Seminar Title: 1984 Sikh Massacre: 40 Years On
Venue: Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Wakefield Rd, Bradford, UK
Date: 2nd November 2024
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Gurnam Singh, University of Warwick, UK
By Gurnam Singh | Opinion |
INTRODUCTION
Today, we gather to reflect on a dark chapter in history, what is often referred to as the anti-Sikh genocide of 1984. It is a period some urge us to “forget”. They argue that it has been 40 years, and perhaps it is time to “move on.” Yet, we must resist such calls, for history shows that justice, no matter how delayed, is still worth pursuing. For inspiration we need to look no further than Nazi Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal, who dedicated his life to tracking down Nazi war criminals. His efforts, including the capture of Adolf Eichmann, were driven by his unrelenting commitment to justice. Wiesenthal’s work underscores the importance of remembrance and accountability, principles that are just as relevant to us today as we commemorate the 40th anniversary of the anti-Sikh pogroms.
We can also look to our very own Jaswant Singh Khalra , who is known world-wide for exposing widespread human rights abuses during the insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s and 1990s. He uncovered evidence of thousands of illegal killings and disappearances of young Sikh men, many of whom were detained, tortured, and extrajudicially killed by police. Khalra’s meticulous documentation of these abuses, including secret cremations by police in Amritsar, brought international attention to the human rights violations in the region. Despite facing threats and harassment, Khalra continued his work fearlessly until his own abduction and murder by police in 1995. His legacy endures as a symbol of courage and justice in the fight against state-sponsored violence and impunity.
The philosopher George Santayana warned that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This warning resounds in India, where the failure to protect citizens from violence has weakened the state itself, exposing vulnerabilities that can lead to future atrocities. The 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms, largely erased from global consciousness, are a reminder of this failure.
After the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31st October 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards, mobs attacked Sikh neighbourhoods across India in a well-orchestrated wave of violence. The death toll is estimated at over 3,000 in New Delhi alone, with between 8,000 and 17,000 Sikh lives lost across India. Based on reliable sources, Pav Singh (1984) in his book, India’s Guilty Secrets, suggests the actual death toll was over 8,000 men, women and children massacred in the capital Delhi alone. Across India, over 50,000 Sikhs were displaced across 40 cities, victims of violence that was anything but spontaneous.
As we mark 40 years since these horrific events, we must seize this moment to reflect and to chart a path towards peace, justice, and reconciliation.
SIKH HISTORY AND SURVIVAL AGAINST OPPRESSION
The history of the Sikh community is one of resilience against oppression. Since its origins in the 15th century, Sikhism has been under siege, fighting both for survival and for justice. Two of the ten Sikh Gurus were executed by ruling powers for daring to challenge tyranny. Over centuries, Sikhs have resisted the oppression of the Mughal Empire, British colonial rulers, and, since Partition in 1947, injustices by the Indian state. This history of resistance is part of our identity.
While today we remember the Sikh genocide of November 1984, it is essential to acknowledge two earlier genocides in Sikh history. The Chhōtā Ghallūghārā in 1746, during which 10,000 Sikhs were massacred by the Afghan Durrani Empire, and the Vaddā Ghallūghārā in 1762, where up to one-third of the Sikh population perished. The 1984 massacre has sometimes been referred to within the community as the “Third Sikh Holocaust,” signifying another attempt to annihilate our people.
A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY
The anti-Sikh violence of 1984 was not only a state-sponsored atrocity against Sikhs but a crime against humanity. Recognizing these events officially as such is crucial, as it highlights the systematic nature of the violence. Every year, we observe World Holocaust Memorial Day on 27th January, a day to remember all crimes against humanity. The massacre of Sikhs in 1984, like other genocides, involved systematic attempts to eliminate a community based on identity.
The term “Holocaust” originally referred to the “burnt offering” and was first used in the 1890s for the Armenian massacres. It was later applied to the Nazi-led genocide of six million European Jews. The horrors of the Holocaust underscored humanity’s darkest capacity for violence, a darkness that has resurfaced repeatedly.
Between 1941 and 1945, six million Jewish men, women and children were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. Their attempt to murder all the Jews in Europe, shook the foundations of civilisation. The Nazis targeted anyone they believed threatened their ideal of a ‘pure Aryan race’, including Roma people, disabled people, gay people, political opponents and others who were deemed to be of inferior racial stock.
From 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, imposed an extremist programme to reconstruct Cambodia. Millions of people died through starvation, disease and exhaustion, and thousands were executed.
In a violent outpouring in 1994, approximately one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered in just 100 days in the Genocide in Rwanda.
In July 1995, against the backdrop of an ongoing civil war, Bosnian Serb forces murdered around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica.
In 2003 a civil war began in the region of Darfur. Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed, attacked black African people, destroying entire villages, murdering civilians and displacing many more.
We must remember these atrocities as evidence of humanity’s potential for cruelty. Yet equally important is the act of memorialization, which affirms our commitment to justice and our refusal to allow such crimes to fade into obscurity.
THE ORCHESTRATION OF VIOLENCE IN 1984
Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” took place on November 9-10, 1938, in Nazi Germany. It was a state-sponsored wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms, during which Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues were attacked, looted, and destroyed. Thousands of Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. This event marked an escalation of the Nazi campaign against Jewish people, foreshadowing the Holocaust.
In a parallel way, the November 1984 Sikh genocide unfolded with terrifying orchestration. In the days following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, mobs attacked Sikh communities, looting homes, burning businesses, and assaulting women. In Delhi’s Tilak Vihar, known as the “Widows Colony,” survivors recount how mobs, seemingly under state protection, executed a planned assault on Sikhs. Despite eyewitness accounts and reports, the true extent of the violence remains obscured by government cover-ups.
This tragedy has left a deep wound, especially as justice remains elusive. Many Sikh commentators, like the respected writer Khushwant Singh, questioned the future of Sikhs in India after witnessing the lack of accountability for these crimes. Singh, a loyal Indian, warned against alienating Sikhs, foreseeing a legacy of resentment if the state continued to fail its citizens (Outlook Magazine, 7th Nov 2004).
A PATH FORWARD – JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION
Forty years on, justice may seem distant, but reconciliation and peace could be attainable if the narrative surrounding 1984 changes. The events of November 1984 were not spontaneous “riots” but a state-enabled genocide, a systematic attempt to marginalize a minority community.
Political scientist Gyanendra Pandey argued in The Construction of Communalism in Colonial North India that communal divisions were a product of British colonialism, not inherent to Indian society. This rigid categorization sowed divisions that later governments have exploited. The mischaracterization of Sikh demands for more autonomy for Panjab and other States in India which formed the central plank of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, as separatism or anti-Hindu rhetoric laid the groundwork for demonizing Sikhs. This incendiary narrative helped justify the violence that followed Gandhi’s assassination.
A comparison can be drawn with processes like the Northern Ireland Peace Process and South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. But in India’s case, achieving peace will require visionary leadership and a commitment to truth and accountability.
REMEMBERING AND LEARNING FROM THE PAST
An African proverb says, “Until the lions tell their own story, history will always glorify the hunters.” This wisdom speaks to the universal need for memory and the importance of telling one’s own story. As Milan Kundera observed, “The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory.” Today, we resist that erasure by remembering the lives lost and by calling for accountability.
Events like this seminar serve as reminders of history and as catalysts for changing hearts and minds. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” In the darkness of our collective sorrow, let us seek justice, healing, and the hope of a brighter future.
Gurnam Singh is an academic activist dedicated to human rights, liberty, equality, social and environmental justice. He is an Associate Professor of Sociology at University of Warwick, UK. He can be contacted at Gurnam.singh.1@warwick.ac.uk
* This is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.
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