Venue: Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B1 1BB
Time/date: 7.30 – 9.30pm on Friday 6th June 2014
Organized by: The Sikh Council UK – Indian Sub-Continent Affairs Sub-Committee
Participants: Local MP’s, MEP’s, Councillors and Community activists.
Background: On 6th June 1984, the India Army, in an act of Sikh genocide termed ‘Operation Blue Star,’ initiated a full-scale military assault on the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, India. The pretext to the attack was that some armed militants were holding out in the temple. Over a period of 4 days, large sections of the temple complex, the holiest shrine for the 30 million worldwide Sikh Community, were destroyed and an estimated 1000 people, mostly pilgrims, were killed.
Operation Blue Star in 1984
The Blue Star massacre was quickly followed by Anti-Sikh pogrom ‘Operation Woodrose’, which resulted in 150,000 India Army troops fanning across the Punjab, rounding up, torturing, and killing thousands of young Sikhs who were accused of being terrorists and separatists, and therefore a threat to the integrity and sovereignty of India.
Four months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, the former Prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her bodyguards, in what is viewed as an act of retribution. Subsequently, over 10,000 Sikhs were massacred across the country (including the capital Delhi) under the watchful eye of the police and security forces in what were termed ‘communal riots.’ Subsequent inquiries have implicated senior politicians of the former ruling Congress Party in organizing the Sikh Genocide.
It has been estimated by Human Rights activists that up to 100,000 innocent people, both Sikhs and non-Sikhs, were victims of state sponsored terrorism through extrajudicial killings by the Punjab Police and security forces in the proceeding decade following the attack on Harmandir Sahib in June 0f 1984.
On Sunday June 8, 2014, thousands of Sikhs will be marching in London out of Hyde Park to commemorate the 30th anniversary of what has become widely recognized as the Sikh Genocide.
The Sikh Council UK (SCUK), a n organization that represents the vast majority of the estimated 600,000 strong British Sikh Community, invites all the press to attend this event.
The event will commence with short speeches from Members of Parliament (MPs) followed by a wide ranging debate on those historic events and how Sikh grievances can be addressed through a justice and reconciliation process.
For further information contact: Mr Gurdial Singh Atwal on 07973 726070, SCUK.
