| 1984 anti-Sikh riots | |
|---|---|
 Sikh man surrounded and beaten by a mob | |
| Location | Punjab, Delhi |
| Date | 31 October – 3 November 1984 |
| Target | Sikhs |
Attack type | Massacre, mass murder, forced conversion, arson, abduction, rape, acid throwing |
| Deaths | (official) 2,800[1] (unofficial) 8,000[2] |
| Perpetrators | Congress Party members |
| Motive | Avenging the assassination of Indira Gandhi |
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms[3][4][1] against Sikhs in India by anti-Sikh mobs (notably Congress Party members and temporarily released convicts) in response to the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Official Indian government reports numbered about 2,800 killed across India, including 2,100 in Delhi.[1][5] Independent sources estimate the number of deaths at about 8,000,[2][6][7] including at least 3,000 in Delhi.[8] The Central Bureau of Investigation, the main Indian investigative agency, believes that the violence was organised with support from the Delhi police and some central-government officials.[9] Rajiv Gandhi, who was sworn in as prime minister after his mother's death, said when asked about the riots: "When a big tree falls, the earth shakes".[10]
Sporadic violence continued as the result of an armed Sikh separatist movement which sought independence. In June 1984, during Operation Blue Star, Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to attack the Golden Temple and eliminate any insurgents; it had been occupied by Sikh separatists, who were reportedly[weasel words] stockpiling weapons. Later operations by Indian paramilitary forces were conducted to clear the separatists from the state of Punjab.[11]
The violence in Delhi was triggered by the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards who responded to her authorisation of the military operation. One of the assassins was fatally shot by Gandhi's other bodyguards while the other was shot, hospitalized, convicted of Gandhi's murder and then executed. The Indian government reported 2,700 deaths in the ensuing chaos. In the aftermath of the riots, the government reported that 20,000 had fled the city; the People's Union for Civil Liberties reported "at least" 1,000 displaced persons.[12] The most-affected regions were the Sikh neighbourhoods of Delhi. Human rights organisations and newspapers across India believed that the massacre was organised.[1][9][13] The collusion of political officials in the violence and judicial failure to penalise the perpetrators alienated Sikhs and increased support for the Khalistan movement.[14] The Akal Takht, Sikhism's governing body, considers the killings genocide.[15]
In 2011, Human Rights Watch reported that the Government of India had "yet to prosecute those responsible for the mass killings".[16] According to the 2011 WikiLeaks cable leaks, the United States was convinced of Indian National Congress complicity in the riots and called it "opportunism" and "hatred" by the Congress government of Sikhs.[17][18] Although the U.S. has not identified the riots as genocide, it acknowledged that "grave human rights violations" occurred.[19] In 2011, a new group of mass graves was discovered in Haryana and Human Rights Watch reported that "widespread anti-Sikh attacks in Haryana were part of broader revenge attacks" in India.[20]