On the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the Sikh genocide of 1984, a massive rally and public meeting will take place in Delhi On November 1st. The rally is being organized by Lok Raj Sangathan along with several other organisations. Hundreds of people will be marching from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar demanding that the guilty of 1984 must be punished and calling on the people to unite to defend the right to conscience and end state-organised communal and fascist terror.
The people of our country, belonging to all faiths and all regions, have been fighting ceaselessly for more than thirty years to ensure that the truth behind the carnage of 1984 be placed by the government of India before the people of our country, and those guilty of organizing it be punished. We have been demanding that mechanisms be established to ensure that such acts of state terrorism can never again be organised.
However, ten governments have come and gone in this period. Ten Commissions of Enquiry have submitted their reports. Till today, no government has accepted that it was the Indian state that organized the genocide. No one has been punished for the brutal murder in broad daylight of over 10,000 innocent people, the rape of women and girls, and the widespread destruction of property.
Entire experience since the end of British colonial rule, proved that no matter how many times parties change places in this system, the violence of the State against citizens has only grown from bad to worse. This shows that the root of the problem lies in the very foundation of the State we inherited in 1947.
More than 30 organisations will be participating in the rally. They include Lok Raj Sangathan, Social Democratic Party of India, Sikh Forum, Communist Ghadar Party of India, INSAF, Naya Daur Party, Purogami Mahila Sangathan, Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha, Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign, Sikhi Sidak, Citizens for Democracy, Jamaat E islami Hind, United Muslims Front, Mazdoor Ekta Committee, Student Islamic Organisation, Nishant Natya Manch, Sikh Youth Forum, CPIML (New Proletarian), Association for Protection of Civil Rights, Ulema Council of India, Bibek Trust, Delhi Shramik Sangathan, All-India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushwarat, Nagarik Parishad, National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO), PUCL Delhi and others.
Many prominent personalities from all over the country who have been fighting for human rights against state terrorism and state organized genocides would be addressing the rally.
S Raghavan
President, Lok Raj Sangathan