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Sikh minority representatives sit in front the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva November 1, 2013. Earlier on Friday a delegation of representatives of several NGOs have submitted to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) a petition urging to recognize the 1984 killing of Sikhs as 'Genocide'. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)........image source |
Thousands of Sikhs Attended "Justice Rally" in Geneva
GENEVA: The Justice Rally held in front of the UN office in Geneva was attended by thousands of Sikhs from across Europe, the US and Canada.
The rally was organized by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) Movement Against Atrocities and Repressions (MAR) with the support of Gurudwara management committees from across Europe.
November 01 rally before UN was one of the biggest rallies ever held before UN in Geneva. SFJ coordinators Avtar Singh Pannun of New York and Sukhwinder Singh Thana worked tirelessly past several weeks to organize the rally and toured the UK and Europe to gather support from the local Sikh community. Doctor Bakhshish Singh Sandhu, SFJ Coordinator also travelled to Geneva to attend the rally. According to SFJ coordinators, the rally before UN woke the world community that organized killing of Sikhs during November 1984 was Genocide and not riots.
A delegation comprising of representatives of SFJ, MAR, AISSF and European gurudwaras personally filed the "Sikh Genocide Petition" in the United Nations Human Rights Council. The delegation included SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, SFJ Coordinator Avtar Singh Pannun, Harminder Singh Khalsa of MAR, Doctor Karj Singh Dharamsinghwala of AISSF, Jatinder Singh Grewal of SFJ and Jasbir Singh Delhi.
Jasbir Singh Delhi a resident of California, who is main witness against Congress leader Tytler also travelled across Europe to gather community support for the Genocide petition and rally before UN. According to Jasbir Singh Delhi, the victims of November 1984 have approached United Nations for justice because all the attempts to obtain justice in India have failed and organizers of November 1984 are rewarded by India instead of being prosecuted.
Addressing the rally, SFJ Coordinator, Avtar Singh Pannun stated that for past 29 years Sikh community has been demanding justice for India's crimes of November 1984. Now we have approached the UN and global community for recognition of November 1984 Sikh Genocide.
According to Sukhwinder Singh Thana, SFJ Coordinator, Sikh community have come together in demanding justice and UN intervention on the issue of November 1984 Sikh Genocide.
Doctor Bakhshish Singh Sandhu of SFJ stated that filing petition before the UN on the issue of November 1984 is just the first step in seeking justice and recognition for Sikh Genocide. With the help and support of Sikh community worldwide, we will have take the matter to all international forums.
Tejinder Kaur from Surrey, Canada, travelled all the way to Geneva for submission of the petition and to participate in the rally. She also addressed the rally, saying: "I was just 13 years old when this massacre took place and daughter of a senior Indian government official. That was the moment in my life, to discover my identity as a Sikh."
SFJ legal adviser Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who had been touring various European countries for the last few weeks, claimed that this signature campaign has once again focused the Sikh diaspora on the issue of demanding justice for the victims of the November 1984 killings.
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