Baku to convene global conference on India’s minority rights abuses

On January 16, an international conference titled “Racism and Violence Against Sikhs and Other National Minorities in India: Current Realities” will be held in Azerbaijan for the first time, organised by the Baku Initiative Group.

The event will bring together Ramesh Singh Arora, Minister for Human Rights and Minorities of India’s Punjab state, along with other officials, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

The conference will also be attended by prominent representatives of the Sikh community from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as heads of think tanks, scholars from foreign universities specializing in human rights and ethnic minority issues, and individuals who have been direct victims of what are described as the Indian government’s repressive, racist, and persecutory policies.

The conference will discuss the Indian government's systematic policy of racial discrimination, violence and repression against Sikhs and other ethnic minorities, and in this regard, the Indian government's gross violation of its obligations under the UN's "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights", "International Convention against Racism" and "Convention against Torture" in relation to ethnic minorities.

Discussions will be held on the possibility of keeping the real situation on the agenda of international organisations and adopting relevant decisions, in particular, the investigation of the violated rights of ethnic minorities in India by the UN Human Rights Committee, executions carried out without court decisions, and the documentation of human rights violations by UN special rapporteurs and international monitoring.

The role of international and local non-governmental organisations and academic circles in this process, the possibilities of the reports, legal opinions and recommendations they prepare for the impact on international decision-making mechanisms will be discussed.

Sikhism originated in the 15th century and in its doctrine promotes complete equality among all people regardless of caste, gender and language; therefore, it categorically rejects the traditional Hindu caste system. The total number of the Sikh community in India is more than 25 million. Sikhs are mainly settled in the state of Punjab, which is considered the main agricultural region of India.

Reports submitted to international organisations by non-governmental organisations and independent experts state that, as a result of armed raids and repressive policies carried out by Indian law enforcement agencies, between 8,000 and 17,000 Sikhs were killed in 1984 alone, and more than 50,000 Sikhs were forced to flee India and migrate to foreign countries to escape persecution by the Indian government.

During the 1980–1990 period, thousands of members of the Sikh community in Punjab were abducted or forcibly disappeared, and many were killed on fabricated charges without due legal process or trial.

At present, Sikh activists who demand their rights are arrested on accusations of “separatism” or “espionage,” and police raids in Punjab continue to intensify.

Acts of terror have also been carried out against Sikh activists living abroad, and official authorities in Canada and the United States have accused Indian intelligence agencies of involvement in these terrorist acts.

Note that the overwhelming majority of members of the Sikh community who fled India are currently settled in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. They continue to demand justice for the political repression that persists in India to this day.

The Sikh community demands that the Government of India officially recognise the 1984 anti-Sikh massacres as genocide, establish a new independent investigation commission, and bring the organisers of the genocide to justice.

They also call for clarification of the fate of thousands of individuals who were forcibly disappeared in Punjab during the 1980–1990 period, the punishment of those responsible, the release of unlawfully detained Sikh activists, and the granting of political prisoner status to them.

Additionally, the demands include the expansion of Punjab’s autonomy and the prohibition of interference by the central government in its governance. Furthermore, the Sikh community calls for an end to transnational repression against Sikh activists abroad, including assassinations and threats, permission for international investigations, as well as an official apology from the Indian government for the 1984 massacres and the payment of compensation to the victims.

By Aghakazim Guliyev