Baku, Azerbaijan: An international conference focusing on violence against Sikhs in India was held on 16 January 2026 in Baku, bringing together Sikh representatives, academics, legal experts and civil society members from multiple countries, according to a press release issued by Sikh Federation UK.
The one-day conference was organised by the Baku Initiative Group, described in the press release as “a well-respected NGO” that has “cooperation ties with more than 20 countries and overseas territories and over 25 international organisations and institutions.” The event drew extensive attention from Azerbaijani media, with “dozens of Azerbaijan media outlets” covering the conference and interviewing participants before, during and after the proceedings.
Before formal sessions began, participants and members of the media were taken through an exhibition on the Sikh Genocide of June 1984 and introduced to the Sikh articles of faith. The press release noted that the hosts and attendees were particularly receptive, given Azerbaijan’s own historical experience of violence, recalling “their own massacre in January 1990 in Baku with a violent crackdown on Azerbaijani nationalism and anti-Soviet sentiment,” prior to the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The conference opened with remarks by Abbas Abbasov, Executive Director of the Baku Initiative Group, who called for a minute’s silence “for the Sikh victims of Indian State violence and terrorism,” making “a specific mention of the killing of Shaheed Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June 2023.”
Facilitated by Sikh Federation International, the conference featured Sikh speakers from the United Kingdom and Canada. Bhai Moninder Singh of Canada moderated the event alongside Abbasov and introduced Ramesh Singh Arora, Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights and Religious Affairs in the Government of Punjab.
A three-hour morning session featured five Sikh speakers — Bhai Dabinderjit Singh, Bhai Jaswinder Singh and Bhai Ranveer Singh from the UK, and Bhai Prabjot Singh and Bhai Moninder Singh from Canada. According to the press release, this session “focused on a systematic examination of the origins of discrimination against Sikhs,” tracing developments from the “illegal” annexation of the Sikh Kingdom in 1849 through Sikh contributions to the independence movement, the “betrayal of the Sikhs after 1947,” the events of 1984, the decade of killings that followed, and “the ongoing challenges faced by the Sikhs.”
The afternoon session, lasting two hours, shifted attention to the Sikh diaspora and what organisers described as “the ongoing struggle for freedom.” All six speakers returned to address the gathering, joined by Bhai Gurnishan Singh from Canada. Azerbaijani media outlets reported extensively on the speeches throughout the day.
Following the conference, a one-hour interview with Bhai Moninder Singh, Bhai Dabinderjit Singh, Bhai Prabjot Singh and Bhai Jaswinder Singh was recorded and translated into Azerbaijani “to educate the wider population on the Sikh struggle for independence,” the press release said.
Sikh Federation UK said the event demonstrated the growing international profile of Sikh Federation International, stating that “in less than 18 months, [it] has developed a high international public profile that is taken seriously and is well placed to build on this later this year.” It added that “the success and impact of the event in Azerbaijan is proof Sikh Federation International has quickly developed respect on the international stage as a respected voice for the Khalistan movement.”
During the conference, the Baku Initiative Group also released a booklet titled The Khalistan Movement: Past Roots, Global Dimensions and Modern Landscape, along with an associated promotional video.
The event concluded with Abbas Abbasov reading a joint statement from the Baku Initiative Group and Sikh Federation International, calling on “the international community to take decisive action against India for the violence and discrimination targeting Sikhs.” The statement urged “governments, civil society organisations and international institutions worldwide to demonstrate solidarity for Sikhs in their pursuit for justice and freedom.”
The press release noted that there is “huge global interest” in understanding why Indian authorities have, in recent years, engaged in what it described as “transnational repression targeting Sikh activists campaigning for Khalistan,” and argued that such conferences are likely to continue. Sikh Federation International is described as “an international coalition operating in five regions with representatives in over a dozen countries.”
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