1984 | | Page 4

Appear for the Disappeared 5K Walk -- April 6, 2013. (source: Ensaaf Facebook page)

Support Ensaaf’s “Appear for the Disappeared” Fundraiser on April 6

March 14, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Ensaaf (meaning “justice”) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “end impunity and achieve justice for mass state crimes in India, with a focus on Punjab, by documenting abuses, bringing perpetrators to justice, and organizing survivors.” The organization’s work has been mentioned on this blog several times. On Saturday, April 6, Ensaaf is holding a fundraising event in Fremont, California, called “Appear for the Disappeared 5K Walk” in memory of the men and women who disappeared in Punjab, India […]

Categories: 1984, Events • Tags: Amritsar, Appear for the Disappeared, California, Ensaaf, Fremont, India, Jaila, Jarnail Singh, Punjab

Artwork by Khushboo Gulati for Ensaaf's Decade of Disappearances Art Contest (source: Ensaaf Facebook page)

2012 murder-suicide in Selma, CA, has origin in Kashmir human rights crimes

February 1, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

An article in Guernica by Shubh Mathur tells the story behind last year’s murder-suicide in Selma, California, of Avtar Singh, who murdered his wife and three sons before turning his weapon on himself. Prior to his murderous act, Avtar Singh was being confronted about his dubious past as a major in the Indian army: The story of his crimes and the manner in which he evaded justice for sixteen years is a grim chronicle of Indian crimes against humanity in […]

Categories: 1984, Art, Civil Rights • Tags: Avtar Singh, California, Decade of Disappearances, Ensaaf, impunity, Kashmir, Selma

Decade of Disappearances Art Contest first place winner by Priya Handa (source: Ensaaf Facebook page)

Picture of the Day: Winning artwork from Ensaaf’s “Decade of Disappearances” contest

December 21, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Ensaaf, a human rights organization focusing on state crimes that were perpetrated in Punjab and India, has announced the winning entries into their “Decade of Disappearances” Art Contest. The evocative artwork above, by artist Priya Handa, was selected as the winning piece: This painting represents the disappearances and the injustice Sikhs have had to suffer. In this painting nothing is still or concrete. Everything is either moving or blurred, just like history and time. I use an infusion of my […]

Categories: 1984, Art, Civil Rights, Events • Tags: Decade of Disappearances, Ensaaf, Priya Handa

Sikhs in US petition White House to recognize 1984 genocide

November 29, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The group Sikhs for Justice is currently collecting signatures to petition the President of the United States to recognize the organized pogroms against Sikhs in India in 1984 as a genocide: During November 1984 the Congress Party of India organized and perpetrated violence with intent to destroy the Sikh community, resulting in more than 30,000 killed; women raped; Gurudwaras burnt and more than 300,000 displaced. The systematic violence against Sikhs was concealed and portrayed by the Indian governments as Anti-Sikh […]

Categories: 1984, Politics • Tags: Amu, Barack Obama, November 1984, President of the United States, Shonali Bose, Sikh genocide, Sikh genocide petition, Sikhs for Justice, WikiLeaks

Organizer of last week’s NY Sikh Film Festival speaks

November 7, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

At the Sikh Art & Film Foundation, we believe Sikh values are American values, and we know that film is a powerful medium. Through choosing the best films and gathering together every fall, Sikh and non-Sikh, we honor our history and share our values and humanity in a way that the gap with other people. But we are not afraid to show films that reveal our foibles, for Sikhs are also ordinary people — and people sometimes fall short of […]

Categories: 1984, Events • Tags: Government of India, New York, Sikh International Film Festival, Tejinder Singh Bindra

Lord Indarjit Singh defends NY Sikh Film Festival organizers

October 31, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

After declining the invitation to attend the (now postponed) opening gala of the Sikh International Film Festival in New York, Lord Indarjit Singh reportedly objects to the criticisms leveled towards the film festival organizers: Regarding attending functions in the presence of Indian government VIPs I have mixed views. I have been invited to many functions at the Indian High Commission since 1984 but have not attended a single one. In my new position as a member of the House of […]

Categories: 1984, Events • Tags: 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Lord Indarjit Singh, New York, Sikh International Film Festival

Sikh International Film Festival postpones opening gala due to “community concern”

October 28, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Over this weekend, the New York Sikh International Film Festival announced that they are postponing their opening Heritage Awards Gala, originally scheduled for November 2, 2012: Some concerns have surfaced, pertaining to our plans for the November 2, 2012 Gala. We are, therefore, postponing the Annual Heritage Gala. We will solicit the community’s concerns to address them productively. We invite you to attend the Sikh International Film Festival on November 3, 2012 at the Asia Society Museum – located at 725 Park […]

Categories: 1984, Events • Tags: Heritage Gala, Lord Indarjit Singh, New York, Sikh Arts and Film Festival, Sikh International Film Festival

Lord Indarjit Singh declines invitation to NY Sikh International Film Festival

October 26, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Reports today indicate that Lord Indarjit Singh, the first turbaned Sikh to serve in the British House of Lords, has declined the invitation to attend the opening event of the 2012 Sikh International Film Festival in New York — the Heritage Awards Gala (in which he was to be awarded) — in objection to the attendance of representatives of the Government of India. As posted on the website SikhChic, Lord Indarjit Singh writes to the organizer of the film festival: […]

Categories: 1984, Events • Tags: 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Indarjit Singh, Lord Indarjit Singh, New York, Sikh International Film Festival, sikhchic

The incomprehensible New York Sikh International Film Festival

October 23, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In just over a week, Sikhs in the United States and around the world will be commemorating the 28th anniversary of the anti-Sikh pogroms of 1984 — quite often described as a genocide — in which thousands of Sikhs were pulled from their homes and butchered in the streets of India during the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. In the decades since, Sikhs and human rights organizations have attempted to […]

Categories: 1984, Events, TV/Movies • Tags: boycott, Canadian Sikh Coalition, Ensaaf, Film Festival, New York, Sikh International Film Festival, sikhchic, The Langar Hall

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Category Archives: 1984