sikhpride

It may be mentioned here that after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984, as many as 2,733 Sikhs were killed and more than 50,000 were displaced in two days. Phoolka himself was caught in the massacre while driving pregnant wife Maninder Kaur home on his motorbike. When informed by a friend of the attacks on Sikhs, he avoided the main roads to reach his home in South Delhi via the slums of Kotla Mubarakpur. Phoolka’s Hindu landlord drove the mob away by telling them that the Phoolka family had left Delhi and hid them in his store room. It was at this time that he realized that victims of the massacre must be helped in legal cases. He conceived and pursued the formation of the Citizen’s Justice Committee (CJC). The CJC served as an umbrella organisation for several human rights activists and legal luminaries. Floated in May 1985, the CJC has been pivotal in representing the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre victims before the various judicial commissions that have been formed for inquiry into the massacres. He further mooted the idea of the “Carnage84.com” website, which was launched on 10th July 2001 and claimed 150,000 visits from people of 30 different countries within only 10 days of it going online. He also co-authored a book (along with human rights activist and journalist Manoj Mitta) giving account of the 1984 Anti-Sikh massacre titled When a Tree Shook Delhi. S. Phoolka joined Aam Aadmi Party and fought election for parliament from Ludhiana. He could not succeed. Aam Aadmi Party has again declared him its candidate from Ludhiana for the Punjab assembly election 2017 (result awaited). S. Phoolka is a role model for all those who want to fight against injustice (including delayed justice) and also for those oppressed and helpless people for whom he has been fighting. He is also known as a fair and sympathetic advocate, who does not fight for them who are in the wrong. His bold blogs against any kind of wrong doing are read with interest.