Khalsa get dressed for Sikh march in London calling for justice over the 1984 massacres and an independent Sikh state
Never Forget 84 was the slogan on many of the t-shirts and posters in this Sikh demonstration for justice on the 25 anniversary of the Amritsar massacres. Other placards showed in graphic detail some of the atrocities committed by Indian forces and Hindu mobs against Sikhs in 1984. Operation Blue Star, in June 1984, when the Indian Army attacked the Golden Temple at Amritsar to detain Sikhs who were fighting for an independent Sikh state of Khalistan, destroyed much of the temple and, according to independent accounts, killed around 5000 Sikhs, many of them women and children (Sikh sources put the figure around twice as high.) Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi was blamed for the attack, and in October 2004 she was assassinated by two Sikhs serving as her bodyguards. Following this, there was widespread mob violence against Sikhs, particularly around Delhi, incited by prominent members of the Congress party, with police often giving their active support, and thousands were massacred. Both the fight for Khalistan and the persecution of Sikhs have continued, although attracting little news coverage in the outside world. Sikhs claim that over 250,000 Sikhs have been killed by in an orchestrated genocide by the Indian government. The largest of the Sikh separatist groups is Babbar Khalsa International, founded by Sukhdev Singh Babbar (1955-92) and one of 45 groups from around the world proscribed by the UK government by the Terrorism Act 2000. Although Superintendent Kohli, the officer in charge carried an A4 sheet with the Babbar symbol on it, I saw no arrests being made warnings given for its illegal display. Kohli did objecting to placards which named some prominent Indian politicians and had an image of an anonymous head in a gun-sight (presumably seeing them as an incitement to violence) and Constable Lockwood was worried to some photographs of massacre victims as they might frighten children. A few placards were removed, but other identical ones carried.
Size: 5040px × 3354px
Location: Hyde Park, London, England, UK
Photo credit: © Peter Marshall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1984, amritsar, army, babbar, commemoration, folding, freedom, golden, hyde, indian, khalistan, khalsa, london, massacre, movement, panj, park, piyare, protest, robes, saffron, sash, scarf, sikhism, sikhs, sword, temple, turbans
