Summons Issued Against Kamal Nath In Us Court

[B.S.S.F]

"SUMMONS ISSUED AGAINST INDIAN MINISTER KAMAL NATH IN UNITED STATES COURT FOR ROLE IN NOVEMBER 1984 SIKH GENOCIDE"

KAMAL NATH ORDERED TO RESPOND BY APRIL 28, 2010 IN US COURT

Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a U.S. based non-profit national human rights advocacy group, has filed an historic civil lawsuit under the Alien Tort Claims Act against India's Union Minister, Kamal Nath, for his participation in the 1984 genocide of the Sikhs in Delhi, India. SFJ filed the suit along with two individuals who were directly affected by the November 1984 Sikh genocide.The lawsuit has been docketed (10 CV 2940 ) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and has been assigned to Honorable Judge Sweet. The District Court has issued a summons and Minister Nath must respond within 21 days.

Minister Kamal Nath is accused of human rights violations for being a leader in India's 1984 genocide of 3,000 Sikhs and the displacement of over 300,000 Sikhs. On November 1^st 1984 Kamal Nath was a member of Parliament and was witnessed leading an armed mob in which many of Sikh were burnt alive during an attack on a Sikh temple in New Delhi.

According to SFJ attorney Pannun lawsuit against Kamal Nath has been filed under ALIEN TORT CLAIMS ACT(ATCA) AND THE TORTURE VICTIM PROTECTION ACT (TVPA) because of the failure of the Indian government to enforce human rights protections and hold violators accountable. According to attorney Gurpatwant S. Pannun, of Sikhs for Justice "U.S. law provides a remedy to victims of human rights violations that have been committed abroad and allows the victims to bring a lawsuit against the perpetrator in the U.S. Federal District Court." Attorney Pannun added that "Despite several witnesses who saw Kamal Nath inciting and leading the mob, Nath has been successfully escaping justice under the Indian system for more than 25 years using his influence and position in the ruling Congress (I) party.

SFJ is holding a Justice Rally against Minister Nath's U.S. visit this Thursday, April 8^thfrom 7A.M. – 10 A.M at 49^th Street and 6^th Avenue (in front of the McGraw Hill Building) where Kamal Nath will be attending a gathering of the U.S. India Business Council. The rally organized by Sikhs for Justice is being supported by the Gurudwara Management Committees across the United States.

Summons against Kamal Nath

Complaint against Kamal Nath

SIKHS FOR JUSTICE, a US based human rights advocacy group, which is striving to disseminate true and correct information, statistics, figures and data regarding the Genocide of Sikhs in November 1984 and is mobilizing Human Rights Groups and International Community on a common platform. SIKHS FOR JUSTICE is pursuing the legal battle to get the justice for the victims of November 1984 Sikh Genocide with the support of ALL INDIA SIKH STUDENTS FEDERATION, a social political organization headed by Karnail Singh Peermohammad. SFJ maintains that the genocide of India's Sikh population was state orchestrated because Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by two Sikh bodyguards.

[Sikhistan]

Good Proactive work being done by Sikhs for Justice !!

[Mehtab Singh]

This is great news! Well done Sikhs For Justice (SFJ)! Now this culprit will have to answer in the US for his misdeeds against Sikhs in November, 1984. One by one every oppressor will meet his fate.

[lsingh]

This is great news! Well done Sikhs For Justice (SFJ)! Now this culprit will have to answer in the US for his misdeeds against Sikhs in November, 1984. One by one every oppressor will meet his fate.

Nath summoned by US court for alleged role in anti-Sikh riots

Press Trust Of India

New York, April 07, 2010

First Published: 14:17 IST(7/4/2010)

Last Updated: 18:12 IST(7/4/2010)

An appearance by Kamal Nath, Minister for Road Transport and Highways in New York led to drama at the Indian Consulate as an Indian-American journalist handed him a copy of a summons in a civil action from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case has been filed with relation to the Minister’s alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi and was filed by a New York-based activist group, Sikhs for Justice.

Kamal Nath is in the United States, holding meeting with representatives of financial institutions seen as potential investors in infrastructure development in India. He was at the Consulate to give a lecture on The Challenges of Infrastructure Development in India.

And while he was in the process of delivering the lecture, a process server, came to the front entrance of the Consulate, on behalf of Sikhs for Justice, to deliver the court summons. The server, who identified herself only as Joseline, brought the summons in an envelope marked to Kamal Nath, care of the Indian Consulate.

Gurpatwant Pannun of Sikhs for Justice, said in an email, “Kamal Nath has already been served while he was doing a press conference this evening.”

When handed the copy of the summons, the Minister seemed taken aback but also appeared unfazed by it. Perusing the document, he said, “This is the first time I’m hearing of it.”

“This shows the absurdity of it. 25 years later, it’s not an issue in India,” he said, reacting to the summons. He also indicated that the lack of even a police case against him in India for over 25 years, that seemed to demonstrate the lack of authenticity of this particular legal manoeuvre.

“I have never been charged, in any case, in any court of law, for anything to do with the anti-Sikh riots,” he said. He also said he was “appalled” by how this issue was being raised in an “orchestrated” manner 25 years after the riots. The Minister had also faced protests while he was in Canada in late March. He pointed out that this issue was being raised in recent days despite his regular visits to the United States and Canada over several years, in his various official capacities: “Last year I was not involved when I came. Nobody raised it. The year before last, I wasn’t involved. For the last 25 years, I’ve never been involved. Suddenly in 2010, I get involved.”

The plaintiffs in the case are Sikhs for Justice along with Jasbir Singh and Mohinder Singh. Both individuals claimed in the court document to have been residents of New Delhi in November 1984 and that members of their family were killed by the mobs.

[lsingh]

NYC Sikhs protest appearance of Indian minister

By MEGAN K. SCOTT (AP) – 1 hour ago

NEW YORK — Several dozen Sikhs on Thursday protested a speech by an Indian minister who they say instigated mob riots in their country in 1984 that left more than 3,000 dead, most of them Sikhs.

About 60 members of the Sikhs for Justice, a U.S.-based human rights organization, gathered outside McGraw-Hill's headquarters in Manhattan where Kamal Nath, India's federal minister in charge of road transport and highways and a Congress party member of India's Parliament, was addressing McGraw-Hill Construction's Global Construction Summit.

"We want to put him behind bars. Anyone guilty should be behind bars," said Avtar Singh Pannu of Queens, the group's coordinator.

The group's legal adviser, Gurpatwant S. Pannun, called Nath "a violator of human rights" who shouldn't be in the U.S.

The 1984 riots remain a controversial issue in India. They were sparked by the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was gunned down by her Sikh bodyguards after ordering a crackdown on Sikh separatists in northern India. The separatists were fighting to carve their own state out of Hindu-majority India.

A government commission set up to investigate the carnage questioned Nath about his presence near a Sikh temple during the period of the riots.

Nath maintained that he was in the area only to help create peace.

In its 2005 report, the commission said there was no evidence to suggest that Nath had instigated a mob to violence. The commission said Nath's testimony was vague but that was probably because he was questioned nearly 20 years afterward.

Sikhs for Justice filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court this week against Nath on behalf of the deceased and injured victims of the riots and their families.

Nath told The Associated Press he had not seen the lawsuit but was "surprised, shocked and appalled because I have never been charged."

Asked about claims that he helped instigate the riots, Nath said: "Well, if I had done that I would have been charged by the police, I would have been charged by the courts in India as others have been and I was never charged. I've come to the United States God knows how many times. ... It's never been an issue. This is the first time."

In the years since the riots, there have been repeated allegations that top members of the Congress party helped organize the mobs that rampaged through Sikh neighborhoods in New Delhi two-and-a-half decades ago.

Investigations into what role, if any, senior Congress party members played in the killings have moved slowly. Critics accuse the party, which has ruled the country much of the time since the riots, of trying to protect its own. Party officials deny a cover-up.

Several other people, none of them senior Congress members, have been sent to prison for taking part in the riots.

At the New York demonstration, protesters held up signs that said "Stand for Justice" and "Demanding Justice" and black inner tubes that symbolized the tires that were burned during the riots.

"Today we want to create awareness within ourselves and the international community and embarrass Kamal Nath and the people who invited him here," said Ranjit Singh, 52, manager of an air conditioning company.

Pannun, the legal adviser, said that Nath should not be invited to speak in a country that stands for human rights.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Mehtab Singh]

Check out the comments below this newspiece how some Indians are freaking out, now that their government's dirty linen is out in public: http://publication.samachar.com/pub_article.php?id=8631545&nextids=8631105|8631108|8631545|8633950|8622417&nextIndex=3