MEMBERS of the South Asian community came together to raise their voices for justice for the survivors of the state-sponsored violence against Sikhs in the first week of November 1984.  

Organized by Indians Abroad for Pluralist India, the vigil was opened by Indigenous activist Jenifer Allen at Holland Park in Surrey on the evening of Sunday, November 1. 

She tried to make connections between the cultural genocide of the First Nations in Canada with the ongoing genocide of minorities elsewhere in the world.  

Thousands of innocent Sikhs were slaughtered all across India by the political goons, following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, seeking revenge for the military attack on the Golden Temple, their holiest shrine in June that year. 

Many senior politicians and police officers who were complicit in the massacre remain unpunished. Not only were the slain leader’s Congress party involved, but also members of the currently ruling Bhartiya Janata Party. 

The speakers were unanimous in their criticism of the Indian state for allowing systemic violence against religious minorities.

Those who addressed the gathering included MP Randeep Singh Sarai, Sikh activists Tejinder Kaur, Gian Singh Gill, Inderjit Singh Bains, Harbans Singh Aujla, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Charanjit Singh Sujjon, Dr. Gurvinder Singh Dhaliwal and Gurmukh Singh Deol. 

Two Muslim activists, Imtiaz Popat and Sayed Wajahat, also spoke on the occasion. Preet Manpreet and Parminder Swaich recited poems in memory of the victims of 1984 pogrom.