Canada's NDP

Skip to main content

June 11th, 2018

NDP Statement on the 34th anniversary of the 1984 Golden Temple Invasion:

Jagmeet Singh, Leader of Canada’s NDP, issued the following statement:

This month, New Democrats mark the 34th anniversary of the invasion of the Darbar Sahib Complex and dozens of other Gurdwaras in Punjab, India, that took place in June of 1984.

I wish to personally extend my sympathies to the families of all those who lost their lives and the families they left behind. The state sanctioned attack that occurred thirty-four years ago, and the brutal repression that followed, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and secret and illegal mass state cremations have left a painful mark on victims' families and survivors of genocide — in India and around the world.

Like our former leaders Jack Layton and Tom Mulcair, New Democrats continue to stand in firm solidarity in calling for a full-rendering of accounts during this tragic series of events. We echo the calls of human rights advocates pursuing a full and complete truth regarding a state-imposed media blackout, the killing and detention of innocent civilians, the deliberate destruction of the Sikh Reference Library and the barring of access to human rights and humanitarian groups such as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and United Nations Human Rights Reporters.

In the aftermath of these atrocities, we have an obligation to seek answers, accountability and justice on behalf of Canadians and non-Canadians alike, who still live with this trauma and with little access to truth and justice.

This month, as Canadians remember the tragic events of June 1984, we remember the victims and their families who suffered such grave violence – and we honour them by recommitting ourselves to seeking justice.

Lest we forget.