1L signatures gathered in support of 1984 genocide petition

JALANDHAR: As Sikhs celebrated the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak on Sunday, one lakh signatures were gathered at gurdwaras of at least 18 countries as part of the global signature campaign in support of the '1984 genocide petition' which is already pending before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). People thronging gurdwaras signed the plea to support the petition and to urge the UNHRC to take up the petition and act on it. The 'genocide petition', which urged the UNHRC to declare November 1984 anti-Sikh riots as genocide and investigate it, has also got support from politicians of other countries. Harry van Bommel, member of parliament of the Socialist Party in The Netherlands, issued a statement supporting the plea and said the perpetrators of the riots should be brought to justice. Human rights organization Sikhs For Justice legal adviser Gurpatwant Singh Panun, who launched the campaign along with All India Sikh Students Federation, said the global Sikh genocide petition signature campaign is the first such campaign simultaneously initiated on November 17 in the United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Spain, Hong Kong, Singapore, Nepal, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.