Sikhs ask Canada to recognise 1984 riots as organised violence

Sikh groups in the US have asked the Canadian parliament to recognise the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as an organised campaign of violence.

A petition, signed by more than 10,000 people, has been presented to the Canadian foreign affairs committee ahead of prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to attend the G-20 summit in Toronto.

The petition was presented by two Liberal MPs Andrew Kania and Sukh Dhaliwal, who came from India in 1984 and was elected in the 2006 elections.

"The petitioners call on the government of Canada to recognise that an organised campaign of violence, rapes and killings took place in India in November of 1984 against the Sikh community resulting in the deaths of thousands," it says.
   
Another Sikh group, Sikhs for Justice, has said the Canadian government has a moral obligation towards those killed in the riots.

"We cannot be silenced on this issue when nobody has faced justice," said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a legal adviser for the New York-based Sikhs for Justice.