Lending a voice to the Sikhs in Canada, WSO in a media statement has said that Sikh Canadians are outraged at the nomination of Congress leader Kamal Nath as the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

WSO President Mukhbir Singh has said, “it is absolutely outrageous that Kamal Nath, an individual accused of leading a mob that burnt Sikhs alive during the 1984 Sikh Genocide can be appointed a Chief Minister in India. Large-scale impunity for those involved in orchestrating the 1984 Sikh Genocide has remained an affront to the Sikh community and an insult to human rights in India. Today’s appointment is just another example of this.  The selection of Kamal Nath was celebrated by India’s Congress Party as “an era of change” but for Sikhs, it is simply more of the same appalling disregard for Sikh human rights in India as we have seen for the past 35 years.”

Kamal Nath, though not convicted by an Indian court, still has ample evidence of his complicity in the killing of innocent Sikhs on the streets of Delhi in November 1984.

Nath was identified by numerous witnesses, including Indian Express reporter Sanjay Suri, as having controlled a mob of 4000 people that attacked Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, a prominent Sikh shrine in Delhi, on November 1, 1984, following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.  Sanjay Suri, testified under oath that he found that Kamal Nath was ‘controlling the crowd’ which he said was ‘looking to him for directions.’

On 3 November 1984, The Statesman newspaper reported, ‘Policemen criticized the role of politicians too. Several councillors, they alleged, interceded on behalf of violent mobs when policemen tried to stop arson. Officers wondered what Mr Kamal Nath was doing at Rakab Ganj.’

Kamal Nath has however denied his involvement in the killings, though Justice Nanavati, who chaired the Justice Nanavati Commission to investigate the 1984 Sikh Genocide, and the role of government officials has stated in his report that, “Nath has failed to satisfactorily explain his role, the length of time he stayed and why he did not contact the police to help quell the violence.”

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In March 2010, Kamal Nath, then India’s Minister of Road Transport and Highways was greeted by protests from the Sikh community during a visit to Canada.