New Delhi: The California State Assembly has passed a resolution urging the US Congress to formally recognize and condemn the 1984 anti-Sikh violence in India as ‘genocide’.
Jasmeet Kaur Bains, the first elected Sikh member of the California State Assembly, introduced a resolution on March 22 that was unanimously approved by the assembly on Monday (April 10).
Assembly member Carlos Villapadua co-sponsored the resolution which was supported by Ash Kalra, the only Hindu member in the assembly.
The resolution highlighted the hardships faced by the Sikh community in the United States due to the 1984 anti-Sikh violence and called on the US Congress to formally recognize and condemn the riots as a genocide.
Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984, violence broke out in Delhi and other parts of the country.
In the violence that followed, over 3,000 Sikhs were killed across India.
According to the proposal, the ‘Widow Colony’ in New Delhi still houses Sikh women who were assaulted, raped, tortured and witnessed the mutilation, burning and murder of their families. These women are still demanding justice against the perpetrators as per the resolution.
