Journalists remain haunted by what they saw in 1984…

“The killers were so exact and meticulous that they did not even hurry with their job, just took their time to rape, murder and torture them between meals…”

It’s that time of the year again. When we remember November 1984. The best remembrance, second only to assisting the survivors directly, is: understanding what happened during that bloody week of November 1984 (and the many bloody years that followed!) and then sharing our understanding with others.

So, this November:

1.  Sign this petition. Share this petition.

“We, the undersigned, call for

An independent international inquiry into Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress party’s role in planning, organizing and executing the November 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms in New Delhi,India and the immediate removal of the name of former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, from all public monuments, airports, roads, stadia, parks, sports awards, and professorships…”

2. Read this book. Share this book.  Buy a copy!

3. Watch this movie. Share this movie. Buy a copy!

Lamentably, Amu remains the one and only–worth mentioning–full length feature film on 1984 screened (though for a mere week in Chandigarh and not at all in Punjab cinemas) on India ….

As against this Bollywood is brave when it comes to depicting fall-out of 9/11 on minorities in far-away USA–most famously, “My Name is Khan”. But same brave  Bollywood people won’t touch 2002 of Modi half as bravely … or 1984 of Rajiv Gandhi at all.

A review of the movie can be found on the Sikh Foundation Website here.

The Winter in Delhi, 1984 : A Long Legacy of Organized Cowardice

by
Aseem Shrivastava

“I write these lines on October 31, 2005. It is exactly 21 years to the day since Mrs. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards….”

US Embassy cables confirm what was happening in Punjab, with organized, sanctioned, police gangs targetting Sikhs

“With regard to former Senior Superintendent Punjab Police (Jalandhar) Mohammad Izhar Alam, we can confirm that he now holds the position of Additional Director General (Administration) Punjab Police, a senior police posting. During the insurgency, he assembled a large, personal paramilitary force of approximately 150 men known as the “Black Cats” or “Alam Sena” (”Alam’s Army”) that included cashiered police officers and rehabilitated Sikh terrorists. The group had reach throughout the Punjab and is alleged to have had carte blanche in carrying out possibly thousands of staged “encounter killings.” (NOTE: Former Director General Punjab Police KPS Gill publicly praised the group, saying the Punjab police could not function without them. End Note.)…”

And then, in case you thought it’s over, think again: When there has been no redressal, but rather the perpetrators of 1984 and the 1990s are glorified, in an environment of extreme impunity, how can we take serious any claims of “normalcy”?

“JALANDHAR : Chief minister Prakash Singh Badal has overlooked the allegations that former DGP Mohammad Izhar Alam was involved in killing of several innocent Sikh youth during militancy in Punjab and appointed him in-charge of Malerkota constituency for the assembly elections.”

This news item is simply incredible, the Punjab Police is admitting in court — in a very straight-faced away, not a hint of remorse in their statement, let alone apology — of having ‘taken out’ two kids– one 1 year old and and the other 1 and a half — during an operation directed against some having “terror links”.

The statement shows clearly that in the post-1984 days till 1995 or so (though to some extent it is still continuing) the operative definition of this phrase, as far as the police was concerned, was anyone “linked” by birth or marriage to someone whom the police suspected to be engaged in “terror”.

The police had been given, by the powers-that-be, a completely free hand, to first label as such, and then eliminate by extra-judicial means, any and all such “undesirable elements”.

Indeed the Police had found this brutal policy of going after soft targets (women, children and elders of the family) linked to suspected militants to be both very safe for themselves and quite effective.  The total number of murders thus committed is probably much more than those killed in the two big massacres of 1984.

One year old, one and a half-year old, wonder if these are the youngest ever “terrorists”?  The mind boggles … but the Indian elite is quite deaf to these things …

Its a virtual stampede, this “I love Modi” thing. Now, Chetan Bhagat of Amir Khan (‘Three Idiots’) movie fame, “Two States” author, Indian youth icon etc etc has declared fealty to someone against whom obviously there is a prima facie case — in the eyes of practically the entire Muslim community of India, and of anyone else with a heart who bothered to read the newspapers in those horrifying days of 2002 — of having at least “blessed” if not authored the butchery of thousands.

We don’t see any reason — no, not even 10% or even 100% development” — that such a suspect should be allowed to continue in high office for a day more …

Yet Chetan Bhagat would want Modi now to move to Delhi as PM !!

Reminds us chillingly of post-1984 — the years 1985 , 86, etc — when ignoring practically the feelings of the entire Sikh community, or for that matter any rational observer of that older massacre — the oh-so-sweet Mr Clean , that is, Rajiv Gandhi, was practically the darling of all of the rest of India for his alleged development work !!

To any sensible person corruption (black money etc) should obviously be much less serious than murder of even one — let alone a thousand of humans … but incredibly these bright Bhagats or Hazares think  therwise and it seems there is now a full blown avalanche (from Tatas, Ambanis downwards) of those who can’t enough of this Modi!

In mid-March 2010, the Indian Supreme Court appointed S.I.T. (Special Investigation Team) and at long last dared to actually call Gujarat’s hugely popular C.M. Narendra Modi (by the way he is “Namo” to his juvenile fans who are apparently so keen on him that someone is even making and selling dolls with this name) to ask him a few questions about his “alleged” role in the murder of Congress MP Ehsan Jaffrey and 60+ others during the 2002 Gujarat massacres.

While leading Indian newspapers didn’t spend too much valuable space on reporting on the S.I.T., The Times of India in an inside small piece did remind the readers in a summary manner that there are at least two eye witnesses who heard Jaffrey plead on the phone with Modi himself to do something — and the police had more than abundant time to do something — but Modi simply abused Jaffrey loudly on the phone and condemned him to a brutal death at the hands of his goons, along with many other Muslims who had sought refuge in the MP’s house hoping that they will be safe at least there.

The hate speeches of Modi and his ilk in the lead-up to this massacre post Godhra can be easily found by anyone willing to go over the newspaper files of that time (they were even reported verbatim in some smaller newspapers). Yet just some weeks ago there was another news item from which it seemed the Supreme Court was now plaintively requesting Modi’s own Gujarat government to assist the totally stuck super-sleuths of India’s FBI, i.e. CBI, who apparently were not able to make much headway because they — poor dears! — were not able to get copies of the said speeches and so had come complaining to the Supreme Court to help them some.

What kind of farce is this? Who is being fooled by this kind of investigation…? From day one it has been amply clear that the massacre of 2002 was done at the behest of Modi himself, nothing of that magnitude was possible otherwise. Going back to 1984 and Delhi it is equally obvious prima facie that the massacre of the Sikhs then was carried out, at the very least, with the implicit approval of Rajiv Gandhi himself.

One would think that in any society in which justice and fair play have any meaning, the faintest accusation of a crime as grave as murder (yes, even one murder, not thousands as in these two cases) would be enough to at least disqualify a person from continuing in high office till a thorough complete probe had shown him blameless.

Higher the office, more the power, so there is more room for abuse, it should require less not more by way of proof … Yet in India at least it is definitely the other way around.

Even 25+ years after the massacre in Delhi, the late Rajiv remains very much the darling of the ruling party, and indeed it is universally accepted that Sonia derives her power from this fondness with which this murderer of thousands in November 1984 in Delhi is remembered.

Likewise 7 years after the “riots” in Gujarat, cuddly “Namo” is talked about fondly in drawing rooms as the BJP’s next PM …..

Surely something is very very wrong with even the basic idea of democracy if it can somehow manage to project such people in this way. But I think history catches up with the truth eventually, and the said massacres shall be laid squarely on these two, despite all the efforts being made to the contrary by their acolytes.

It is a bloody game this and politicians will continue this way unless people bring them to book, especially oh especially, the big fish: one must go after them first, not last!

In response to Modi’s questioning by the SIT (see scans of news reports from 29 March 2010) BJP is saying we really did not drag your big boy in in 1984, why are you doing this now?

It is a pity most websites devoted to Modi’s role in 2002 killings are so very pro-Congress, it would be great if some of them at least could see that murder is murder – It doesn’t matter what political tag it was committed under.

View the images to see articles below or download the images

No surprise that the Indian channel CCN-IBN refers to the anti-Sikh pogroms as “riots,” but these TV interviews help to begin to understand the extent of human tragedy that resulted from the organized massacres of Sikhs

“Revisiting the 1984 Sikh riots”

25 years later, Sikhs around the world continue to hold protests, vigils, and conferences commemorating the Indian State’s organized pogroms against Sikhs in Delhi and across the country.

The Indian State hasn’t launched a single objective investigation into these massacres and continues to sweep all evidence relating to these attacks under the rug. The dozen or so Indian kangaroo courts and commissions that have examined the issue have thought it was better to whitewash the matter than to hold the perpetrators responsible.

In the course of the last two and a half decades, its become evident to anyone objectively studying the Nov 1984 massacres that Rajiv Gandhi and his kitchen cabinet, along with other high level politicians, played a key role in organizing the mobs that were given lists of Sikh homes and businesses to attack and loot.

What’s most shocking is that powers that be within the Indian State and Punjab Government felt it appropriate to name Hospitals, Colleges, and Technology Parks in honor of Rajiv Gandhi – the central mastermind of the 1984 carnage. Rajiv, in front of National media, said “When a tree falls, the earth shakes.” As the leader of the world’s largest democracy, Rajiv felt there wasn’t an issue with ordering systematic massacres of Sikhs under the guise of spontaneous ‘riots’, in response to the assasination of his mother by her Sikh bodyguards in return for her ordering the attack on the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) Complex earlier that year, where thousands of innocent Sikh pigrims were killed.

Would the United States ever erect Technology Parks in the name of King George III or Israel inaugurate Hospitals in honor of Adolf Hitler? How can Sikhs and the government of Punjab allow anyone to give such reverence to Rajiv Gandhi?