US court summons Amitabh Bachchan for ‘instigating’ 1984 anti-Sikh riots

Published October 28, 2014
Amitabh Bachchan has been accused of raising the slogan 'Khoon ka badla khoon' (blood for blood) after then Indian PM Indira Gandhi was shot by her Sikh guards.—Photo by AP
Amitabh Bachchan has been accused of raising the slogan 'Khoon ka badla khoon' (blood for blood) after then Indian PM Indira Gandhi was shot by her Sikh guards.—Photo by AP

Legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has been summoned by a federal court in Los Angeles for his alleged involvement in instigating the deadly November 1984 riots against the Sikh community in India, The Times of India reported on Tuesday.

The mega star has been accused of raising the slogan “Khoon ka badla khoon” (blood for blood) on October 31, 1984 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her two Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for ordering a raid on the faith's holiest temple to crush a separatist revolt.

Bachchan has been given 21 days to respond to the charges of human rights violation.

“If you failed to respond, judgement by default will be entered against you for relief demanded in the complaint,” reads the summon issued by the US federal court on Oct 27.

The 35-paged long complaint has been filed by a member of New York-based Sikh for Justice (SFJ), Gurupatwant Pannun and two alleged victims of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the communal riots, which Sikh activists claim was ‘state-sponsored genocide’ claiming over 30,000 lives nationwide.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...