Recognise 1984 riots as 'Genocide' :Sikh group submits petition to Obama

The 'Sikh Genocide Petition' with 46,000 signatures, including 29,000 online, is the first petition of its kind to be submitted to the administration on the 1984 riots in which a large number of Sikhs were killed, Sikh for Justice (SFJ) said in a statement.

The group said it would gather outside the Capitol Hill in Washington in February next year during the Constituent Work Week of the House of Representative to lobby in support of the petition.

The rights group is hoping that the US Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor would respond to the petition. Headed by Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner,the Bureau deals with issues relating to the international human rights violations and crimes against humanity.

SFJ has also submitted a 300-page '1984 Yes it is Genocide' report to Posner which includes information about the November 1984 riots and the violence that ensued followingthe assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Referring to the Article 1 and 2 of the UN Convention on Genocide, SFJ's legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said US is under obligation to recognize the 1984 riots as genocide.

Petitions have also been filed with the Parliaments of Canada, Australia and UK, Pannun said.

Earlier in November 2012 ,Petition which seeks to recognise the 1984 anti-Sikh violence in India as "genocide" has been tabled in the Australian parliament.The petition was moved by MP Warren Enstch on Thursday.

As long as the violence "continues to be referred to as 'anti-Sikh riots' there can be no closure for the Sikh community", he said in the petition.

Nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed after the assassination of then PM Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards.

(2012-12-21/samaylive)