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Bill 33, Sikh Genocide Awareness Week Act, 2021

Singh, Gurratan

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Bill 33 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill proclaims the first seven days of November in each year as Sikh Genocide

Awareness Week.

Bill 33 2021

Act to proclaim Sikh Genocide Awareness Week

Preamble

Ontario

is home to a dynamic and vibrant Sikh community and one of the largest Sikh

populations outside of South Asia. The Sikh community has deep roots in Ontario

and plays a vital role in strengthening our province’s social, political and

economic fabric.

Despite

thriving and contributing as a community in Ontario and globally, Sikhs are

still impacted by the genocide and other atrocity crimes perpetrated by the

Government of India. These crimes have caused ongoing physical and mental

trauma, as well as intergenerational trauma. These traumas are intensified by

India’s entrenched culture of impunity, its refusal to hold the perpetrators

accountable or even acknowledge its crimes and the denial of reparations.

There

is a long history of the Indian government discriminating against Sikhs and

perpetrating gross human rights violations against them and other minorities.

Atrocities against Sikhs intensified most notably in June 1984, when India’s

armed forces, upon orders from prime minister Indira Gandhi, launched Operation

Blue Star, a continuous, nearly week-long military attack on Sikhs in the

Harmandir Sahib (popularly known as the Golden Temple), the Akal Takht Sahib,

their surrounding complexes and over 70 other Gurdwaras across Punjab. During

Operation Blue Star, the government sealed Punjab’s borders and imposed a media

blackout, evicting foreign journalists and censoring all reporting. The impact

of this total assault was devastating, with security forces killing thousands

of Sikhs and destroying major Sikh heritage sites and artifacts, including

serious damage to Gurdwaras and the destruction of rare documents and

manuscripts. This destruction included the demolition of the Akal Takht Sahib,

a major Sikh religious institution, and the burning and looting of the Sikh

Reference Library, resulting in the loss of irreplaceable historical resources.

Shortly

afterwards in November 1984, following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the

state orchestrated genocidal killings of thousands of Sikhs throughout India

and, in particular, its capital, Delhi. Relying on voter registration lists and

property records as part of a premeditated plan to identify their victims,

state-organized mobs ruthlessly targeted Sikhs, committing horrific violence,

including dousing Sikhs in kerosene and other combustible chemicals, placing

tires around their necks, and setting them on fire. State-organized mobs also

perpetrated extreme sexual violence against Sikh women, detaining many against

their will for days. Further, state-organized mobs destroyed Sikhs’ businesses,

homes, and places of worship, displacing thousands. Throughout this carnage,

police and politicians aided the mobs by directing them towards Sikhs and by

directly participating in the violence.

Following

these genocidal acts, India’s security forces further subjected Sikhs to a

widespread and systematic campaign of torture, unlawful killings and enforced

disappearances, in Punjab and other states, that lasted well over a decade. The

late Jaswant Singh Khalra (recognized as a defender of human rights by Amnesty

International) exposed thousands of incidents of enforced disappearances,

extrajudicial killings, torture and secret mass cremations of Sikhs. His work,

based on government records, demonstrates that security forces perpetrated

gross human rights violations that were both widespread, having occurred

throughout Punjab, and systematic, having targeted the Sikh population.

The

widespread and systematic enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings,

torture and secret mass cremations of Sikhs in Punjab and beyond amount to war

crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

These

atrocity crimes, alongside the attacks of June 1984 and the November 1984 Sikh

genocide, speak to a larger and persistent campaign of genocide against Sikhs

by the state of India.

Acknowledging

this genocide is a significant first step in community healing. By recognizing

these international crimes, we demonstrate our collective commitment to

pursuing a world characterized by our shared and universal values of truth,

justice and respect for human rights in order to prevent such genocides, crimes

against humanity and other atrocity crimes from recurring.

Therefore,

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of

the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Sikh

Genocide Awareness Week

(1) The

first seven days of November in each year are proclaimed as Sikh Genocide

Awareness Week.

Same

(2) During

that week, all Ontarians are encouraged to educate themselves and reflect on,

as well as create awareness of, the Sikh genocide and other genocides that have

occurred throughout the world.

Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Sikh Genocide Awareness

Week Act, 2021 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

October 26, 2021

First Reading

Vote

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

October 26, 2021

Committee

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

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