Below City of Stockton Mayor awards the Sikh community with a trophy and framed proclamation declaring 1984 a Sikh genocide and praising Sikhs
Stockton California claims the oldest gurdwara in the United States of America. Appropriately the city has recently recognized 1984 as a genocide and given honors to the Sikh community of the city. See the video below.
A spokesperson for the city said,
"We have a proclamation, being presented this evening, celebrating 1984 Sikh Genocide and praising the values of religious liberty." She read, "Now therefor I Anthony Silva in recognition of intentional, deliberate and systematic killing of Sikhs in India during November 1984 genocide do hereby proclaim March 2015 the30th anniversary of the 1984 Sikh genocide signed by Mayor Anthony Silva."
The proclamation was then read by the Mayor himself to a group of Sikhs standing behind a podium:
"The United States is home to over 500,000 Sikhs and San Joaquin county is the location of the oldest Sikh American community here in Stockton. Sikhs suffered a genocide in June and November of 1984 where thousands died in these attacks, including many innocent pilgrims, many men, women and children who were solely targeted for belonging to the Sikh faith. Today the Sikh community remembers those in 1984's Sikh genocide. Additional genocides were conducted against Muslims in 2002 and 2008 in which several more dozen were murdered in especially brutal manners.
In recognition of intentional and deliberate systematic killing of the Sikhs in India during 1984's genocide, we uphold religious liberty as paramount to our social need and fundamental principles for a peaceful civilization. We praise the contributions of the Sikh community here in Stockton California, in the United States and around the world, especially for the struggles of religious liberty and preservation of civil rights.
We remember the death of innocent people killed in this genocide and we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1984 genocide as we recognize the ongoing impact of the genocide for Sikhs around the world and our community."
After finishing reading this proclamation the Mayor with a more candid tone expressed his personal appreciation for Sikhs, "And I'd like to say, as the Mayor of the city, I want to thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart, on behalf of the Stockton city council, for the contributions that you have done this community. You were there with us when we passed measure A to put more police on the streets of Stockton. You have been there to donate services and donate money throughout the community to help out less fortunate and non-profits, and we thank you so much for being a VERY important part of our Stockton community."
Then the Mayor presented the framed proclamation as a trophy that "you can have at your temple so everyone in Stockton knows your contributions that you guys give each and every day to the city of Stockton. I want to thank you SO much everybody." The trophy was presented and he shook hands with the Sikhs present.
Bhajan Singh then addressed the city council concluding with the statement: "We applaud the leaders of our great nation, great people, people like Martin Luther King who showed the way, who gave us courage that [we should] never, never, never give up on your fellow Americans. And today we are VERY proud to be Americans and share our sorrow, our happiness and our joy with our fellow Americans. Thank you."