Thirty years on, why do Sikhs continue to engage with 1984?

Edmonton, Alberta (June 10, 2014): It is learnt that the Sikh Research Institute is going to hold a series of events through June 2014 in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom to mark 30th anniversary of Ghallughara June 1984. A press release issued by SikhRI in this regard, reads as follows:

Since 1984, the month of June has had a jarring significance for the global Sikh community. It is the month of the Tīsrā Ghallughara, the Sikh Holocaust, the Sikh Nakhba, the catastrophe which continues to provoke deeply felt emotions, evoke unanswered questions and to occupy a central presence in the collective Sikh psyche.

[File Photo]

In the first week of June 1984, the Indian Army, under the orders of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, invaded forty-four gurudwarae, including the central site of the Darbar Sahib complex (often referred to as the Golden Temple), throughout Panjab, India. The devastation and the loss of life have never been addressed instead there have been continued efforts to silence legitimate enquiry. The onslaught was followed by a period of over ten years in which the state instigated systemic enforced disappearances, extra-judicial executions, illegal detentions torture and other widespread human rights violations.

In the face of official concealment and to counter the sea of misinformation that has engulfed the subject of June 1984, the Sikh Research Institute is presenting a series of events in the month of June in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. These events, which comprise presentations, workshops, question and answer sessions as well general discussion, seek to provide a contextual background through well-researched and factually sourced presentations and in-depth analysis. Narinder Kaur attended one such event in the past, she said “For the first time in a long time, I have engaged in dialogue around the events of 1984 – and for once in the last 30 years I feel empowered to take action; action that is not out of my grasp.” These events are free and open to all, Baljinder Bhogal from London, said “As someone who has not grown up in a Sikh/Indian environment it engaged and informed me in an inclusive and encouraging way, I would definitely bring my non-Sikh friends. The program included a lot of facts and opinions, but remained aware of presenting these to bring change in an unbiased way that would benefit everyone, not just Sikhs,”

The Sikh Research Institute has, in collaboration with Ensaaf, produced resources to help parents when their children ask questions about 1984 “The distance of time has only brought clarity to the significance of 1984. It was a collective trauma. Now as a mother, I need to understand how I can talk to my children about 1984, this is where the resources provided by the SikhRI are so essential!” said Tarnjit Kaur, a mother of two youngsters.

SikhRI is hosting many events to commemorate 1984.