December 15, 2017 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
Chandigarh: The use of hashtag #SikhGenocide in his tweet by former Indian diplomat and currently a minister in present Narendra Modi lead BJP government has put the Indian government in a tight spot and left many of them perturbed, as the Indian government earlier had opposed the resolution passed by Ontario’s provincial parliament declaring the events of November 1984 as ‘Genocide’.
It was on the pretext of execution of the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that genocidal violence against the Sikhs was orchestrated throughout India.
Last month, minister of state for housing and urban affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri used #SikhGenocide in a pair of tweets while responding to Punjab state legislator and Supreme Court of India (SCI) advocate HS Phoolka, media reports said.
One read: “@hsphoolka has been the rallying point & main source of inspiration providing legal assistance to families of victims of #sikhgenocide.”
@hsphoolka has been the rallying point & main source of inspiration providing legal assistance to families of victims of #sikhgenocide https://t.co/Y7JPAxv4WE
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) November 3, 2017
“The community collectively owes @hsphooka a big debt of gratitude. #NoJusticefor1984 #sikhgenocide,” reads the reported tweet of union minster for state Hardip Singh Puri.
In April of this year, Indian government through its ministry for external had objected against the Sikh genocide 1984 motion passed by the Ontario Parliament in Canada. The Indian government had termed the motion as “misguided” and alleged that it was conceived out of “limited understanding of Indian constitution, society, ethos, rule of law and the judicial process”. It is worth mentioning here that even after 33 long years, all these factors talked about by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, have failed to deliver justice to the survivors of Sikh Genocide 1984.
Addressing that tragic event as ‘Genocide’ by a minister of the same government that opposed it shows that Indian state’s strategy of denial stands exposed.
What has concerned external affairs ministry officials even more is that Hardip Singh Puri has represented India abroad, including as permanent representative to the UN, a report in Hindustan Times (HT) reads.
His tweets came in the context of Phoolka’s reaction to an op-ed he wrote for HT, in which he had focused on these themes: “This was a mass atrocity and could attract any of the four labels normally associated with such heinous crimes: genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes.” He had also commented that, “By no means can the carnage of 1984 be described as a ‘riot’,” notes Hindustan Times (HT).
Although, this is not the first time that a member of the ruling government has termed the Sikh killing of November 1984 as riots. In December 2014 Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh while talking with the media persons had admitted that it was a ‘Genocide’. Even the Delhi Assembly in June 2015 unanimously passed a motion recognising the fact of Sikh genocide 1984.
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Related Topics: 1984 Sikh Genocide, Advocate Harvinder Singh Phoolka, BJP, Indian Politics, Indian State, Narendra Modi, Sikh Diaspora