Dec 11, 2014: One of the two winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Kailash Satyarthi, saved Sikhs during the 1984 pogrom that rocked India following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Satyarthi, a children’s rights activist, founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement) in 1980 to free poor children from the shackles of bonded labour and abuse in different parts of India.
In the first week of November 1984, Satyarthi gave refuge to Sikhs in his house after a massacre began following the assassination of then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.
According to prominent Indian human-rights lawyer Harvinder Singh Phoolka, Satyarthi did this despite receiving threats from those involved in rioting.
“He was one of those rare people who dared to protect Sikhs by taking them into their refuge when they were being hounded by the goons with the help of the police,” Phoolka told the Straight over the phone from New Delhi.
He first came in contact with Satyarthi when he saw him working at refugee camps to help victims of the violence.
Phoolka has been singlehandedly fighting in the courts for those targeted in anti-Sikh violence during that era and coauthored When a Tree Shook Delhi, which is based on his own experience as legal counsel for these people.
He has also been giving free legal aid to Satyarthi’s initiative against child abuse.
“Together we have launched many public-interest litigations to stop child exploitation in factories,” Phoolka stated.
Doing this was not easy and according to Phoolka, Satyarthi has received many threats from business people. “Eventually we were successful in getting some of the businesses involved in child labour shut.”
Phoolka said that because Satyarthi is a humble person and not publicity-hungry, he hasn't received enough prominence in the media.
“He believes in working without [putting in] much effort to gain media attention," Phoolka explained. "That is one reason that not many people know about his good work, but he is a well-respected figure in the activists’ circles.”
The Nobel Peace Prize comes 30 years after Satyarthi decided to protect Sikhs. On October 31, 1984, the Indian prime minister was murdered by her Sikh bodyguards, who were enraged by a controversial Indian government military operation that had been launched in June that year to flush out armed Sikh militants from inside the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. It's the holiest shrine of the Sikhs.
The army invasion left many people dead and the buildings inside the shrine destroyed. This sparked angry protests around the world, including a huge demonstration of Sikhs in Vancouver.
Satyarthi shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year-old Pakistani who continued advocating for girls' education even after recovering from a gunshot wound in the head from the Taliban.
Gurpreet Singh is a Georgia Straight contributor and a founder of Radical Desi. He's working on a book tentatively titled Canada's 9/11: Lessons from the Air India Bombings. He has a Facebook page called We Are All Untouchables!!!