Oct 31 to Nov 6: Blood Donation Week by Worldwide Sikh Community

LONDON, UK—To raise awareness of the on-going human rights issues in India, international Sikh community will donate blood starting the week of October 31, 2016.  The campaign #SikhBlood started last year in order to raise awareness for Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa’s campaign to free political prisoners languishing in jails across India.

The campaign coincides with the 32nd anniversary of anti-Sikh massacres across India after the killing of Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India.  Thousands of Sikhs were killed in the state sponsored genocide, which was also supervised by prominent officials of the country.  Killings continued straight for 3 days just in New Delhi, the country’s capital.  Similar massacres also took place in states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Last year, the #SikhBlood campaign attracted scores of Sikhs in countries like India, UK, USA and Canada to donate blood.  Along with Sikhs, many non-Sikhs also took part in the blood donation drives.  A Twitter campaign with hashtag #SikhBlood also took place during the same week as activists from all over the world raised awareness of the on-going human rights issues in India.

Activists also posted pictures of themselves donating blood.

Affectionately called Bapu (translating as father), 82 year old American resident and Indian native Surat Singh Khalsa has been on hunger strike for over 600 days in Punjab in an attempt to raise awareness about the Indian government’s treatment of Sikh political prisoners. Many of these prisoners were convicted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) in 1985-95. This act was criticized at the time by human rights groups, and has since been withdrawn as it gave the state powers to detain suspects without charge. There were also widespread reports of the police extracting confessions under torture.

Many Sikhs regard Bapu Surat Singh’s hunger strike as a service to humanity, a core principle of the Sikh religion. This is echoed in the campaign, which has increased blood donations from Asian blood donors who are more likely to have a rare blood group. The drive has been supported through a social media campaign using the hashtag #SikhBlood.