Sikh genocide events across India coming to light now
AISSF ‘unearths’ another place of massacre
Claims 17 Sikhs were killed at Pataudi (Haryana)
Perneet Singh
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, March 5, 2011
The All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) and the Sikhs for Justice, which brought the Hondh Chhillar massacre to the fore, today claimed to have unearthed yet another similar incident, which had claimed the lives of 17 innocent Sikhs in Pataudi town of Haryana on November 2, 1984.
AISSF President Karnail Singh Peermohammed claimed that a gurdwara at Pataudi was set afire by rioters on November 1, 1984, forcing all 30 Sikh families to run for their lives. “While one group chose to stay back for the safety of their houses, another took shelter at the local Hari Mandar Ashram. On November 2, the assailants surrounded the houses of the Sikhs and started throwing petrol bombs into them, which led to the death of 17 persons. The mob was carrying swords, petrol and lathis. They ransacked the Sikhs’ houses, burnt them alive and looted their property,” he further claimed.
He said an FIR (number 282-83) was registered at the Pataudi police station in this regard on November 12, 1984, and it had the names of over 15 persons, who were accused of killing Sikhs on November 2, 1984.
“However, the then Sessions Judge, VM Jain, acquitted all the accused due to lack of evidence on April 26, 1986, ” he said.
The AISSF has also released a list of 17 persons, including three women, who were allegedly killed by the rioters besides producing a copy of the FIR to corroborate their claim. The AISSF chief said: “It is shocking to hear about the Sikh genocide of Pataudi and raises a question as to what was the extent of loss of life of Sikhs during the organised and planned attacks in 1984. If there are two grave incidents of violence in Haryana within a few miles, it is quite possible that there will be hundreds of such sites throughout India where Sikhs were subjected to genocidal attacks.”
Meanwhile, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal adviser to the Sikhs For Justice, said the “discovery of the Pataudi massacre is another living paradigm of the “Sikh genocide” and a constant reminder that justice has been denied and eluded the victims of the 1984 riots”.