Complaint Against Sonia In US Court for Protecting Perpetrators of 1984 Sikh Genocide

Jalandhar, Punjab: An amended class action complaint was filed in US federal court against Congress President Sonia Gandhi – for which she appeared though her counsel – for allegedly shielding, protecting and rewarding the perpetrators of the anti-Sikhs riots in November 1984, on Wednesday by the rights group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) along with victims of the massacre.

Alleging that since Sonia Gandhi is liable for protecting and shielding those who committed the 1984 Sikh genocide, the complaint claims that federal court in US has jurisdiction over the case based on Alien Tort Statute, 28 USC 1350; the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1992; 28 USC 1331 and Federal Common Law.

The complainants have demanded jury trial against Gandhi while alleging that her conduct towards perpetrators of November 1984 ‘Sikh Genocide’ caused the victims, survivors and the Sikh community serious pain and suffering. The complaint states that Sonia Gandhi’s acts and omissions were deliberate, wilful, intentional, wanton and malicious and should be punished by an award of compensatory and punitive damages. The complaint against her was filed in first week of September this year when Gandhi was in US for medical examination. The SFJ claimed that on September 9, 2013 summons were served on her through staff of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, where she had gone for treatment but her counsel had denied the service.

Laying out the role of Sonia Gandhi before the US Court, SFJ’s amended complaint states that the carnage was carried out by the killer mobs from November 1 to 4, 1984 in 18 states of India ruled and controlled by Congress and “it organized, directed, controlled and/or purposefully aided and abetted the 1984 Sikh Genocide.” “At that time, Rajiv Gandhi was President of the Congress party and Prime Minister of the country and Sonia Gandhi was full partner in her husband’s decision making,” the complaint alleges.

The amended complaint lists the name of Congress leaders and police officials who lead and facilitated the death squads who attacked Sikh in November 1984. The complaint has gone in exhaustive details to point out specific instances of impunity, promotions and party tickets to Congress leaders and police officials who perpetrated the killings or connived with the mobs. The complaint alleges Sonia’s Gandhi’s complicity in patronizing and rewarding the perpetrators of 1984 Sikh Genocide.

Seeking the Class Action certification and US Court intervention on behalf of 1984 Sikh Genocide survivors, the complaint by Plaintiffs Jasbir Singh and Mohinder Singh states “Congress along with its senior leadership including defendant Gandhi, has acted in a concerted effort to protect their former and, in some cases, current leaders against charges of human rights abuses.”

Calling Sonia Gandhi “Mother of Perpetrators”, SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said that Congress President was continuing to extend political patronage and protection from prosecution to those party leaders who were involved in Genocide of Sikhs. “The case before US Court will expose that November 1984 killing of Sikhs was intentional and organized violence by Congress party and not “anti-Sikh Riots” as portrayed for the last 29 years,” he claimed.

Source: TOI