Above: Amitabh Bacchan - Time to answer for his cowardly crimes? Below: Jagdish Kaur, a Sardarni who bravely continues to demand justice, against the heaviest of odds.
1984
Criminal Charges Against Amitabh Bachchan?
1984 Murders
by YUDHVIR RANA
A prime witness in the 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms in Delhi, India, said that everyone who had been watching the state-run television network, Doordarshan, saw how Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan provoked the murderers.
Following Indira Gandhi's assassination by her bodyguards
Satwant Singh and Beant Singh - weho were Sikhs - India was witness to well-orchestrated pogroms against Sikhs in
the final days of October and the early days of November, 1984.
Reminiscing on the memories of the mass hate-crimes committed against India's Sikhs, Jagdish Kaur said:
"I watched live relay on Doordarshan and saw Amitabh Bachchan raising
his arm and shouting the slogan, 'khoon ka badla khoon sae laengae' ("We will avenge blood with blood!") two times."
She added that ever since she saw
Amitabh spewing venom in full public glare, she never watched any of his
movies or programmes on TV. "Any mention of him or his work reminds me
of his role in the 1984 [pogroms]," she said.
Australia's
'Criminal Code Act 1995' states that Australian courts can have
jurisdiction over cases involving crimes against humanity irrespective
of whether the offense was committed in Australia or not.
[Courtesy: Times of India. Edited for sikhchic.com]
October 29, 2011
"I wonder why no one in India lodged a case against Amitabh Bachchan for
provoking the killing of Sikhs," said Jagdish Kaur, prime witness in the said pogroms, while talking on Thursday, October 20, 2011.
Jagdish Kaur
said that everyone who had been watching Doordarshan was witness to how Amitabh Bachchan provoked the anti-Sikh massacres.
"I am not concerned that a case has been registered against him in
Australia but all I want to know why nobody noticed Amitabh's provoking
statement in India," sge Kaur asked.
Recently, a U.S.-based
Sikh human rights group lodged a criminal complaint against Bachchan in
Australia for instigating and abetting the 1984 anti Sikh mass killings.
Jagdish Kaur, then 42, had seen her husband and son being murdered in
cold blood by a frenzied mob inside her house in Palam Colony (West
Delhi) on November 1, 1984. She also saw her three brothers Narinder
Pal Singh, 35, Raghwinder Singh, 28 and Kuldeep Singh, 21, all
contractors with MES, being burned to death by the mob while they were trying
to save themselves.
Conversation about this article
1: Gurbani Kaur (New Delhi, India), October 20, 2011, 2:46 PM.
We need to understand that every time we rent or buy a DVD film, or go to a theatre to see a film made or produced by this coward or his clan, we are putting money into the pockets of the murderers of our fathers and brothers, mothers and sisters. It is time to take a serious look at how we support Bollywood, and how it has in turn betrayed us grievously. We need to show that we have self-respect and self-esteem. Otherwise, if we choose to continue to be major sponsors of Bollywood - which we are, considering the huge dollar clout we wield from across the diaspora - then we should accept our own role in contributing to the crimes against our own community, albeit after the fact. We then become an inseparable part of the ignominy.
2: Gurcharan Singh (New Orleans, U.S.A.), October 20, 2011, 2:58 PM.
I completely agree with Gurbani ji. We can now expect the following scenario to unfold: Amitabh Bachchan will have to spend oodles of cash to buy his way out of this one ... through lawyers, PR firms, Indian government politicians and bureaucrats, industry interests, etc. Even buying "chamchaas" - quislings! - within our own ranks who will sing the praises of this silly man and remind us that his mother was born a Sikhni. So, if we want to contribute to his "defence" fund, we should continue to buy or rent his movies. You will have the satisfaction then of knowing that you have helped him build his fund of billions which he will need to pay off people to avoid answering the charges of having inspired and instigated the murders of tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters.
3: Lakhvir Singh Khalsa (Nairobi, Kenya), October 20, 2011, 4:24 PM.
As a Sikh myself, I am a great admirer of Amitabh's films, but not of the unfortunate words he uttered in 1984, in provocation against the Sikhs. He must be brought to answer, that's all we ask. We have not had justice to date. Justice delayed is justice denied, so the chapter for 1984 will never close until those responsible for the pogroms are brought to book and punished, so that nothing of this magnitude ever recurs - against any community, not just against the Sikhs alone. We can put this chapter behind us, but only after the guilty will accept their crimes and sincerely seek forgiveness. But in 27 years since, nothing of the sort has happened, despite untiring attempts to seek justice. So 1984 will remain unforgotten until justice is served.
4: Rupinder Mohan Singh (Sacramento, California, U.S.A.), October 20, 2011, 6:35 PM.
I am probably ignorant of legal terminology, but is "Criminal Charges Laid" the same as "Criminal Complaint Received"? As far as I've been able to see, Australian police received the criminal complaint from 'Sikhs for Justice' but Amitabh Bachchan has not been charged with any crime yet.
5: Gurnek Singh (Manchester, United Kingdom), October 20, 2011, 7:31 PM.
It's amazing to think this guy is a descendent of Guru Nanak through his mother. Is there any footage available of his antics?
6: Jessie Kaur (Indiana, U.S.A.), October 20, 2011, 10:09 PM.
Gurnek Singh ji: There is no merit or brownie points for having descended from any Guru Sahib or for belonging to any caste, etc., in Sikhi. Also, a reminder: anybody who claims descent from Guru Nanak has to be from the lineage of his children - he had two sons. Both of these sons were expressly rejected by Guru Nanak as being unworthy, and were by-passed when Angad was named the Second Guru. Hence, such descent is not worth writing home about, and carries no bragging rights.
7: Harpreet Singh (Delhi, India), October 21, 2011, 3:13 PM.
"One can avoid punishment in the worldly courts but how can one avoid punishment in the true court of Waheguru?" [GGS]. Very tragic case of this brave lady. Once a woman news anchor was taking her interview on television. After listening to her tragedy, the woman news anchor started weeping on television ... perhaps, it was IBN 7 news channel. May Waheguru bless Bibi ji and all such victims with lots of courage and support. Our prayers and wishes are with them throughout.
8: Niranjan singh (Glendale, California, U.S.A.), October 22, 2011, 8:40 AM.
Justice should be done - no room for excuses. A criminal has no religion.
9: Subh (Canada), October 24, 2011, 7:04 AM.
Is there a difference between the Jalliawalla Bagh Massacre at the hands of the British in the early 1900s and the attack on the Darbar Sahib by the Indian government in 1984?
10: Manraj Singh (Ottawa, Canada), October 24, 2011, 12:07 PM.
I don't even remember the last time I watched an Indian movie. All these Bollywood actors are Hollywood wannabees. They can't act worth .02 cents. I ignored this entire industry about 17 years and haven't gone back yet. Bunch of frickin copy cats. My beef with them is that the always (almost always) portray Sikhs negatively or in bad taste. I've kicked them to the door in my life. Specially this "Big B" being everyone's dada there. I'm not going back. To me he's just Big Buffoon. World's largest democracy my foot. These Indian nincompoops wouldn't know how to spell 'democracy'. Fellas! Learn something from Canada and the rest of the civilized world.
11: Kavita Bhopal Jeevika (London, United Kingdom), November 02, 2011, 9:51 AM.
I don't know much ... can someone explain why Indira Gandhi was killed, please? Wasn't she innocent? [EDITOR: You will get the answer to your question in the article "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" which is currently on the HomePage, but can be accessed there anytime in the 1984 section. Also, you may want to check out the other 100 or so articles in the same section - many of them written by prestigious and well-known Indian and Hindu writers.]
12: Karen Kaur (United Kingdom), November 10, 2011, 1:43 PM.
Amitabh Bachchan should pay for what he done ... he is a passive murderer! He encouraged the murder of tens of thousands of people and thinks he can get away with it.
13: Sukhwant Kaur (Surrey, British Columbia, Canada), November 28, 2011, 4:34 PM.
How very true what all of you have written. I have never ever taken any fancy to any of the Indian so-called celebrities ... finding it always such a waste of anyone's time, expense, and labor in watching and listening to their immoralities. So my like-minded friends and relatives just laugh at all those suckers who even prayed for Amitabh when he was ill. (They were thinking he was going to die, so they even prayed for him at our gurdwaras - to supposedly revive him ... that's what I was told!) Now, with all truths about him - He's nothing but an ugly sight Look at his character, his personality, his person, his looks - white beard and darkened hairs? He's so lost and confused and indecisive: should he be a young man or a 'dada'? Whatever ... c'mon, he's a despicable stain on this Earth. Many people don't like truths told and said ... but Sikhism is about truth ... and Truth prevails.
14: Terlochan Singh (Malaysia), December 03, 2011, 9:04 PM.
These are the scoundrels who our beloved Gurus gave life to. We should not let them roam free, now I say khoon ka badla insaaf, for these worms. Not only Sikhs should boycott this goonda and his whole wormy family but all human with brains should.
15: Amarjeet Singh (Russia), March 12, 2012, 5:13 PM.
Is there any video record of this? Please, if you have any information about this video, do share it!
16: Ranjit (Malaysia), October 28, 2014, 9:14 AM.
If Bachchan can come and donate a portion of his assets to the victims and publicly ask for forgiveness, he will be forgiven. That is the teaching of Sikhi.