History’s Darkest Days: The Sikh Genocide of 1984

Nov 29

Nov 29 History’s Darkest Days: The Sikh Genocide of 1984

’Never Forget 1984’ artwork by Inkqusitive

Jasleen Kaur

1984. When this year comes to the minds of most people, they may recall the classic dystopian novel by George Orwell, or simply neon clothing accessorized by scrunchies and windbreaker jackets. However, for me and millions of other Sikhs across the globe, 1984 is a year of terror, a year that will always live in infamy. Sikhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world with over 30 million followers and originated in the 1400s in Punjab (now separated between India and Pakistan due to the Partition of 1947, however, most Sikhs live on the Indian side today). Sikhs believe in one God, equality in every aspect, freedom of religion, and selfless service to humanity. A Sikh, such as myself, follows the teachings of all ten of our Gurus, our “teachers” that bring us from dark (gu) to light (ru). The tenth Guru did not choose a person as his successor but instead gave the eternal Guru-ship to the Guru Granth. I am referring to the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, not only revered by Sikhs as our sacred scripture but also our living, eternal Guru. The Guru Granth Sahib Ji consists of 1430 pages filled with the writings of the Sikh Gurus written in poetry and musical frameworks. The teachings within the Guru Granth Sahib Ji address how to be kind, truthful, see everyone as one, and remember and become one with God.

The tenth Guru bestowed upon all Sikh women the last name Kaur, meaning princess, and Sikh men the last name Singh, meaning lion. The purpose of this was to eradicate the caste system and further accentuate equality no matter gender or caste which divided the Indian society (specific to Hinduism) into a system of hierarchy based on predetermined familial status. You will often see Sikhs with long hair (uncut) or a turban. A large part of the outward identity of a Sikh is uncut hair, which represents spirituality and an acceptance of God’s will. 99% of the turbans you see being worn in the US are in fact Sikh turbans. The turban represents values such as commitment, respect, courage, nobility, justice, wisdom, and responsibility towards helping others. Both men and women can wear the turban. This distinct outward identity of a Sikh was not created by coincidence, the purpose is for people to be able to recognize a Sikh in a crowd. If you see a Sikh, you know that you can go to them for help or protection if you ever need it. Sikhs have a long history of fighting for equality, freedom, and respect, not only for themselves but for others as well. We played a large role in the fight for Indian independence and have consistently been large contributors as soldiers in the Indian Army. However, the Indian government violated our rights and imposed a government-orchestrated massacre on the Sikh community of India in 1984.

Though this time in history is often left out of history books, occasionally this genocide makes an appearance through one misconstrued paragraph while discussing the life of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. I have experienced this myself when a history book blamed the Sikh genocide on Sikhs and not the ones who killed us. The Sikh Genocide of 1984 is often addressed as “acceptable” because Indira Gandhi’s two Sikh bodyguards had killed her. However, history books never address why they killed her, they never talk about the horrible things she did to the Sikh community that her bodyguards felt disgusted enough to kill her. This wasn’t a spontaneous act without any warrant. Over 17,000 Sikhs (the true number is likely much higher, but not all Sikh bodies were counted) did not deserve to be brutally murdered by the public and government officials themselves. What history books seem to illustrate is that her death came as a surprise attack and that she had done nothing to deserve it. They gloss over what she had done to the most sacred place of worship for Sikhs: the Golden Temple. Operation Blue Star ordered by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in June of 1984. She ordered the removal of militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from one of the holiest places of worship for Sikhs, Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was the leader of the Khalistan movement, a movement that demanded a rightful resolution to the prevailing social, economical, and political condition of Sikhs by creating a Sikh state in the land of Punjab, the birthplace of Sikhism. The Indian government falsely twisted this movement into a “separatist movement” that served as a danger to India and a movement that all Sikhs were a part of, which was far from the truth. In fact, there were many Sikhs who were against the creation of Khalistan at the time. However, Khalistan was never the true reason for the attack, Sikh hatred was.

The Indian government decided to take violent action within a Sikh place of worship. As a result of failed attempts at getting Bhindranwale and his supporters out of Harmandir Sahib, Indira Gandhi created Operation Blue Star. She had ordered the Indian Army to surround Harmandir Sahib and had ordered the military assault on the most significant religious center for the Sikhs. There was fighting and armed violence within this sacred place of worship that was built by our 5th guru and has been standing there ever since. Not only had Harmandir Sahib been attacked, but about 40 other Gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship) in Punjab faced military assaults. There were no militant leaders or Khalistanis that had taken over these Gurdwaras, proving that her actions had not been to “protect India,” but instead to harm its own people, its own Sikhs. This act alone had already killed thousands. On October 31, 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards because of what she did, because of this unjust and overall disgusting attack she took against the Sikh community. History books don’t cover the reasons as to why, they don’t cover the truth behind actions, they only try to portray victims as villains, using lies and deceit, while allowing the real villain to escape from the grasps of the truth. Indira Gandhi launched an overall disgusting attack against the Sikh community enabling Sikh hatred that would arise after her death that had been brewing ever since Operation Blue Star was enacted.

The reaction to her death was horrendous. Her assassination triggered a mass genocide in the Sikh community. The most violence was located in New Delhi, India’s capital. This was the beginning of the anti-Sikh massacres. People roamed the streets, burning down Sikh-owned properties, homes, and even Gurdwaras. Sikhs were killed inhumanely, being clubbed to death or set aflame. Sikh women were gang-raped and Sikh men were dragged out of their homes by their turbans where they faced horrifying deaths. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for Sikhs to have burning tires placed on their heads, or gasoline poured on them before being burned alive. Even law enforcement and government officials took part in murdering these innocent people, they took part in the violence against Sikhs. They encouraged the rioting against these innocent lives. They provided mobs with weapons and incited the civilians to continue with these inhumane acts. At the peak of the violence, one Sikh was murdered per minute. Within a period of only three days, over 3,000 Sikhs were killed. There were only two news channels that portrayed what was happening and they were both controlled by the Indian government so they illustrated events differently than what was truly happening to benefit themselves. It is often implied that these massacres were random. That they were unorganized. That there was chaos that overwhelmed law enforcement and the government that was trying to protect its people. This is completely incorrect. These massacres were not random and they were not unorganized. Law enforcement participated in this genocide and the Indian government did not try to protect the Sikhs. They tried to crush their own people and joined in on this mass murder of the Sikh community.

My parents were fourteen. Fourteen. They saw their own people killed every day, they discovered what it truly meant to be scared to go outside, what persecution was like. My dad told me that his neighbors helped bring him and his brother back from school on their motorcycles when the riots started. They had to wear helmets to cover their turbans to make sure no one found out they were Sikhs while escaping from the school. My mom said that she would go on her roof and see all the smoke. Her brothers, dad, and neighbors would take rounds to make sure their family stayed safe and no outsiders came into their colony. Nearly every Sikh who was alive during the Sikh Genocide of 1984 knows someone who didn’t survive. The Sikhs that were scarred by witnessing the events of 1984 playout are your friends’ parents and grandparents. This genocide was only 37 years ago and Sikhs across the globe feel its ripple effects every day in one way or another. The one thing every single Sikh around the globe has in common is that we will never forget the attacks of 1984.

Jaswant Singh Kalra, a human rights defender, was tortured and killed by Punjab police after he discovered paperwork in Amritsar, India that proved that the police had killed and burned thousands of Sikhs after Operation Blue Star and 1984. Before his murder in 1995, he gave speeches all throughout Canada in an effort to reveal the truth about these massacres. Anti-Sikh riot is what is commonly used to describe the events of 1984. Riot is the wrong word. Riot implies that these massacres were random, that they were unorganized, that there was chaos that overwhelmed law enforcement and a government that was trying to protect its people. This is as far from correct as one can get. These massacres were not random and they were not unorganized. Law enforcement participated in this genocide and the Indian government did not try to protect the Sikhs. They tried to crush their own people and joined in on this mass murder of the Sikh community. 17,000. Over 17,000 lives were lost during all this and barely anyone outside of India knows about it. The Indian government doesn’t accept responsibility for this heinous crime against the Sikh community and tries to erase it from our history. Politicians and officials that are responsible for these attacks and took part in these murders still have not been brought to justice even after 37 years, and many of them are still in office today. The government of India doesn’t acknowledge this as a Sikh Genocide, they don’t acknowledge that what they did was wrong. Communities outside of India haven’t treated this as what it is either-a crime against humankind.