Baku to host global conference on India’s ethnic minorities

An international conference titled “June 1984, the Amritsar Events: India’s Transnational Repression Against Ethnic Minorities in the Context of Genocide” will be held in Baku on June 3, organized by the Baku Initiative Group.

According to Report, representatives of the Dalit community, who have suffered from what organizers describe as the Indian government's repressive and systematic discriminatory policies, will participate in events held in Azerbaijan for the first time, News.Az reports, citing Report.

The conference will also bring together prominent members of the Sikh community from Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, and the United States, as well as heads of think tanks, experts specializing in human rights and ethnic minority issues, and individuals who have been direct victims of the Indian government's policies of repression, racism, and persecution.

Discussions at the conference will focus on keeping the issue of the Indian government's alleged transnational repression and systematic persecution of ethnic and religious minorities—particularly members of the Sikh and Dalit diasporas and their family members—on the agenda of international organizations.

Participants will also exchange views on strengthening coordinated cooperation among diaspora organizations affected by repression, enhancing joint legal protection mechanisms against transnational persecution, and promoting collective action on international platforms.

In addition, discussions will address the need for an international legal assessment of the armed attacks, acts of violence, and the deaths of thousands of innocent people during the Amritsar events of June 1984, which organizers say targeted the Sikh community and its religious and cultural values. The conference will also examine India's compliance with commitments made to international organizations regarding the rights of ethnic minorities.

For reference, beginning in early June 1984, the Indian government launched an armed operation against the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, one of the holiest sites of the Sikh faith. Organizers describe the operation as a state-organized act of violence directed against the Sikh community’s religious and spiritual values, freedom of worship, and historical-cultural heritage. According to information compiled from reports by international non-governmental organizations, independent sources, and witness testimonies, up to 8,000 civilians are reported to have lost their lives in Amritsar and surrounding cities as a result of the operation.

It should be noted that in March this year, the Baku Initiative Group and Sikh Federation International jointly prepared a report titled “Crossing Borders: India’s Transnational Repression Against the Sikh Diaspora,” which outlines allegations regarding the Indian government's policies toward diaspora members living abroad and includes information related to the 1984 Amritsar events.

News.Az 

By Aysel Mammadzada