of Ontario passed a motion in the Legislative Assembly to officially recognise the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as “Sikh genocide” while calling upon “all sides to embrace truth and reconciliation.”

Reuters

The motion which was forward by Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly Harinder Kaur Malhi (Brampton-Springdale), was recieved with cheers from the Sikh community present at the Assembly.

According to reports, the Private Members’ Motion recognising the November 1984 riots as 'genocide' was first introduced by NDP Deputy Leader Jagmeet Singh last year. However, the motion failed to gather support from both the NDP and Progressive Conservatives. 

At the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Malhi’s 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, racism and intolerance in India and anywhere else in the world, including the 1984 Genocide perpetrated against the Sikhs throughout India, and call on all sides to embrace truth, justice and reconciliation.”

According to the HT report, the move sent shockwaves in the Indian government. The Indian officials have expressed their concern over the motion to the ministers in Justin Trudeau's cabinet as well.

Reuters

The motion which was passed by a vote of 34 to 5 got the full support from the pro-Khalistan groups. 

Another Sikh activist, Jatinder Singh Grewal, told HT that “all Sikhs applaud Ontario today" and appreciate the Ontario government for "officially recognising that the murder of tens of thousands of Sikhs was an attempt at genocide."

In November of 1984, thousands of Sikh men and women were brutally beaten and burned to death by mobs following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. 

Following the motion, several pro-business and India group, wrote to the Ontario Premier, Kathleen Wynne,  to stop the Ontario Parliament from taking up the Genocide resolution.

[Muloghonto]

11 minutes ago, PBN said:

a small part of canada? it has 38% of canada's population. and it officially recognized the sikh genocide. who cares if you want to accept it or not. 

It is still a small part of Canada. Has no official recognition in international affairs. Like i said, when federal government declares it so, then its officially Canada's policy. Till then, what some sub-unit in any nation says, nobody cares. 

 

 

11 minutes ago, PBN said:

 

terrorist community?  that's ludicrous statement and i can sense your burn. let me reiterate again. Ontario, which is in Canada, has  officially recognized the sikh genocide.

 

 

 

 

Yes, there is a terrorist community amongst Sikhs in Canada. This doesn't make all Sikhs terrorists- just that there are terrorist elements hiding in the Sikh community here.Ask Dave Hayer, his dad paid the price for it. Its pandering to this terrorist community by declaring it a genocide without due process. 

 

[surajmal]

1 minute ago, PBN said:

In Canada, the motion to declare the 1984 sikh genocide was offcially passed by the ontario government with a 34-5 vote

 

The term "official" in this case has little meaning. Tomorrow, Indian parliament can pass a resolution declaring Canada a terror sponsoring state for intentionally bungling up the Air India investigation. That would also be official. Considering, Indian Parliament represents 1/6 of the humanity, that resolution would hold an order of magnitude greater weight. What do you say about that? 

[PBN]

25 minutes ago, Muloghonto said:

It is still a small part of Canada. Has no official recognition in international affairs. Like i said, when federal government declares it so, then its officially Canada's policy. Till then, what some sub-unit in any nation says, nobody cares.

like i said, 38% of canada's population. home of the largest south asian community in canada. in any case, the point is , the fact is Ontario officially  recognized the sikh genocide with a 34-5 vote

 

Quote

 

Yes, there is a terrorist community amongst Sikhs in Canada. This doesn't make all Sikhs terrorists- just that there are terrorist elements hiding in the Sikh community here.Ask Dave Hayer, his dad paid the price for it. Its pandering to this terrorist community by declaring it a genocide without due process.

 

let's not retract your statement.  you said

Quote

Its declaration is politically motivated, pandering to the terrorist community amongst the Sikhs in TO region. hence its the only declaration of genocide that is not derived from a committee investigation but from knee-jerk political declaration. Either way, even Canada itself doesn't care, so its not genocide by Canadian official policy. "

 

labeling those backing the 1984 sikh genocide motion as a terrorist community lol

 

What? I don't know if you understand what you wrote.  The motion was led by Harinder Malhi, the MPP and the motion passed in the Ontario Parliament.  In other words, you're basically saying that recognizing the sikh genocide of 1984 and asking for justice for the 1984 sikh genocide makes the sikh community in toronto/canada as terrorists.   sounds pretty illogical and stupid to say the least. 

anyways live with the fact that ontario has officially recognized the sikh genocide of 1984.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2017 by PBN

[Muloghonto]

1 hour ago, PBN said:

like i said, 38% of canada's population. home of the largest south asian community in canada. in any case, the point is , the fact is Ontario officially  recognized the sikh genocide with a 34-5 vote

Yes. and my point is, until a national level or international level organization recognizes it, it means nothing. Every single other tag of genocide, meets this criteria.

 

1 hour ago, PBN said:

 

let's not retract your statement.  you said

 

labeling those backing the 1984 sikh genocide motion as a terrorist community lol

 

No, i said they caved to the terrorist community pressure. Its no secret that many Sikh Gurdwaras openly celebrate terrorists.

 

1 hour ago, PBN said:

What? I don't know if you understand what you wrote.  The motion was led by Harinder Malhi, the MPP and the motion passed in the Ontario Parliament.  In other words, you're basically saying that recognizing the sikh genocide of 1984 and asking for justice for the 1984 sikh genocide makes the sikh community in toronto/canada as terrorists.   sounds pretty illogical and stupid to say the least. 

anyways live with the fact that ontario has officially recognized the sikh genocide of 1984.

No, i said passing a motion on something as serious as genocide, instead of forming an investigative committee and following its conclusions, is unparalleled in case of genocide and such unorthodox means show they caved to terrorist pressure.

 

Why are you running away from the fact that Jagmeet Singh supports a terrorist and calls action against a terrorist as genocide ??

 

[PBN]

Quote

No, i said they caved to the terrorist community pressure. Its no secret that many Sikh Gurdwaras openly celebrate terrorists.

where is this terrorist community in Toronto that you mentioned?  You are clueless in this whole matter and mixingup and confusing things up. The majority of Sikhs  have asked for the injustice of the 1984 sikh genocide not the supposedly terrorist community that you randomly say.  And that's where the motion came through.  For starters, read up on the motion before making random accusations.

Edited October 6, 2017 by PBN

[PBN]

The campaign to systematically exterminate Sikhs in Punjab lasted over a decade. In 1995, Jaswant Singh Khalra uncovered police cremation records proving the murders of innocent Sikh youth. He

presented his findings to the Canadian Parliament in June of that year. Upon returning to India that September, he was abducted by police and tortured for a month. His body was cut into pieces and dumped into a river.

 

 

Belatedly, Indian Supreme Court Judges Justice Kuldip Singh and Justice Saghir Ahmed expressed 'horror and shock' at the evidence Khalra had collected, describing the acts it proved as 'worse than genocide'.

 

 

Today, Amnesty International recognizes Jaswant Khalra as an International Defender of Human Rights and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights has an entire exhibit dedicated to his honour.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/amneet-singh-bali/1984-sikh-genocide_b_16099600.html

[Muloghonto]

3 minutes ago, PBN said:

where is this terrorist community in Toronto that you mentioned?  You are clueless in this whole matter and mixingup and confusing things up. The majority of Sikhs  have asked for the injustice of the 1984 sikh genocide not the supposedly terrorist community that you randomly say.  And that's where the motion came through.  For starters, read up on the motion before making random accusations.

I am sure they don't all just live in 3 blocks of housing side by side. There are terrorist glorifying Gurdwaras in Toronto and Vancouver. Not all, but for example, here we see regularly the terrorists being feted by Dashmesh Darbar Gurdwaras. 

 

Majority of what Sikhs ? the ones in Canada, who hardly have any loss of life or relatives affected by the Punjab insurgency ? Is that why even terrorist Bhindranwale's own organization agrees there is no khalistan movement in India ?

Sounds like a few overseas Sikh pushing the agenda of Khalistan & genocide as they are the ones who stand to gain the most from it. 

 

As i said, Jagmeet Singh calls Operation Blue Star a genocide. Thats all i need to know on how much of a terrorism supporter he is.

 

[Muloghonto]

2 minutes ago, PBN said:

 

 

Yet, neither Amnesty International, nor Canadian government recognizes it as genocide. 

Like i said, nobody cares what a small level province says. Especially a province which still bans 'witchcraft and buggery'. 

Um, sure. 

 

[PBN]

7 minutes ago, Muloghonto said:

I am sure they don't all just live in 3 blocks of housing side by side. There are terrorist glorifying Gurdwaras in Toronto and Vancouver. Not all, but for example, here we see regularly the terrorists being feted by Dashmesh Darbar Gurdwaras. 

 

Majority of what Sikhs ? the ones in Canada, who hardly have any loss of life or relatives affected by the Punjab insurgency ? Is that why even terrorist Bhindranwale's own organization agrees there is no khalistan movement in India ?

Sounds like a few overseas Sikh pushing the agenda of Khalistan & genocide as they are the ones who stand to gain the most from it. 

 

As i said, Jagmeet Singh calls Operation Blue Star a genocide. Thats all i need to know on how much of a terrorism supporter he is.

 

you said the motion was pandering to the terrorist community in toronto when it is the majority of sikhs who have advocated the sikh genocide in 1984 where thousands were burnt alive, raped, and murdered for days without the police or government doing anything.  so you moved from calling the community as terrorist to now gurduwaras glorifying the terrorists. 

 

furthermore, thousands of innocent sikhs were killed in punjab over a decade and the person who unraveled this was murdered by Indian police

Quote

The campaign to systematically exterminate Sikhs in Punjab lasted over a decade. In 1995, Jaswant Singh Khalra uncovered police cremation records proving the murders of innocent Sikh youth. He

presented his findings to the Canadian Parliament in June of that year. Upon returning to India that September, he was abducted by police and tortured for a month. His body was cut into pieces and dumped into a river.

 

 

Belatedly, Indian Supreme Court Judges Justice Kuldip Singh and Justice Saghir Ahmed expressed 'horror and shock' at the evidence Khalra had collected, describing the acts it proved as 'worse than genocide'.

 

 

Today, Amnesty International recognizes Jaswant Khalra as an International Defender of Human Rights and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights has an entire exhibit dedicated to his honour.
 

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/amneet-singh-bali/1984-sikh-genocide_b_16099600.html

 
 

Edited October 6, 2017 by PBN