NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, has asked the government to “recognise” the 1984 riots in India following the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi as “genocide”.
Making a statement in the House of Commons to mark the 33rd anniversary of the outbreak of violence in Delhi and other parts of India, NDP’s parliamentary leader Guy Caron, said: “Both the Delhi Assembly and the Ontario Legislature have recognised these atrocities as genocide. I stand in this place in hopes that someday soon, the House of Commons and this government will do the same.”
Since he became head of the NDP, one of Canada’s three main political parties, the 38-year-old Singh has courted controversy in India and Canada by refusing to speak out against the veneration of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind of the 1985 terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182 as a martyr by some Canadian gurdwaras.
Today our Parl Leader @GuyCaronNPD joined the Delhi Assembly and ON Leg in recognizing the #SikhGenocide & called on the Govt to do the same pic.twitter.com/iiC4v3pRUZ
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) November 1, 2017
Caron, an MP from Quebec, was among the major rivals to Singh for the leadership of the NDP and was appointed to head the party’s parliamentary caucus by Singh after his victory a month ago.
Singh tweeted his support for Caron’s statement: “Today our Parl leader @GuyCaronNPDjoined the Delhi Assembly and ON Leg in recognizing the #SikhGenocide & called on the Govt to do the same.”
Today our Parl Leader @GuyCaronNPD joined the Delhi Assembly and ON Leg in recognizing the #SikhGenocide & called on the Govt to do the same pic.twitter.com/iiC4v3pRUZ
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) November 1, 2017
Caron started out by quoting a comment attributed to India’s home minister Rajnath Singh: “It was not riot, it was genocide.” Rajnath Singh had used the Hindi term “nar sanhar”, which does not necessarily translate directly to genocide.
Caron added, “Today and for the next three days, Sikh Canadians and human rights advocates will mark the 33rd anniversary of the 1984 Sikh Genocide.
“Sikh men were burned alive. Women were subject to unthinkable sexual violence and children were murdered in gruesome fashion.
“I am reminded that thousands of Canadians live with this pain as survivors and bearers of intergenerational trauma.”
The NDP’s statement was welcomed by hardline groups, including the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) Canada (SADA Canada). Its Canada East unit president Sukhminder Singh Hansra said they “echo” what Caron said in the House and demanded the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “recognise the massacre of Sikhs on Nov 1, 1984 as a genocide”.
The group also held a candlelight vigil in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, to mark the anniversary and among those in attendance was the town’s mayor Linda Jeffrey.
Aujourd’hui, notre chef parlementaire @GuyCaronNPD a fait une vibrante déclaration sur le génocide Sikh de 1984 : https://t.co/vgx3kXO0sk pic.twitter.com/OIARbPZlnz
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) November 1, 2017
