The spirit of revolution cannot be extinguished
Jasjot Grewal, Editor-in-Chief
In June 1984, former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a military attack on the Sikh Golden Temple—one of the most significant sites of religious scarcity for Sikhs—in an effort to secure the site from armed Sikh militants. The attack killed thousands of civilians, primarily Sikhs. In response, Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. These events triggered genocidal killings of Sikhs around the country, largely in New Delhi, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3.
Armed mobs, largely comprised of Hindu nationalists, burned Sikh-owned stores and homes to the ground; dragged Sikhs out of their houses, cars, and trains, before clubbing them to death or burning them alive; gang-raped Sikh women; and burned Gurdwaras. Law enforcement and government officials participated in the genocide, encouraging mobs to seek vengeance and providing them with weapons. Nearly 3000 Sikhs were murdered within three days, at a rate of one per minute at the peak of the violence. Unofficial death estimates are far higher. The Indian government has yet to take accountability for its role in covering up the identities of the perpetrators, refusing justice—in terms of financial compensation and enfranchisement—for Sikh victims, and allowing state actors to use government resources to systemically identify the locations and occupations of the victims they planned to harm and kill.
Presently, Sikhs in India continue to face socioeconomic inequality, institutional discrimination in education, employment, and public services, and minimal political representation. The systematic ethnic cleansing of Sikhs persists beyond the confines of India. On June 18, 2023, police forces in British Columbia uncovered the dead body of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president of a Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C, peppered with gunshots. The murder came after the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused Nijjar of being a terrorist and leader of a militant separatist group, as he supported the formation of Khalistan—an independent Sikh state outside of repressive Indian governance.
On Sept. 19, 2023, Prime Minister Trudeau accused agents of the government of India of being linked to the killing of Najjar, leading to the expulsion of Indian diplomats from Canada. Canada boasts the second-largest Sikh population in the world after India. For members of the World Sikh Organization, Trudeau’s words were revolutionary.
“Today, the prime minister of Canada has publicly said what Sikhs in Canada have known for decades—India actively targets Sikhs in Canada,” they wrote in a statement on their website on Sept. 18, 2023.
Sikhism—based on notions that entirely resist social hierarchies based on caste, race, and gender; belief in tolerance and acceptance of other religions; and principles of equality and service to others—has long been seen as a threat to hegemony in India, an order which is maintained based on the caste system, religious divide, and income inequality. Yet, Sikhs have resisted religious and nationalist struggles since the formation of their religion: The Sikh-Mughal Wars, the First Sikh War, their role in the Anti-Emergency Movement, and the Farmers’ Protests in India.
Sikhs have continuously advocated for the working class, against secular approaches to religion which marginalize Muslims in India, and have worked to restore democracy in India. Sikhs continue to challenge all forms of domination, despite the ongoing violence they face. Sikhs remind the world that resilience is not just about survival but about striving for a more equitable and inclusive society. Their continuous fight against tyranny proves that the spirit of resistance and revolution cannot be extinguished.
The echoes of war
Yusur Al-Sharqi, Managing Editor
My mom was six years old sitting cross-legged in front of a boxy TV in Baghdad, captivated by bright cartoons and talking animals. For a brief moment, she was immersed in a world that felt safe—but these moments were fleeting. At any time, the screen could go black, replaced by images of lifeless bodies scattered across the street. A journalist’s voice would break the illusion, urging families to come to the city centre to identify and collect their dead. Her eyes stayed glued to the screen.
The horror was not confined to the TV—it came home. In Islam, when somebody dies, family members of the same sex must wash the deceased’s body. I imagine my great-uncle holding his son, his 15-year-old boy, who had a bullet still lodged in his head.
The boy had made the mistake of driving his pregnant mother, in labour, to the hospital past curfew. The American soldiers who followed them opened fire, shooting through the back window and striking him in the centre of his head. His pregnant mother watched him die. It’s been decades, and his mother still wears black. To her, it’s not just a colour of mourning but a silent protest—a refusal to let the memory fade as the world moves on.
They say these are mistakes of the past, tragedies never to happen again, but I don’t believe them. They lie, while families like mine are left to wash the blood from the bodies of those we love. When you talk about peace, I think about the babies of Fallujah, born with deformities after the U.S. dropped white phosphorus bombs on their city during the invasion. I think about the children of Gaza, living and dying under siege.
When you talk about peace—“bridging the gap”—I wonder if you’ve ever listened to the echoes of war. Asking us to remain calm while injustice rages is an act of violence masquerading as righteousness. I’ll tell you myself: we cannot hear your calls for peace. The bombs are too loud, and the screams drown you out.
I write this not to be cynical, but because I believe that truth-telling is the most important act of defiance—a revolutionary act in its own right.
It is not that I don’t believe in peaceful revolution—I yearn for it—but I also know it can’t come without a reckoning. A revolution of truth-telling, where the stories of the silenced are finally heard and the weight of the violence we’ve inherited is confronted.
Until then, the images are the same; lifeless bodies scattered on the street, but now it is my eyes that are glued to the screen.
/X account, @FDefects, documents cases of severe birth defects seen across Iraq to this day as a result of the U.S.’s white phosphorus bombardments in 2003. The images are extremely graphic and disturbing, but they are many people’s realities. There is evidence of Israel’s use of white phosphorous in Palestine and Lebanon as of 2023.
The Revolution of truth
Alex*, Contributor
If I were asked to write a piece relating Palestine to revolution in the tail-end of 2023, I would have struggled.
I was a first-year student settling into McGill life on Oct. 7, 2023. Having explored my heritage in the West Bank and the military-dominated city of Jaffa in 2019, I knew that understanding Palestinians as second-class citizens in Israel was a generous characterization. On my travels to Palestine, the day-to-day dehumanization of the population was blatant; Palestinians were herded through checkpoints like livestock while settlers living on hills threw their garbage on low-lying indigenous properties. Accordingly, my travels made it easier for me to fathom the severity of the Palestinian condition in Gaza. Under naval and aerial blockade since 2007 and alienated from the rest of the country by a militarized wall, the 2.2 million residents of Gaza were reliant on Israel alone to meet their essential needs. Thus, struggling with water and food insecurity and shortages of electricity and medical supplies, and exacerbated by intermittent airstrikes, how could I possibly dispute Israeli benevolence in Gaza?
I was hopeful that news outlets in the educated West would interpret Oct. 7 with consideration of the factors which led to it. Unfortunately, the narrative painted by Western media exhibited a convenient case of historical amnesia. In portraying the events of Oct. 7 as an unprovoked attack and disseminating false stories such as those of beheaded infants, news sources began to entrench an international belief in Palestinian inhumanity. Alas, October 2023 was not an easy month to be Palestinian at McGill.
Nevertheless, the publication of the suffering in Gaza and Southern Lebanon since Oct. 7 has inspired a revolution of truth, or a revelation, in the West. In our current interconnected world, where the reach of social media has no bounds, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has become the most publicly documented genocide in history.
Palestinian journalists and photographers, such as Motaz Azaiza, have circumvented having their messages diluted by traditional news sources, instead using social media to counterbalance the Western narrative. In using these platforms, journalists have found an outlet to expose the reality of Israeli aggression for what it is. Graphic videos of fathers finding the lifeless bodies of their children in the rubble, and Israeli aid deliveries exposed to have swapped sugar for sand in Gaza have amassed a captive audience online. Journalistic ingenuity and courage have given me hope and galvanised the revolution I speak of, mostly within the youth.
Alongside most Palestinians, I have been starkly aware that the Israeli government’s disregard for Palestinian livelihood did not begin after Oct. 7. Today I lament the scale of tragedy and destruction it has taken to reignite the empathy of desensitized demographics in the West.
The revelation was illustrated in the 2024 UK General Election where six independent candidates won parliamentary seats, five of whom campaigned resolutely for a firmer government attitude towards Israel. Attending a protest next to the Houses of Parliament the following day, speeches of the victorious candidates restored my hope for a ceasefire and an end to injustice. I was inspired by the words of South African activist and politician Andrew Feinstein, who championed having slashed the majority of newly incumbent Kier Starmer in Holborn and St Pancras. The Prime Minister couldn’t manage 50 per cent of the votes within his own constituency, having had 65 per cent in 2019; he is the first in UK history to enter office having had his vote share reduced from the election before.
July 5 symbolized the Overton Window shifting in British politics; policies on Palestine can now mobilize the electorate and humanitarian politicians can garner strong enough electoral support to win seats in Westminster. Conversely, public expectation has been challenging weak stances on Palestine, such as that of the government, pressured recently towards compliance with the ICC conviction of Netanyahu.
I attribute the shifting public opinion and its political manifestation to a resurgence of morals, urged through the images being shared on social media. Independent journalism is a beacon of hope emerging through the mist of Western mass media shrouding the truth. Regardless of context and retrospective analysis of the situation, humans can agree that no child should be sentenced to death, or a future without education, a home, a family, or freedom. I believe that my mother’s sentiments reflect fundamental human principles: “No people should suffer as we have seen. No one, nowhere in this world should be collected as parts from the ground, after being bombed, starved, and abused.” I truly believe that a revolution of truth is among the Western populace and the youth, gradually diffusing into the formal rungs of society. Change lies just beyond the horizon—whether or not we reach it depends on our commitment.
*Alex’s name has been changed to preserve their anonymity.
