[Reader-list] 1984 anti-Sikh riots

[Aditya Raj Baul]

The 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, also referred to as the 1984 Anti-Sikh
Pogroms or Massacres,[1][2][3][4]were four days of violence in
northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs, belonging
to the Indian National Congress, killed unarmed Sikh men, women, and
children, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools,
and attacked Gurdwaras.

The violence began in June 1984, during Operation Blue Star, when
Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to attack Sikh separatists in
the Golden Temple. The attack on the Golden Temple resulted in
innocent pilgrims being killed, and religious artifacts and historical
buildings being destroyed. The attack, and a later operation by Indian
paramilitary forces to clear separatists from the countryside of
Punjab, was perceived by many moderate Sikhs as an assault on their
faith.
The violence in Delhi was triggered by the assassination of Indira
Gandhi on 31 October 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards in response
to her actions during the preceding months. The Government of India
reported 2,700 Sikh deaths however human rights organizations and
newspapers report the death toll to be 10,000-17,000. In the aftermath
of the riot, the Government of India reported 20,000 had fled the
city, however the PUCL reported "at least" 50,000 displaced
persons[5]. The most affected regions were neighborhoods in Delhi.
Human rights organizations and the newspapers believe the massacre was
organized.[3][6] The collusion of political officials in the massacres
and the failure to prosecute any killers alienated normal Sikhs and
increased support for the Khalistan movement.[7] The Akal Takht, the
governing religious body of Sikhism, considers the killings to be a
genocide.[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots