India rejects Canada view on anti-Sikh riots

New Delhi: India has rejected a move by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Canada that passed a motion describing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as “genocide” in India.

New Delhi termed the move “misguided”. An upset India has also taken up the matter with the Canadian leadership.

In response to a question “regarding passage of a private members’ motion in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario”, the ministry of external affairs said, “We have noted the passage of a private members’ motion in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on April 6. We reject this misguided motion which is based on a limited understanding of India, its Constitution, society, ethos, rule of law and the judicial process.”

“Our views have been conveyed to the government and political leadership in Canada,” the MEA said. According to reports, the motion by Harinder Malhi, a Liberal member of provincial Parliament, read, “That, in the opinion of this House... should reaffirm our commitment to the values we cherish — justice, human rights and fairness — and condemn all forms of communal violence, hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance in India and anywhere else in the world, including the 1984 genocide perpetrated against the Sikhs throughout India, and call on all sides to embrace truth, justice and reconciliation.”

According to reports, it was passed with 34 members voting in favour and just five against. Mukhbir Singh, president of the World Sikh Organisation, had said in a statement: “For years, the term ‘1984 anti-Sikh riots’ was used to describe the events of November 1984 which was a distortion and wrongly implied unorganised communal violence.”

“Recognising the state-sponsored violence that targeted Sikhs across India in 1984 is an important and historic step toward justice and reconciliation,” he said.

While the Ontario Liberals under Premier Kathleen Wynne, who travelled to India early last year, were blamed by Indian officials for allowing the motion, they also warned that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, shared the onus for this damaging of ties.

The 1984 anti-Sikh riots occurred in the wake of assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.