Jaspal Singh Bal

Jaspal Singh Bal recounts his experience as a 23-year-old living in Canada in 1984 and provides a glimpse into the complexities and challenges of Sikhs in the diaspora who felt betrayal, anger, and had to counter a state’s powerful narrative.
“I would have preferred if she would have died a political death,” Bal remembers telling the person who informed him of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
He then describes how both the Punjabi anti-government sentiment as well as the Indian government’s anti-Sikh propaganda spread across borders from India to Canada. He recounts the massive protests post the attacks of June and November 1984. He also remembers specific telling incidents regarding the Indian Counsel General’s office and describes the spread of anti-Sikh propaganda material to discredit and incite the community.
“I have never stopped talking about 1984… But I just don’t contain myself to just 1984… appeal to the Sikh community across the globe, don’t just remain contained to Sikh issues, get involved with your neighborhood as well, whether its environment, whether its poverty…whether it’s the aboriginal issues…. or environmental issues.”