Assembly for Human Rights

Sacramento State University Genocide Conference Includes Sikhs

November 26, 2024

Father Joshua Lickter, Executive Director, Assembly for Human Rights

 

On November 14th, 15th, and 16th, The Department Of Ethnic Studies & The Model UN Program at Sacramento State University hosted the 6th International Conference on Genocide. The three-day conference included sessions on the history of genocide in Indonesia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia, and Armenia. They paid particular attention to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and included sessions discussing California’s dark genocidal past against Native Americans. Most significantly, they recognized India’s 1984 Sikh Genocide, an atrocity of which most historians know very little. 

 

In a special Saturday morning session, Dr. Amrik Singh, Dr. Gurinder Grewal, and Colonel Dr. G.B. Singh traced the history of the targeted persecution of Sikhs in India. They explained how, since its birth in the 1500s, Sikhism has stood against India's caste system and fought to create safe spaces for people of all races, religions, and social standing. More often than not, this has conflicted with the beliefs of the ruling powers, who have, in turn, tried to prevent Sikh communities from thriving. On multiple occasions, this has led to all-out genocide. 

Dr. Grewal traced, in painful detail, the events directly leading up to the 1984 Sikh Genocide. He blamed Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India at the time. “She orchestrated the plan, and she carried out the plan ruthlessly without any regard to human life. Sikhs were killed only because they were Sikhs.” He explained how Indira Gandhi created conflict between Sikhs and Hindus in an attempt to turn India’s Hindu population against the Sikhs. She “created an enemy” in Sant Jarnail Singh Bhinderwale, a Sikh activist who pushed for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh State. Bhinderwale pushed for Khalistan due to frustration over how the Indian Government continually ignored Sikh rights, especially in Punjab, where Sikhs are a majority. 

On June 1, 1984, Indira Gandhi ordered the execution of Operation Blue Star, authorizing India’s military to storm the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, where she believed Bhinderwale was hiding from authorities. She intentionally chose this date, knowing that over 10,000 Sikh pilgrims would be visiting the Golden Temple at that time. When the siege ended, the Indian Army refused to allow the Red Cross access so they could tend to the wounded and assess the carnage. Indira Gandhi wanted to make sure the Indian Government controlled the narrative. Official Government reports listed 493 dead. Eyewitness accounts, however, go as high as 8000 killed. Bhinderwale, who had no criminal record and against whom no arrest warrants had been issued, was among those killed. 

On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi’s Sikh bodyguards assassinated her before she could authorize further attacks that would have decimated India’s Sikh population. However, in response to her assassination, India’s government took control of the media, broadcasting hate messages against the Sikh community such as “blood for blood…every Sikh a suspect.” According to Dr. Grewal, criminal mobs, hired by the Indian government as part of Operation Shanti, “burned Sikh houses, business and Gurdwaras. They killed Sikhs by torture, putting tires in their neck, and burning them. White Phosphorus, a banned chemical, was applied to their skin to burn them. Women were gang raped. Children were killed. Hindus who tried to protect the Sikhs were not spared.” By November 4th, more than 30,000 Sikhs had been killed throughout India. Another 300,000 were displaced and rendered homeless. Over 335 Sikh Gurdwaras in Delhi were destroyed, and billions of dollars of Sikh-owned property was destroyed. 

 

According to Dr. Grewal, subsequent inquiries into the genocide found that 80 police officers were guilty of participating in or encouraging the genocidal actions. However, none of them were ever punished. Many political leaders were handsomely rewarded for their participation in the genocide. Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi's son, “was in the control room actively participating in carrying out Operation Blue Star. He ignored all the calls requesting the army to protect and establish law and order in Delhi. He even ignored the president of India who was a Sikh.” Rajiv Gandhi then served as India’s Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989. 

 

According to Colonel Dr. G. B. Singh, no justice ever occurred for the 1984 Genocide victims. The Indian Government immediately went to great lengths to cover up evidence and dispose of bodies before they could be counted. And the targeted killing of Sikhs never ended. Between 1984 and 1999, outside sources have estimated as many as 1.2 Million Sikhs have been slaughtered in India while the government looked the other way. Between November 1984 and February 2005, the Indian Government did organize ten commissions to investigate the genocide, but none were meant to bring justice, and none included punishments for those responsible. Their purpose was to buy time for the guilty, many of whom maintain key positions of power in India to this very day. “As we all know,” Colonel Singh concluded, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” 

 

In a closing question and answer panel discussion, much was said about the current Indian government and the Hindutva (Hindu Nationalist) agenda they have embraced. Audience members expressed fears about what Prime Minister Narendra Modi was doing to his critics around the world and the scary reality of Indian Transnational Repression. According to Colonel Singh, “The genocide continues. But now, Modi brags about going into the homes of his enemies in foreign countries and killing them, and he calls his own Muslim citizens animals.” “India is not a free country,” Dr. Grewal added. “I was born there, and I am not allowed to go back there,” a reference to several tactics India employs against her diaspora critics: suspending travel visas and credible threats of arrest upon returning to India. 

 

The conference illuminated the various genocidal practices that have occurred in autocratic nations around the world and raised awareness that any nation can become complicit in genocide. However, it also offered hope that autocratic nations like India could change for the better. In a plenary address, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who served as president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014, shared how he successfully transitioned the nation from autocracy to democracy. With great emotion, he declared that “the cry of ‘never again’ must be upheld by future generations,” something he sees happening in Indonesia. In a follow-up panel with Dr. Eric Jones of Northern Illinois University and Dr. Michael Vann of California State University, Sacramento, President Yudhoyono explained how he was able to reinstate a free press, decentralize the government, cease using the military to silence opposition, create venues for reconciliation, and provide transparency regarding past crimes against humanity committed by Indonesian leaders. “Civilians run the government. The government does not run civilians.”

Perhaps, as more and more people learn about the 1984 Sikh Genocide, as well as the current human rights violations perpetrated by the Indian State, the court of public opinion will turn against India, and the next generation of Indian officials will follow Yudhoyono’s example. Today, India proudly describes itself as the "world's largest democracy." Democracies, however, do not cover up the darkest elements of their recent past, nor do they punish their critics or silence the voices of those who demand justice. Imagine all the good that could happen if India admitted its past crimes against the Sikh community, apologized, and established clear channels for reconciliation and reparation. The wounds from 1984 still run deep. Thankfully, organizations like the Sikh Heritage and Cultural Society exist to ensure the stories of the fallen live on. As more and more prestigious establishments like Sacramento State University host conferences highlighting India's genocidal past, hope arises that the knowledge gained by others will help prevent future genocides from happening in India or anywhere else in the world. We must keep in mind the words of Spanish philosopher George Santayana, inscribed on a placard outside a former concentration camp in Auschwitz, Germany. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 

Father Joshua Lickter serves as an AFCI Anglican Priest, and as Executive Director for the AFHR. For the past ten years he has worked closely with members of the Indian diaspora community, telling their stories and advocating for their rights.

 

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