1984 was turning point for diaspora: Prof. Pritam Singh

Patiala, Punjab: The 1984 Sikh genocide proved a turning point in changing the socio-political landscape of the Punjabi diaspora in various parts of the globe, especially in the US, the UK and Canada. It made the Sikhs conscious of their identity and the need of their assertive participation in political affairs.

This observation was made by Dr Pritam Singh, Professor of Economics in the Oxford Brookes University, UK, in his keynote address on the opening day of a three-day international conference on “Punjabi Diaspora: A Dialogue on their Host Culture” that started on the Punjabi University campus at Patiala on Jan. 20.

He said that the massacres of the Sikhs in November 1984 throughout Indian subcontinent were were not “riots” but as per international norms it was “genocide”.