42ND
ANNIVERSARY OF 1984 SIKH GENOCIDE: DEMENITIA OF INDIAN STATE AND SOCIETY
For almost
last 3 decades now, on every anniversary of the 1984 genocide of Sikhs in
India, this author has been reminding the Nation how Indian State and judiciary
did not bother to identify and punish the perpetrators of this horrendous mass
killing of the innocents of the second largest religious minority of our
country. On every anniversary the author hoped that now justice would be done,
and he would not have to write about the horrific genocide once again as a
reminder. It has not happened in the year preceding year too; the saga of the
criminal betrayal by the Indian Republic has no end and families of the victims
continues to cry before a deaf and dumb Indian State. Shockingly, on the 42nd
anniversary of the genocide, the Indian State even stopped to claim that it was
working for getting justice to the victims!
Justice RS
Sodhi (retd) expressing extreme anguish on the 42nd anniversary of
the Sikh genocide stated:
“In
Trilokpuri, Sultanpuri and Mangolpuri, men were dragged into the lanes and
burned alive. Women were raped. Children watched their fathers die and then
went hungry in relief camps. Trains arriving in and around the capital were
stopped, and passengers wearing turbans were pulled out and killed. The Army
was not deployed in time, and police personnel stood aside or lent a hand to
the mob in many localities. Within weeks the new Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi,
said during a rally that when a big tree falls, the earth shakes. It was as if
he had already reconciled himself with the tragedy.
“Justice
was slow to come. By one count, as many as 11 commissions and committees of
inquiry probed the killings, but almost nothing followed…Whenever there is a
bus or train mishap, the State immediately accepts that it owes something to
the families of the dead and announces compensation within a day or two. The
victims of 1984 had a stronger claim because cops remained bystanders in
several localities and those named by witnesses belonged to the ruling party.
Yet the relief that followed was more for property and shelter than for
compensating the families of the dead. Compensation for death was fixed at Rs
10,000, later Rs 20,000, against Rs 10,000 for a house wholly destroyed.
“The Rs 3.5-lakh relief that the High Court ordered in 1996
reached families only through a Central package in 2006, and a further Rs 5
lakh was approved in 2014 for the kin of 3,325 dead. The fulfilment of promises
on pensions and jobs has been patchy. In 2023, 10 states had still not reported
what they had paid. A State that pays promptly for accidents, but in
instalments over four decades for a massacre it failed to stop, has told its
Sikh citizens what their lives were worth.”
[‘India must never forget scars of 1984’, The Tribune,
Chandigarh, October 31, 2026. Link:
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/india-must-never-forget-scars-of-1984/]
It was the
same status on the eve of 41st anniversary as stated by Shekhar
Singh in The Tribune,
“Forty-one
years ago, Delhi burned, not from a foreign enemy, but from within. Between
October 31 and November 7, 1984, mobs roamed the streets hunting down Sikh men,
torching homes, and setting gurdwaras ablaze. Officially, 2,733 Sikhs were
killed in the capital even as survivors say the toll was over 3,000. Over four
decades later, most of the ‘guilty’ still walk free.
“Of the 650
cases registered, chargesheets were filed in 362, but only 39 ended in
conviction. Nearly 300 cases collapsed for want of evidence, witnesses or
police will. Now, barely 20 cases remain alive, dragging on in Delhi’s trial
courts or pending appeal in the high court. The rest have been swallowed by the
system’s silence…a justice process that has moved slower than time itself.”
[‘Only 39
convictions in 650 cases, justice eludes 1984 riot victims’, The Tribune,
Chandigarh, October 31, 2025. Link:
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/only-39-convictions-in-650-cases-justice-eludes-1984-riot-victims/]
TWO
KINDS OF JUSTICE
Whenever
the country witnesses large-scale violence against minorities and Dalits, the
search for perpetrators continues endlessly and the criminals are rarely
identified or punished. Major incidents of violence against minorities like
Nellie massacre (1983), Sikh genocide (1984), Hashimpura custodial massacre of
Muslim youth (1987), pre/post- Ayodhya mosque demolition violence against
Muslims (1990-92), Gujarat carnage (2002) and Kandhmal cleansing of Christians
(2008) and continuing blood-bath of Kuki Tribals (who are mostly Christians) in
Manipur are testimony to this reality.
But when
the victims are Dalits or minorities no such urgency is shown. In such cases
Indian State is fond of playing commission-commission. Enquiry Commissions
after commissions would be constituted to see that the heinous crimes disappear
from the public memory. The horrendous genocide of Sikhs in different parts of
India in 1984 is a living testimony of this criminal attitude of the Indian
justice system with the motto in Sanskrit: ‘Yato Dharma Tato Jaya’
[Where there are righteousness and dharma, there is victory]. Judiciary must
explain what it means by Dharma. Does it include religions of minorities and
right of Dalits also?
The
scenario of the anti-Dalit violence is no different. The major incidents of
persecution and massacre of Dalits; 1968 Kilvenmani massacre, 1997 Melavalavu
massacre, 2013 Marakkanam anti-Dalit violence, 2012 Dharmapuri anti- Dalit
violence (all in Tamil Nadu), 1985 Karamchedu massacre, 1991 Tsundur massacre
(all in AP), 1996 Bathani Tola Massacre, 1997 Laxmanpur Bathe massacre (all in
Bihar), 1997 Ramabai killings, Mumbai, 2006 Khairlanji massacre, 2014 Javkheda
Hatyakand, (all in Maharashtra), 2000 Caste persecution in (Karnataka), 5
Dalits beaten/burnt to death for skinning a dead cow 2006, 2011 killings of
Dalits in Mirchpur (all in Haryana), 2015 anti-Dalit violence in Dangawas
(Rajasthan) are some of the thousands of incidents of the Dalit persecution. In
almost all these cases perpetrators are yet to be identified. Even if
identified the prosecution rate never exceeded 20%.
On the
other hand, the Dalit, working class and minority 'perpetrators' of violence
are efficiently put on trial by constituting special investigation teams and
punished by fast-track courts. In order to meet the end of 'justice', 'national
security' and 'wish of society' they are hanged and jailed. The overall reality
is that whenever victims are minorities, working class and Dalits the State and
judiciary go into coma.
BETRAYAL
BY GOVERNMENTS TILL 2014
After
giving free run to the killer gangs, the government appointed one man Marwah
Commission to find out the perpetrators of the 1984 'riots'. As this exercise
was proving inconvenient, it was asked to disband itself within short period of
its existence and a sitting Supreme Court Judge Ranga Nath Mishra was asked to
conduct inquiry into 1984 'riots' who submitted his report in 1987. Shockingly,
this fact finding (or fact-hiding) commission headed by Misra observed that "riots
which had a spontaneous origin later attained a channelized method at the hands
of gangsters".
The
genocide was reduced to 'riots' as if Sikhs equally participated in the
violence. It was a brazen lie. The 'apostle of justice', Mishra, champion of
the theory of spontaneity was not, naturally, able to find out where these
gangsters came from! According to Jarnail Singh author of the book I Accuse: The Anti-Sikh Violence of 1984 for
this service to the State he was awarded a berth in Rajya Sabha.
BETRAYAL
BY THE PRESENT RSS/BJP RULERS
RSS claims
to have always stood for Hindu-Sikh unity. It occasionally expresses its
gratitude to Sikhism for saving Hinduism from the Muslim aggression. It may not
be irrelevant to note here that RSS does not treat Sikhism as independent
religion, which discarded Casteism and Brahmanical hegemony, but part of
Hinduism. The RSS/BJP leaders blamed Congress for anti-Sikh violence Modi while
addressing a public rally during last parliamentary elections at Jhansi, UP
(October 25, 2013) asked Congress leaders to explain who "killed thousands
of Sikhs in 1984" and "has anyone been convicted for the Sikh
genocide so far". Modi during Punjab elections and 2014 general elections
kept on referring to 'qatl-e-aam' or genocide of Sikhs.
Modi after
becoming PM in a message (October 31, 2014) said that anti-Sikh riots in the
aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination were like a, "dagger that
pierced through India's chest…Our own people were murdered, the attack was not
on a particular community but on the entire nation."
Hindutva
icon, RSS whole-timer, and PM Modi lamented the fact that culprits were yet to
be booked and tried for this genocide. However, Modi did not tell the nation
what NDA governments which ruled this country from 1998 to 2004 did to
persecute the culprits. Modi also forgot to share the fact that as per the
autobiography of LK Advani ("My Country, My Life” 2008, page 430); it was
his Party which forced Indira Gandhi to go for army action infamously named as Operation Blue Star which killed large
number of Sikh pilgrims.
Renowned
journalist Manoj Mitta, author of the book When
a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and Its Aftermath straight forwardly
tells that "Despite the BJP rule,
there has hardly been any will to enforce accountability for the massacres that
took place under the Congress. It’s as if there is a tacit deal between the
sponsors of 1984 and 2002 (Gujarat genocide)".
It was not
oversight that during 2024 parliamentary elections 1984 genocide was totally
forgotten. This is not what outsiders or critics of the RSS have been telling.
The perusal of the contemporary RSS documents show that major focus was on
condemning the Sikh extremism, eulogizing Indira Gandhi, and welcoming the
crowning of Rajiv Gandhi as new prime minister.
RSS
IDEOLOGUE NANA DESHMUKH'S DEHUMANIZED ATTITUDE TOWARDS SIKH GENOCIDE
The most
important proof of such a dehumanized attitude towards the genocide of Sikhs is
a document circulated by Nana Deshmukh,
a prominent whole timer and ideologue of the RSS [now deceased]. This document
titled as 'MOMENTS OF SOUL SEARCHING' was
circulated by Deshmukh on November 8, 1984, may help in unmasking the whole lot
of criminals involved in the genocide of innocent Sikhs who had nothing to do
with
the killing
of Indira Gandhi. This document may also throw light on where the cadres came
from, who meticulously organized the killing of Sikhs. Nana Deshmukh in this
document is seen outlining the justification of the genocide of the Sikh
community in 1984.
This
document also shows the true degenerated and fascist attitude of the RSS
towards all the minorities of India. The RSS has been arguing that they are
against Muslims and Christians because they are the followers of foreign
religions. Here we find them justifying the butchering of Sikhs who according
to their own categorization happened to be the followers of an indigenous
religion. In this document we will hear from the horse's mouth that the RSS
like the then Congress leadership believed that the genocide of the innocent
Sikhs was unavoidable.
This
document was published in the Hindi Weekly Pratipaksh edited by George Fernandes, who later became
Defence Minister of India in the NDA regime, in its edition of November 25,
1984, titled 'Indira Congress- RSS collusion' with the following editorial
comment:
“The author
of the following document is known as an ideologue and policy formulator of the
RSS. After the killing of Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) he distributed this
document among prominent politicians. It has historical significance that is
why we have decided to publish it, violating the policy of our Weekly. This
document highlights the new affinity developing between the Indira Congress and
the RSS. We produce here the Hindi translation of the document.”
The
original pages of the Hindi Weekly Pratipaksh edited by George Fernandes, reproduced below:
Deshmukh in his document 'MOMENTS OF SOUL
SEARCHING' is seen outlining the justification of the
genocide of the Sikh community in 1984. His defence of the carnage can be
summed up as in the following:
1.
The genocide of Sikhs was not the handiwork of any group or anti-social
elements but the result of a genuine feeling of anger.
2.
Deshmukh did not distinguish the action of the two security personnel of
Indira Gandhi, who happened to be Sikhs, from that of the whole Sikh community.
According to his document the killers of Indira Gandhi were working under some
kind of mandate of their community.
3.
Sikhs themselves invited these attacks, thus advancing the Congress
theory of justifying the genocide of the Sikhs.
4.
He glorified the Operation Blue
Star and described any opposition to it as anti- national. When Sikhs were
being killed in thousands he was warning the country of Sikh extremism, thus
offering ideological defense of those killings.
5.
Sikh community as a whole was responsible for violence in Punjab.
6.
Sikhs should have done nothing in self-defence but showed patience and
tolerance against the killer mobs.
7.
These were Sikh intellectuals and not killer mobs which were responsible
for the genocide. They had turned Sikhs into a militant community, cutting them
off from their Hindu roots, thus inviting attacks from the nationalist Indians.
Moreover, he treated all Sikhs as part of the same gang and described attacks
on them as a reaction of the nationalist Hindus.
8.
He described Indira Gandhi as the only leader who could keep the country
united and assassination of such great leaders such killings could not be
avoided.
9.
Rajiv Gandhi who succeeded Mrs. Gandhi as the PM and justified the
nation- wide killings of Sikhs by saying, “When a huge tree falls there are
always tremors felt,” was lauded and blessed by Nana Deshmukh at the end of the
document.
10. Shockingly, the genocide of Sikhs
was being equated with the attacks on the RSS cadres after the killing of
Gandhiji and we find Deshmukh advising Sikhs to suffer silently. Everybody
knows that the killing of Gandhiji was inspired by the RSS and the Hindutva
Ideology whereas the common innocent Sikhs had nothing to do with the murder of
Indira Gandhi.
11. There was not a single sentence in
the Deshmukh document demanding, from the then Congress Government at the
Centre or the then home minister Narsimha Rao (a Congress leader dear to the
RSS who later silently watched demolition of Babri masjid by Hindutva goons as
PM of India in 1992) remedial measures for controlling the violence against the
minority community. Mind it, that Deshmukh circulated this document on November
8, 1984, and from October 31 to this date Sikhs were left alone to face the
killing gangs. In fact, November 5-10 was the period when the maximum killings
of Sikhs took place. Deshmukh was just not bothered about all this.
12. It is generally believed that the
Congress cadres were behind this genocide. This may be true but there were
other forces too which actively participated in this genocide and whose role
has never been investigated. It could be one of the reasons that actual
perpetrators remain unknown. Those who witnessed the genocide were stunned by
the swiftness and military precision of the killer/marauding gangs (later on
witnessed during the Babri mosque demolition, burning alive of Dr. Graham
Steins with his two sons, 2002 pogrom of the Muslims in Gujarat and cleansing
of Christians in parts of Orissa) which went on a burning spree of the innocent
Sikhs. This, surely, was beyond the capacity of the thugs led by many Congress
leaders.
13. It is shocking that Deshmukh
presented 1984 genocide of Sikhs as an issue between Sikhs and Hindus. He
wrote: "I feel proud of all those Hindu neighbours who protected lives
and property of troubled Sikh brothers without caring for their lives. Such
things one being heard from all over Delhi. These things have practically
increased the faith in natural goodness of human behavior and particularly
faith in Hindu nature." He remained oblivious to the fact that these
were not only Hindus but Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Atheists,
Communists who defended Sikhs' lives and properties.
RSS’
SHAMEFUL ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE SIKH GENOCIDE
Deshmukh
document did not happen in isolation. It represented the real RSS attitude
towards Sikh genocide of 1984. It may be relevant to know here that the RSS
cadres did not come forward in defence of the Sikhs. The RSS is very fond of
circulating publicity material, especially photographs of its khaki shorts-clad
cadres doing social work. For the 1984 violence they have none. In fact,
Deshmukh's article also made no mention of the RSS cadres going to the rescue
of Sikhs under siege. This shows the real intentions of the RSS during the
genocide.
The RSS
English organ, Organizer in its
combined issue dated November 11 & 18, 1984 carried an editorial titled
'Stunning Loss' which praised Indira Gandhi in the following words:
"It will always be difficult to believe that Indira Gandhi is no
more. One had got so used to hearing her myriad voices for so long that
everything looked so blank without her. The violent manner of her death is the
most shocking horror story, giving the nation the creeps…It is a case of
treacherous fanatics stigmatizing the whole nation by butchering a remarkable
specimen of Indian womanhood…She literally served India to the last drop of her
blood according to her own lights." The same editorial ended with the
words supporting newly installed PM, Rajiv Gandhi who "deserves sympathy
and consideration".
Organizer also carried statement of RSS Supremo; Bala
Deoras titled 'Balasaheb condemns assassination, Delhi carnage' in a single
column. He mourned and condemned the carnage but not even once referred to the
fact that Sikhs were under attack. For him it was "infighting in the Hindu
Samaj". He also overlooked the fact that it was not only Delhi where Sikhs
were butchered/burnt but in many other parts of India too. According to this
statement "swayamsevaks have been instructed to form or help in forming
Mohalla Suraksha Samitis" for restoring peace and rehabilitation of the
sufferers. However, there are no documents available in the contemporary RSS
archives to show how these Samitis functioned. It is a fact that RSS, which is
fond of displaying photographs of its cadres doing social work did not publish
any visual of the activity of these Samitis.
In the same
statement Deoras reacting to the assassination of Indira Gandhi stated,
"It is
shocking beyond words to express the feelings at
the murder of PM Mrs. Indira
Gandhi by some fanatic elements. She had been carrying on almost the entire
burden of the country since 1966. She was loved and respected not only in this
country but all over the world. Her passing away at this critical juncture will
create a void in India and also in the world."
According to the above-mentioned Organizer,
"RSS Sarkyavah, Rajender Singh
issued instructions to all the branches in the country to hold a special meeting in Shakha condemning the dastardly
murder of the PM and paying homage to the departed soul. He also issued
instructions to cancel all public functions to be held by RSS during the period
of mourning".
Of course,
RSS archives do not contain any instructions from RSS top brass ordering to
mourn the Sikh victims.
RSS AGAINST FORMER PM MANMOHAN
SINGH'S APPOLOGY FOR 1984 GENOCIDE
The RSS
continues to downplay 1984 Sikh genocide will be clear by the perusal of
charter of demands submitted to the National Council of Educational Research
and Training (NCERT) in last July. The senior RSS ideologue, Dina Nath Batra on
behalf of RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas submitted five pages
containing list of items to be removed from school text-
books.
Batra demanded that any reference to violence against minorities in the
textbooks should be removed which included references to a simple apology
tendered by the former PM Manmohan Singh over 1984 violence. It is to be noted
that in an apology in Parliament on August 12, 2005, Manmohan Singh, the then
PM of India stated:
“I have
no hesitation in apologizing to the Sikh community. I apologize not only to the
Sikh community, but to the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984
is the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our Constitution.”
So, the
search for finding the perpetrators of Sikh genocide of 1984 continues
endlessly. The present RSS/BJP rulers who claim to be co-religionists of Sikhs
prove no different from Congress. The only hope is that those Indians who have
stakes in continuation of democratic-secular Indian polity will come forward to
force the Indian State to identify and punish the killers. The scholars who
have been involved in the study of religious violence are unanimous in the
conclusion that if 1984 genocide was not allowed to happen, there would not
have been 1992- 93 (violence against Muslims in pre/post Babri mosque
demolition period), 2002 (genocide of Muslims in Gujarat), Kandhmal 2008
(cleansing of Christians) and many other massacre of the minorities of India. Allowing
the 1984 genocide the Indian State, let it be known to all the majoritarian
fascist organizations that in such criminal happening the former would remain
silent!
NANA
DESHMUKH AWARDED 'BHARAT RATNA'
As if it
was not enough injustice to the martyrs and survivors of the 1984 genocide, on
the eve of the Republic Day (January 25, 2019) RSS-BJP rulers of India,
bestowed the highest national award BHARAT RATN (gem of India) on Nanaji
Deshmukh. PM Modi praising Deshmukh said, "He [Nana Deshmukh]
personifies humility, compassion, and service to the downtrodden. He is a
Bharat Ratna in the truest sense".
If anybody
wants to understand the exact meaning of the proverb 'to rub salt into the
wound' this Bharat Ratna to Deshmukh is the fittest example!
[This
photograph is of a street theatre performance titled ‘Sadharan Log (common
people) by Nishant Natya Manch against genocide of Sikhs in 1984. It was
performed at more than two thousand places. The author is also doing a role.]
Indian
State’s criminal shirking of responsibility in finding the perpetrators of 1984
genocide was deliberate and conscious. Despite the identities of criminals
involved being in public domain. Prominent human rights’ organizations, namely,
People’s Union for Democratic Rights and People’s Union for Civil Rights had
published a factual ground report by the end of November presenting
comprehensive details of the city-wide incidents and names of the criminals
involved. This report titled ‘Who Are the Guilty?’ was based on eye-witness
accounts of the survivors, civil society members belonging to different
religions who were against the genocide and played great role in defending and
saving Sikhs at many places. The State consigned this report to the dustbin but
remains the most authentic document of the genocide till date.
Link for
the full English text of the RSS ideologue Nana Deshmukh's document: https://www.academia.edu/4890979/RSS_IDEOLOGUE_ NANA_DESHMUKH_J
USTIFIED_MASSACRE_OF_SIKHS_IN_1984_From_R
SS_archives_
Link of a
2023 interview of the author on 1984 Sikh genocide:
https://www.academia.edu/107044638/Victims_Will_Never_Forget_The_Violence_Shamsul_Islam_On_1984_Massacre_of_Sikh
Shamsul
Islam
31-10-2026
http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam
Facebook:
https://facebook.com/shamsul.islam.332
Twitter: @shamsforjustice
http://shamsforpeace.blogspot.com/
Email: notoinjustice@gmail.com
Link for
procuring Shamsul Islam’s books in English, Hindi & Urdu:
