SAD slams Centre over its stand on Ontario assembly motion

The Shiromani Akali Dal today hit out at the Centre for its reaction over a motion in a Canadian Legislative assembly on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying its stand on the issue has "reopened the wounds" of the Sikhs.
SAD MP from Anandpur Sahib and party general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra said that he would raise this issue in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.
Also, a delegation of SAD MPs would also register their protest with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tomorrow, he added.
The Legislative assembly of Ontario had recently passed a motion describing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as "genocide" in India. The BJP-led NDA government, of which SAD is also an ally, strongly rejected the move, terming it as "misguided".

"The Narendra Modi government has reopened the wounds of the Sikhs by this provocative stand," Chandumajra said in a statement here.
"Rather than calling upon the Canadian government to withdraw this resolution, Parliament should pass a similar resolution to assuage the feelings of the Sikh community," he added.

Chandumajra said that more than 3,000 innocent Sikh men, women and children were killed in a "designed attack" on the community members in Delhi alone from November 1 to November 3, 1984, and the victims are still waiting for justice.
"Even former Prime Ministers, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandra Shekhar had condemned these killings as genocide," he claimed.

"The Sikh community is now shocked over the official reaction of the Modi government that is not only unfortunate but also highly condemnable," he said.
The SAD MP also said, despite being a smaller community, the Sikhs were now an important part of the global community.
"The Sikhs were playing effective role in some of the Canadian provinces. The Canadian authorities had taken this step (passing the motion) keeping in view the Sikh sentiments on this sensitive issue," he said.
A motion by Harinder Malhi, a Liberal member of provincial parliament, read "That, in the opinion of this House...Should reaffirm our commitment to the values we cherish - justice, human rights and fairness - and condemn all forms of communal violence, hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance in India and anywhere else in the world, including the 1984 Genocide perpetrated against the Sikhs throughout India, and call on all sides to embrace truth, justice and reconciliation.