Mass Grave of Sikhs discovered in Haryana

MASS GRAVE OF "SIKHS" KILLED IN NOVEMBER 1984 DISCOVERED IN HARYANA AFTER 26 YEARS

A mass Grave of Sikhs killed in November 1984 has been discovered after 26 years in village Hondh-Chillar, District Rewari, Haryana. The village was inhibited by several Sikh families and on November 02, 1984 in an organized and well planned attack, the entire village was burnt along with its Sikh population and Gurudwara. The village consisting of torched houses, burnt Gurudwara and scattered human bones has been now been discovered.

In November 1984, the village was inhibited by more than 35 Sikh families and on November 02,1984 in an organized and well planned attack, the entire village was burnt along with its Sikh population and Gurudwara.

According to records of local police, an FIR was registered for the death of 20 Sikhs from Hondh-Chillar village on November 03 1984. The remains of Hondh-Chillar show that entire portion of the village where Sikhs used to live was torched including the Gurudwara. Human remains, mostly bones are scattered in the torched compounds. The Gurudwara of the village is completely burnt and is inhibited by stray animals.

It is estimated that 60 to 70 people living in the village would have died on the fateful night but the Haryana Police neither identified the 20 people killed as mentioned in FIR nor pursued the case to identify and nab the culprits. Haryana Police in fact chose to abandon the case midway.

The Sikh families of the village had come from Mianwali (now in Pakistan), during partition of the country in 1947. Such was the influence and goodwill of these families that one of their representatives Sarup Singh s/o Tirlok Singh remained a Sarpanch of the joint Panchayat of village Hondh-Chillar for 15 years. The fact proves that the Sikhs had good relations with the village people. Sarup Singh remained Sarpanch being the Sikh Community a minority in the village.

AISSF and Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) who has been assigned by Sri Akal Takht Sahib to work on the issue of November 1984 Sikh Genocide, announced that the site will be preserved as “Sikh Genocide Museum” and will serve to show the pattern of attack on Sikh localities across India during November 1984.

According to Karnail Singh Peermohammad and Davinder Singh Sodhi,, Secretary General – AISSF who visited the village alongwith Engineer Manvinder Singh Giaspur and some other Sikh leaders, said the burnt village is an irrefutable piece of evidence that in November 1984 Sikhs were subjected to genocidal attacks across India and their whole localities like village Hondh-Chillar were wiped out. The village will serve as a “sample of evidence” to show the world how Sikhs were subjected to genocidal attacks, locality after locality and village after village across India, added Peermohammad.

As per attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun Legal Advisor to Sikhs For Justice, the forlorn debris and human remains at village Hondh-Chillar discovered after 26 years are the most specific and convincing evidence of Sikhs localities being attacked and wiped out throughout India in a identical pattern. The evidence discovered on site indicates systematic pattern in which armed groups lead by Congress Leaders would cordon Sikh neighborhoods, rape the women and burn the men and children alive. "The discovery of Mass Grave of Sikhs in Haryana proves that Nanavati Commission's scope of inquiry into the killing of Sikhs was gravely insufficient and eyewash because the commission did not look into killings of Sikhs that took place outside Delhi", added attorney Pannun.

According to Karnail Singh Peermohammad scores of Sikhs living in the village were burnt to death on November 02, 1984 and the Police neither identified the dead nor investigated the killing of Sikhs. According to the FIR filed by Ghanpat Singh Sarpanch and other eyewitnesses, the Sikh population of the village was attacked on November 02, 1984 by a group of about 500 people who came in Trucks and were armed. The group was shouting "Ye Sardar Ghaddar hain, Inn ko khatam karain ge" (These Sardars are traitors and we will wipe them out). Echoing a shock felt by numerous international human rights organizations and activists, Jatinder Singh of Sikhs For Justice added "It is unthinkable the way in which these Sikhs must have been systematically targeted and subjected to the most gruesome methods of mass killing known to humankind. It is horrifying to think that these murders took place with state complicity through carefully orchestrated genocidal acts by armed groups of Indian men, transported from village to village by the state." Adding to this shock, Jatinder Singh also cited that, "An entire village ethnically cleansed of a religious minority is the gravest violation of human rights and the most clearest proof of the Sikh Genocide. The innocent families of Hondh-Chillar village, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters were all exterminated simply because of their religious beliefs differed from the majority of India."

In addition to the statements made by AISSF and SFJ, researchers have brought forth information that on November 02, 1984 attackers surrounded Sikh houses and attacked by throwing petrol bombs into Sikh homes. Men and children were beaten and thrown into the burning houses and women were first raped and then thrown into the fire. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib was also desecrated and Gurudwara was put on fire as indication of the murderous rage of the mob, looking to destroy any and all traces of Sikh identity.

In light of the recent discovery, AISSF and Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) will approach United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and South Asian Human Rights Commission to visit the site of Sikh Mass Graves in village Hondh-Chillar and investigate the attack on Sikhs that took place throughout India in November 1984. The genocidal site of village Hondh-Chillar is discovered by the sustained and unceasing efforts of Engineer Manvinder Singh Giaspur