Sikhs protest at UN ahead of Obama visit

Ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to India, hundreds of Sikhs from different parts of the US protested in front of the UN, demanding that he raise the issue of 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots when he addresses the Indian Parliament.

"He (Obama) must raise this issue in his speech to the India Parliament," said Gurpatwant Pannun, lawyer for Sikhs for Justice, a US based group that organised the rally.

"We also want the UN to intervene to bring the perpetrators to justice," he said.

In September, Bakhshish Singh Sandhu, coordinator of Sikhs For Justice had met Obama briefly to describe the events of 1984 and asked him to take up the matter in New Delhi, when he visits, according to the group.

Pannun noted that despite several attempts made by the Sikhs to bring the matter to the attention of the Obama Administration, the president had not included any discussion of the anti-Sikh Riots on his agenda.

"Obama cannot trade dollars with blood…we want him to pay tribute to the Sikhs who died."

Obama will arrive in Mumbai on November 6 and then travel to New Delhi where the Sikhs will also hold a protest rally on November 8 when President Obama will be addressing the Indian Parliament.

"The purpose of the protest is to remind President that Sikhs and other religious minorities of India have been victims of violence and as President of United States he has moral and legal obligation to address the violation of human rights," the organisers said.

Sikhs For Justice has also initiated a case against transport minister Kamal Nath in New York for his alleged role in the killings.