Statement for the Record of the Sikh Coalition Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission United States Congress Hearing on the Plight of Religious Minorities in India April 4, 2014
As the largest Sikh American civil rights organization in the United States, the Sikh Coalition respectfully requests inclusion of this statement and the accompanying enclosure into the official hearing record for the above-referenced hearing on the plight of religious minorities in India.
The rights of many of our constituents were directly or indirectly affected by the anti-Sikh pogroms of November 1984, which claimed the lives of at least 3,000 Sikh civilians in New Delhi alone1 and an indeterminate number of Sikh civilians in cities throughout India. Despite the magnitude of the killings, the widespread rape of Sikh women, and the destruction of Sikh Gurdwaras (Sikh Houses of Worship)—and despite overwhelming evidence that the violence was planned by Indian government officials and facilitated by Indian police—successive governments in India during the last 30 years have consistently failed to prosecute the architects of this violence.2
In this context, we urge the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission to:
Organize a public hearing on the anti-Sikh pogroms of November 1984; Support efforts to prosecute the organizers of the pogroms; and Exercise its authority to promote accountability and the rule of law in India.
We are grateful to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for the opportunity to provide written testimony for the hearing record. Please let us know if you require additional information, and thank you for your consideration.
1 Manoj Mitta and H.S. Phoolka, When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath 8 (2007) 2 Jaskaran Kaur, Twenty Years of Impunity: The November 1984 Pogroms of Sikhs in India (2d ed. 2006), available at http://www.ensaaf.org/publications/reports/20years/20years-2nd.pdf. i-vi 1/25/07 9:11 PM Page i
TWENTY YEARS OF IMPUNITY
The November 1984 Pogroms of Sikhs in India
JASKARAN KAUR
A Report by Ensaaf 2nd Edition October 2006
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2nd Edition published in October 2006 by Ensaaf http://www.ensaaf.org [email protected] PO Box 25731 Portland, OR 97298-0731
Copyright © 2006 by Jaskaran Kaur
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by an electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
ISBN-13: 978-0-97870-730-9 ISBN-10: 0-9787073-0-3 (First edition published by Nectar Publishing as ISBN 0-9548412-0-4)
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Ensaaf
Ensaaf, which means “justice” in many South Asian languages, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to ending impunity in India for mass state crimes, and to survivors’ rights to truth, justice and reparations. Impunity means the impossibility of holding perpetrators accountable because they are shielded by law or protected by political institutions and powers.
Ensaaf’s cutting edge advocacy is implemented though four coordinated programs: