Genocides In 1984

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Throughout the history of mankind, there have been copious amounts of criminal acts committed against one another. Of these crimes, the arguably most destructive is genocide. From the Greek root word -genos, meaning a group of persons, and the Latin root word -cide, meaning killing, the term genocide is born. There have been several genocides which have taken place. This is truly puzzling considering the fact that a genocide requires a large group of people to agree on the necessity of eliminating an entire other group of persons from the planet. Typically, genocides are led by unhealthy people who believe in their superiority-- for example, Adolf Hitler and the Jews of Western Europe.
Hitler was mentally ill but still convinced millions of …show more content…

In Jarnail Singh’s book, “I Accuse… The Anti-Sikh Violence of 1984”, these individual accounts of terror are told from the perspectives of the Sikh men and women affected by the events. For example, the first story is told from a mother who witnessed the horror first hand. She goes on about giving her son a bath when the mob arrived at her home with kerosene. The mob lit their home on fire, forcing the family to rush out where they were met with thrown bricks. After rushing back into the burning building, the mob demanded the family return outside. The mother begged for mercy on their lives including the lives of her children but the animosity of the crowd was too much. She said that “they did not have any pity.” Instead they tried to negotiate saying “You people [the Sikhs] go to Punjab and we will not do anything.” Even though the mob seemed to have changed their tune, they had not. The mob stormed the home and brought the family outside. Throwing kerosene and inflammable white powder on them, they threatened to burn them alive. In this case, the family was more fortunate than most. A Hindu priest stepped in and told the mob that they could not harm women and children. The mother goes on to say that she had not seen what happened next nor has she seen her husband since. “They must have burnt him

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