Sikhs for Justice: President and First Lady Ignore Outcries of Sikh Widows in India

NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- President and Michelle Obama visited India on an economic mission and despite outcries from human rights organizations the President did not address India's terrible human rights record including India's genocide on the Sikh community.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20101110/CL99023 )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101110/CL99023 )

While the First Couple was dancing at exclusive cultural events in Delhi, several hundred widows took to the streets urging the First Lady (who traditionally performs charitable missions) to visit the "Widow Colony", a grief stricken locality in the heart of Delhi which is inhabited by thousands of women who lost their male family members during the Indian government's 1984 Sikh genocide. The Widow Rally, organized by the National 1984 Victims Justice and Welfare Society, the All India Sikh Students Federation and Sikhs for Justice was attended by hundreds of victims and survivors of the genocide to draw President Obama's attention to the plight of the victims and urge him to press the Indian Government to bring justice to the victims. A delegation of victims delivered a memorandum for President Obama to the U.S. Ambassador for India, Timothy J. Roemer.

According to Ms. Ganga Kaur, whose father, uncles, and brothers were burnt alive in November 1984, her organization the National 1984 Victims Justice and Welfare Society approached the Obamas prior to and during their visit to India urging them to be the voice for victims. Ms. Kaur stated, "For the widows and survivors there is no difference between the Indian government who has been denying justice to the Sikhs for the past twenty six years and the Obamas who ignored their pleas."

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the spokesperson and legal advisor for Sikhs for Justice, stated, "The First Couple has utterly disappointed the downtrodden and suppressed people of this world who had pinned their hopes on them.  President and Michelle Obama come from a community which has suffered discrimination in America for a longtime and we hoped they would show compassion towards victims of human rights violations.  President Obama had a unique opportunity to demonstrate his commitment to human rights by speaking for and standing with the religious minorities of India, however, he chose economic interests over human rights."

Babu Singh Dukhiya, President of the National 1984 Victims Justice and Welfare Society, said, "President Obama should have convinced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to fire and prosecute members and ministers of his party who participated in the Sikh genocide. There is already a lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District  of New York against Kamal Nath, India's Union Minister for Transportation, for his involvement in the attack of the Gurudawara (temple) Rakab Ganj in Delhi."

All India Sikh Students Federation President, Karnail Singh Peermohammad, stated, "The failure of President Obama to raise his voice for the victims of the November 1984 Sikh Genocide proves that even the United States,  the so called leader and champion of human rights, is biased towards the religious minorities in India. President Obama paid tribute to the victims of Mumbai but ignored the gross human rights violations committed against religious minorities in India including human rights violations in Kashmir, the killing of Christians in Orissa, the killing of Muslims in Gujarat and the denial of justice to thousands of Sikhs massacred in November 1984."

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Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

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SOURCE Sikhs for Justice