OTTAWA, CANADA  -  Questioning the human rights record of India, three promiment members of Canada's Parliament publicly voiced thier opinions on the House floor about the 1984 masacare of Sikhs in India.  Also, Liberal MPs Andrew Kania (Brampton West) and Sukh Dhaliwal (Newton-North Delta) presented a petition in the House on behalf of their constituents.   NDP leader Jack Layton has also voiced his support in an earlier statement.

The petition presented to parliament was supported by the Ontario Gurudwaras Committee, the Ontario Sikh and Gurudwara Council, as well as by gurudwaras in Quebec, Alberta and B.C.  

"What happened to Sikhs in India in November 1984 is genocide," explained Dhaliwal.  "I urge the Canadian government to take action by raising this matter with the Indian government."

Click to view Petition introduced in Canadian Parliament by MP Dhaliwal

"We cannot be silenced on this issue when nobody has faced justice," said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a legal advisor for Sikhs for Justice.   "Canada and the western world have a legal and moral obligation towards those Sikhs who fell victims to such a massacre. 
 
On June 9, 2010, A commemorative ceremony took place on the front lawn of parliament which was attended by more than thousand members of Sikh community, and where many Members of Parliament voiced their support, including:  Andrew Kania, Sukh Dhaliwal, Bob Rae (Toronto Centre), Rob Oliphant (Don Valley West), Bonnie Crombie (Mississauga South), Kirsty Duncan (Etobicoke North), Dan McTeague (Pickering-Scarborough East), Mark Holland (Ajax Pickering) and Jean Dorion (Longueuil -Pierre Boucher).   NDP leader Jack Layton has also voiced his support in an earlier statement.

Here is the text of NDP leader Jack Layton statement from his website:

"It is with great sorrow that I extend my sympathies on the 26th anniversary of the invasion of the Darbar Sahib complex, also known as the Golden Temple, in Amritsar, India."

"The tragic events that unfolded over the course of those sweltering days in June, and the subsequent killings in November, have deeply hurt the Sikh community, both in India and abroad."

"I stand in solidarity with the community and many Canadians across the country, in seeking justice. When innocent lives are lost with no accountability or explanation from the government, we have an obligation, as one democratic government to another, to ask why and seek honest answers for our citizens."

"As we gather to remember June 1984, I remind Canadians that remembrance is the tie that binds us to our past – it guides us for the challenges of the future."

"Lest we forget."