NEW YORK—Hundreds of Sikhs from New York and neighboring States held a “Sovereignty March” outside the United Nations Headquarters yesterday. The event was organized on the 30th anniversary of the Darbar Sahib invasion by the Indian Army in June 1984.
Sikhs For Justice, a US based Human Rights organization played a key role in the march, and it’s activists and volunteers addressed the attendees, highlighting the issue of continued human rights’ violations in India, as well as the history behind 1984 Sikh Genocide.
Thirty years, ago the Indian Army attacked on the holiest Sikh shrine, the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, Punjab. This year, organizers issued a “Referendum 2020” asking the Sikh diaspora in United States to express its opinion seeking a sovereign Sikh Nation. The referendum stated, “I aspire for the formation of a sovereign and independent country in Indian occupied Punjab, on the basis that Sikhs are the indigenous people of Punjab, have a historical homeland, a separate religion and have the right to self-determination”.
A number of renowned Sikh speakers and independent human rights activists were present at the march. In addition to the referendum, Sikhs For Justice asked the UN to probe Indian Army attack on Sri Harmandir Sahib, and other Sikh shrines across India.
