City council, Sikh leaders commemorate pogrom

DJ Becker/The Madera Tribune

Mayor Rob Poythress, rear center, and members of the Madera City Council stand with local Sikh leaders Wednesday after the presentation of a resolution acknowledging the 1984 violence in India as a Sikh genocide.

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The Madera City Council presented a resolution Thursday to a local group of Sikh leaders and residents commemorating the November 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom in India as Sikh genocide.

The group had appeared before the council in October to talk about the horrific violence they had witnessed and experienced in India, and had requested the determination of genocide from the council. Members of the group said they had recently received world-wide recognition in support of their efforts, and were grateful for the council’s resolution.

The violence remains unacknowledged as genocide by the U.S. and other governments, with only the acknowledgement that as many as 30,000 lives were lost in the widespread incident.