1984 Anti-Sikh Pogrom Summons Issued Against Indian Minister Kamal Nath In United States Court (Sikhs For Justice)

[Tejwant Singh]

"SUMMONS ISSUED AGAINST INDIAN MINISTER KAMAL NATH IN UNITED STATES COURT FOR ROLE IN NOVEMBER 1984 SIKH GENOCIDE" ​

KAMAL NATH ORDERED TO RESPOND BY APRIL 28, 2010 IN US COURT​

Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a U.S. based non-profit national human rights advocacy group, has filed an historic civil lawsuit under the Alien Tort Claims Act against India's Union Minister, Kamal Nath, for his participation in the 1984 genocide of the Sikhs in Delhi, India. SFJ filed the suit along with two individuals who were directly affected by the November 1984 Sikh genocide. The lawsuit has been docketed (10 CV 2940 ) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and has been assigned to Honorable Judge Sweet. The District Court has issued a summons and Minister Nath must respond within 21 days.

Minister Kamal Nath is accused of human rights violations for being a leader in India's 1984 genocide of 3,000 Sikhs and the displacement of over 300,000 Sikhs. On November 1^st 1984 Kamal Nath was a member of Parliament and was witnessed leading an armed mob in which many of Sikh were burnt alive during an attack on a Sikh temple in New Delhi.
According to SFJ attorney Pannun lawsuit against Kamal Nath has been filed under ALIEN TORT CLAIMS ACT(ATCA) AND THE TORTURE VICTIM PROTECTION ACT (TVPA) because of the failure of the Indian government to enforce human rights protections and hold violators accountable.

According to attorney Gurpatwant S. Pannun, of Sikhs for Justice "U.S. law provides a remedy to victims of human rights violations that have been committed abroad and allows the victims to bring a lawsuit against the perpetrator in the U.S. Federal District Court." Attorney Pannun added that "Despite several witnesses who saw Kamal Nath inciting and leading the mob, Nath has been successfully escaping justice under the Indian system for more than 25 years using his influence and position in the ruling Congress (I) party.

<table style="background-color: rgb(204, 255, 255);" width="100%" bgcolor="#ccffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="10"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="color: rgb(78, 78, 78); font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" align="left"> SFJ is holding a Justice Rally against Minister Nath's U.S. visit this Thursday, April 8^th from 7A.M. - 10 A.M at 49^th Street and 6^th Avenue (in front of the McGraw Hill Building) where Kamal Nath will be attending a gathering of the U.S. India Business Council. The rally organized by Sikhs for Justice is being supported by the Gurudwara Management Committees across the United States.

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SUMMONS AGAINST KAMAL NATH​

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</td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);" width="100%" bgcolor="#cccccc" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="10"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="color: rgb(78, 78, 78); font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" align="left"> COMPLAINT AGAINST KAMAL NATH
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</td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 204);" width="100%" bgcolor="#ffffcc" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="10"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="color: rgb(78, 78, 78); font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" align="left"> SIKHS FOR JUSTICE, a US based human rights advocacy group, which is striving to disseminate true and correct information, statistics, figures and data regarding the Genocide of Sikhs in November 1984 and is mobilizing Human Rights Groups and International Community on a common platform. SIKHS FOR JUSTICE is pursuing the legal battle to get the justice for the victims of November 1984 Sikh Genocide with the support of ALL INDIA SIKH STUDENTS FEDERATION, a social political organization headed by Karnail Singh Peermohammad. SFJ maintains that the genocide of India's Sikh population was state orchestrated because Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by two Sikh bodyguards

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[spnadmin]

This story has now been covered by Times of India,

Kamal Nath summoned by US court for alleged role in anti-Sikh riots - The Times of India

And also by Daily News Analysis India, as posted below. Both filed from New York

Ghost of anti-Sikh riots back to haunt Kamal Nath
Ghost of anti-Sikh riots back to haunt Kamal Nath - dnaindia.com


NEW YORK: Visiting road transport and highways minister Kamal Nath received a rude jolt during a press conference in New York on Tuesday when he learned that he has been summoned by a US federal district court for his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

A journalist from a local daily handed Nath a photocopy of the summons moments before a process server knocked on the doors of the New York consulate with the legal documents. Nath has been issued a court summons in a civil suit filed against him by Jasbir Singh and Mahinder Singh on behalf of the New York-based Sikhs for Justice. Nath said he was “appalled” by the allegations and denied any wrongdoing.

“The absurdity of it,” Nath fumed. “I am seeing the paper for the first time. I am surprised and appalled because I wasn’t involved — no one made a police case against me in India, nobody went to court against me either and 25 years later somebody suddenly emerges to say this. Well, it just reflects on the authenticity!”

The civil case filed under the Alien Torts Claims Act alleges Nath incited mobs to attack Sikhs and torch the Gurudwara Rakab Ganj in Delhi. More than 3,000 Sikhs died in riots sparked by the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. Sikhs for Justice legal adviser Gurpatwant Pannun said Mahinder Singh’s father was murdered, while Jasbir Singh lost several aunts and uncles.

Nath is planning several roundtables with US investors this year, but the Sikh community is planning to lobby US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the department of homeland security to cancel Nath’s visa. “The Coalition Against Genocide protested against Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s planned business visit to the US in March 2005 and scuttled his entry to the US. We can follow the same tactics to keep Nath out,” said a Sikh activist.

The summons calls for Nath to appear in court within 21 days. If he doesn’t, the summons said, he will be tried in absence. According to legal experts, Nath can supply answers to questions without being present in court.

Nath declined to discuss how he would respond to the court summons beyond saying that he would have to study the legitimacy of the matter.

In March this year, Nath first ran smack into Canadian Sikhs protests outside the King Edward Hotel where he attended the Canada-India Business Council meeting. Now Sikhs for Justice with the support of several Gurudwara management committees in the US will hold a “Justice Rally” against Nath on Thursday outside McGraw Hill Auditorium where Nath is attending a meeting.

The Sikh community in North America is mounting pressure on the Indian government to look into the 1984 riots. It wants the government to take action against Congress party leaders and workers who incited or helped the mobs in attacking the Sikhs.

Nath who is in the US on tour to revive foreign interest in India’s massive infrastructure development, particularly roads and highways is miffed by the distraction and embarrassment caused by the Sikh protests.

India’s road network of 3.32 million km is second only to the US and is in need of major upgrades. Nath said on Tuesday that India has seen recent investments from companies like Morgan Stanley and Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin Group. The government is looking to build around 7,000 kilometers of roads a year for the next several years, or 20 kilometers per day.

“Currently, we are building 13 kilometers a day,” said Nath seeking more US investments for building India’s creaky infrastructure.

India’s massive public-private partnership programme will result in the development of 15,000 km of roads and highways over the next three years at a cost of roughly $70 billion. About $45 billion of that is projected to come from the private sector and $20 billion is supposed to come from foreign investors.

Meanwhile, lawyers and activists associated with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases in Delhi say that while Nath’s claim of having no Sikh riot-related cases against him in Indian courts is true, “the fact remains that there still is plenty of evidence to prove his complicity”.

Senior advocate Harvinder Singh Phoolka, founder of the Citizen’s Justice Committee which has been fighting for justice for the riot victims, told DNA, “Yes, there was no case registered against Kamal Nath in any Indian court in relation to the ‘84 riots but there was enough evidence against him.”

Phoolka, who in his book When a Tree Shook Delhi wrote extensively about the alleged involvement of Nath in instigating the riots, clams that the minister was amongst the first politicians, “even before Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler”, to lead the riotous mobs at Gurudwara Rakabganj in the national capital.

Phoolka claims that the Nanavati Commission, which enquired into the anti-Sikh riots, had questioned Nath, who told the commission that he was present at Gurudwara Rakabganj when the riots broke out but claimed that he was dispersing the mobs and preventing them from any violent activity. “The Nanavati Commission strangely claimed that it found Nath’s submissions vague and that he had failed to explain the reason of his presence at the riot site. However, overlooking the body of evidence, the Nanavati Commission chose to give Nath the benefit of doubt,” Phoolka said.

- With inputs from Puneet Nicholas Yadav in New Delhi.