Pennsylvania State Assembly Terms 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots as “Sikh Genocide”

The General Assembly of Pennsylvania in the United States passed a resolution on Oct.17 terming the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 as “Sikh genocide.” Sikh organizations have welcomed this move and thanked the assembly and the people that played a crucial role in the passage of resolution.

The resolution starts with introducing itself as “A Resolution condemning the November 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India as genocide.”

This resolution was moved by Alex Charlton and Jamie Santora, who are Republican representatives in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. They introduced the resolution on Oct.15 as non-controversial resolution, which was adopted two days later.

The resolution stated, “The Sikh genocide began on November 1, 1984, after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in capital territory of Delhi and the states of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra.”

The resolution further said, “the Sikh genocide lasted three days and over 30,000 Sikhs were brutally murdered or died as they were hunted in their homes, where they were hacked and burnt alive.”

Welcoming this move, Sikh groups in the United States said, “American Sikh Caucus committee and Sikh Coordination committee East Coast thank the Pennsylvania General Assembly for unanimously passing the resolution condemning the November 1984 anti-Sikh violence in India as genocide.”

It added, “We would continue to work with legislators to seek justice for the 1984 Sikh Victims of Genocide.”

The Tribune newspaper quoted a statement from the Sikh organizations as saying, “Dr. Pritpal Singh and Harpreet Singh of Sikh Caucus Committee and Himmat Singh and Harjinder Singh of Sikh Coordinator Committee urged other state Assemblies to recognize the anti-Sikh violence happened in India in November 1984 as a ‘Sikh genocide.’ “

The resolution said that on April 16, 2015, the California state assembly had unanimously passed a resolution, which recognizes the alleged systematic and organized killings of Sikhs in Delhi and remembers those who died during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

It also mentioned about the mass grave found in 2011 in a village of Haryana and a “widow colony” in Delhi.