November 1984: The Sikh Genocide

In November 1984, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a horrific wave of violence erupted against the Sikh community in India, especially in Delhi. Thousands of Sikhs were brutally attacked, killed, and driven from their homes in a series of coordinated assaults.

To this day, the events of November 1984 ignite powerful debates: Was this a genocide, as defined by the 1948 United Nations Convention? The Convention’s criteria—acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group—compel many to call these attacks an orchestrated genocide against Sikhs. Yet, Indian authorities have largely classified it as communal violence or a pogrom.