Motion to Term 1984 Riots a ‘Genocide’ Fails to Pass in Canadian Provincial Legislature
The Canadian provincial legislature did not pass a motion that wanted to call the 1984 anti-Sikh violence in India a genocide. This has started a debate about how we remember the past how people from other countries living in Canada affect politics and how Canada and India get along.
A man named Mandeep Dhaliwal, who is a part of the Conservative Party in British Columbia introduced this motion. British Columbia is a province in Canada where a lot of people live. The motion was about the violence that happened to Sikh people after the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed in 1984. The people who made this motion wanted the legislature to say that what happened to the people was genocide.
The motion said that the legislature should respect the people who were hurt the people who survived and the families of those who were affected by the violence. It also said that we should always remember what happened and be careful so that something like this never happens again. The motion said that the violence against people in 1984 was genocide.
The motion did not pass because it was introduced without giving enough notice and not all lawmakers agreed to it. When all lawmakers do not agree a motion cannot move forward.
After the motion failed some lawmakers said that the people who supported it were using a sensitive topic for political gain. They said that if the people who made the motion really wanted it to pass they could have done things differently.
The 1984 anti-Sikh violence happened after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards. This happened after the Indian military went into the Golden Temple in Amritsar. A lot of people were killed, especially in Delhi and other parts of northern India. For a time human rights groups and Sikh people living in other countries have been asking for people to recognize what happened and for those responsible to be held accountable.
This issue has come up times in international politics especially in countries where a lot of Sikh people live. In 2017 the province of Ontario passed a motion that called the 1984 violence genocide. This made India unhappy. Many groups in Canada have been trying to get more people to recognize what happened.
This is happening at a time when Canada and India are trying to improve their relationship. Some people who watch politics say that issues related to people from countries living in Canada and old grievances are still a big part of public discussions, in Canada.
The fact that the motion did not pass shows how hard it is to get people to agree on things that happened a time ago. While some groups keep asking for people to recognize what happened it is hard to get lawmakers to agree. The 1984 anti-Sikh violence is still an issue today and people are still talking about the anti-Sikh violence and what it means to call it a genocide.
