Khalistani Canadian MP Jagmeet Singh lies about 1984 Sikh pogrom: How he is attempting to rewrite history by whitewashing Congress’ role and how RSS helped Sikhs
On 2nd November, pro-Khalistani Canadian MP Jagmeet Singh attempted to rewrite history and blame Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Jagmeet Singh categorically whitewashed the role of Congress in instigating the riots against Sikhs following the murder of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards.
Jagmeet Singh wrote, “Today marks the 39th remembrance of the 1984 #SikhGenocide. Thousands of Sikhs were killed in a pre-meditated, state-led campaign. This year we learned of allegations that agents of the govt of India were involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – reopening these wounds.” He continued, “Now, efforts for healing and reconciliation must be prioritized. Canada’s NDP has recognized 1984 as a Sikh Genocide and called for the RSS and its Canadian affiliates to be banned in Canada. It’s time for the Liberal govt to do the same.”
The two-part post of Jagmeet was full of lies attacking India and the largest Hindu nationalist organisation, RSS. It is a matter of fact that Congress was behind the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, and it has been documented several times in both Indian and international media. Jagmeet is supposed to be a well-informed person as he is an MP of a leading country. However, he appears to be highly ill-informed or running an agenda against India and the RSS.
In fact, there are numerous recorded mentions that Hindus, including those who were affiliated with RSS, saved many Sikh lives during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Prominent Sikh author Khushwant Singh, in his article in Publik Asia in November 1989, mentioned that Congress was behind instigating riots against Sikhs. He also gave credit to the RSS for saving Sikhs during the riots.
Kushwant Singh wrote, “RSS has played an honourable role in maintaining Hindu-Sikh unity before and after the murder of Indira Gandhi in Delhi and in other places. It was the Congress (I) leaders who instigated mobs in 1984 and got more than 3000 people killed. I must give due credit to RSS and the BJP for showing courage and protecting helpless Sikhs during those difficult days. No less a person than Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself intervened at a couple of places to help poor taxi drivers.”
RSS helped Sikhs during the partition
Not only in 1984, but RSS came to the rescue of Sikhs during partition as well. In his book ‘The Forgotten History of India‘, author Arun Anand quoted Manikchandra Vajpayee and Sridhar Paradkar’s seminal work ‘Partition Days: The Fiery Saga of RSS”, which described how RSS volunteers protected ‘Darbar Sahib’ in Amritsar in 1947.
During the partition, RSS volunteers took to the streets to fight the Muslim league-led mobs. The first attack on Darbar Sahib took place on 6th March 1947. Vajpayee and Paradkar have described it as, “It was a terrible night of 6th March. A formidable, organised mob of Muslims led by National Guards in their uniform was advancing from Sherawala Gate to Chowk Fawara in Amritsar. This time, their target was the well-known Krishna Textile market and sacred Darbar Sahib. But…the moment they reached Chowk Fawara, they were fiercely attacked from all sides with lathis, swords, spears, knives and bombs. The mob saw that the attackers were none other than the Knickerwalas (RSS volunteers known as swayamsevaks were identified by their Khaki shorts during that era). They had taken such fright of the swayamsevaks’ past record that they ran away. Thus, the victory under the leadership of brave swayamsevaks saved both the Krishna market and Darbar Sahib from destruction.“
The second attack took place on 9th March 1947, when troops of uniformed Muslim National Guards charged towards the Golden Temple from three sides. There were a handful of Sewadars present in the Golden Temple alongside a hundred unarmed pilgrims. Sikh Jathedari got the information about the possible attack and tried to reach Amritsar from nearby villages, but the armed police stopped them. RSS Office in-charge, Durga Dad Khanna, assured the Punjab relief committee office that called from the Gurdwara that RSS volunteers reached Darbar Sahib and they would save the sacred place at any cost. At that time, the plan was to counterattack and not just self-defence. The tables turned, and attackers had to run away, fearing the defenders. The whole city was filled with the chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Sat Shri Akaal’.
In his book “Now It Can Be Told“, Professor AN Bali mentioned how RSS organised an evacuation plan during partition and helped Hindu and Sikh women and children to escape the dangerous regions that are now in Pakistan. “They organised for their feeding, medical aid, clothing and care,” AN Bali wrote.
The infamous video of Rajiv Gandhi justifying anti-Sikh riots
While several Congress leaders were accused of anti-Sikh pogrom and some of them are facing trials, one should not forget about the infamous video of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, where he justified anti-Sikh riots. Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31st October 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards as a revenge for Operation Blue Star. From 1st November to 4th November, Sikhs across the country were killed. The government figures suggest the angry mobs, many of which were led by Congress leaders, brutally murdered 3350 Sikhs. On 19th November 1984, while giving a speech in front of thousands of people, then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had justified the violence that took place after Gandhi’s assassination. He had said, “Jab bhi koi bada ped girta hai, to dharti thodi hilti hai. (When a big tree falls, the earth shakes.)”
Towards the end of his speech Rajiv Gandhi said, “Hamein Indira ji ko yaad rakhna hai. Hamein yaad rakhna hai ki unki hatya kyun hui. Hamein yaad rakhna hai ki kaun kaun log iske peeche ho sakte hain. Jab Indira ji ki hatya hui thi, to haamre desh mein kuch dange fasaad hue the. Hamein maloom hai ki bharat ki janta ke dil mein kitna krodh aaya, kitna gussa aaya. Aur kuch din ke liye, logon ko laga ki bharat hil raha hai. Lekin jab bhi koi bada ped girta hai to dharti thodi hilti hai. (We should remember Indira Gandhi. We should remember why she was killed. We should remember who can be behind her assassination. When Indira ji was killed, there were some riots in the country. We know how angry the people of India were. And for a few days, people thought that India is shaking. However, whenever a big tree falls, the earth shakes.)” In 2019, Senior Advocate HS Phoolka said that the instruction to kill Sikhs came directly from Rajiv Gandhi’s office.
Jagmeet Singh echoed false accusations against India over Khalistani terrorist’s murder in Canada
Jagmeet Singh, in the first part of his post, accused India of killing Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. He echoed the accusations levelled by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September 2023 against India that resulted in serious diplomatic crisis between India and Canada. India has categorically denied any involvement in the murder of Nijjar that took place in June 2023. Furthermore, there is a better chance that Nijjar was killed in a gang war. In fact, Canada has been serving as a safe haven for gangsters, wanted criminals, terrorists and organised crime figures for a long time. Canada has also housed several Nazi war criminals and even celebrated one of them, Yaroslav Hunka, in the parliament recently that resulted in international criticism.
In the aftermath of the accusations, Canada suspended one of the top Indian diplomats. India immediately responded and fired one of the top Canadian diplomats. In the coming days, India also gave an ultimatum to the Canadian government to downsize their diplomatic presence in India by 41 diplomats and warned if the 41 diplomats and their families did not leave India, they would lose diplomatic immunity. As a result, Canada withdrew 41 diplomats in October 2023. Canada tried to get support from Western powers like the UK, the US, Australia and others against India, but none of them came out in Canada’s support. Furthermore, there were a couple of instances when Trudeau tried to pressurise India by picking up the topic of Nijjar’s murder in front of other world leaders. One such instance was when he picked up the topic during a conversation with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of UAE. But it yielded no results in favour of Canada.
Canada has a long history of meddling in India’s affairs. Not only its Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but also MPs, including Jagmeet Singh, targeted India during farmers’ protests. They tried to school India on human rights and the right to protest. The funny thing is, when similar protests took place in Canada, the Trudeau government panicked in just a couple of weeks and imposed a nationwide emergency to curb the protests. Now, Jagmeet Singh, a pro-Khalistani MP from Canada, is trying to rewrite history and blame RSS for the anti-Sikh riots and whitewashing crimes of Congress and its supporters.