1984 anti-Sikh riots: Experts speak on agony of survivors

Neha Saini

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 2

The tornado of arson, looting, killing and rape that engulfed Delhi as well as many other towns and cities in the country in November 1984 has been indelibly marked on the psyche of Sikhs.

Eminent writers, journalists and academics came together to talk about new research, books and testimonies of people whose lives were shattered in the three days following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.

Prof Ravinder Kaur of Copenhagen University, Pav Singh, a UK-based journalist and activist, and Dr Ishmeet Kaur Chaudhry, who teaches in Gujarat University, were guest speakers in a webinar held by Majha House.

Punish those behind massacre: Longowal

• Gobind Singh Longowal, chief, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, said the nation could never forget the November 1984 massacre of Sikhs. He said every culprit should be severely punished.
• In memory of Singhs/Singhanis and Bhujhangis, who were martyred in 1984, the SGPC held Akhand Path at Gurdwara Jhanda Bunga

They spoke about the agony of survivors, horrific crimes committed against them and the long road to justice. Prof Ravinder, who was 13 and a witness to the arson, said she had to hide away to save herself from the mobs, which had surrounded their house in East Delhi.

Dr Ishmeet and Pav Singh had detailed these scenes and other violations in their books “Black November” and “1984: India’s Guilty Secret”.

Pav, who was brought up in the UK, under the shadow of Jewish Holocaust felt that 1984 and the pogrom against the Sikh community should be put down as a crime against humanity.

“Acts of such magnitude in different parts of the globe have received attention from the world community, but in the case of 1984, there has been a deafening silence and the crimes have gone unrecognised,” he said and added that he had campaigned about this and put up an exhibition at Weiner Holocaust Library in Central London.

Arguing that 1984 incidents were mentioned as anti-Sikh riots, Pav said, “There was no riot. It was an act of premeditated murders and targeted attacks on innocent men, women and children of a certain community for no fault of theirs.”

According to him, there was an urgent need to do something for the third generation of the victims, many of them growing up in widow colony of Tilak Vihar — a place that relives 1984 every day. Apart from the discussion, launch of the book of short stories set in 1984 “Night of the Restless Spirits” by author and podcaster Sarbpreet Singh was also hosted.

Sarbpreet said he was motivated to learn about 1984 and thus decided to read the real narratives, something he had not known before. He first wrote a short story poem “Kultar’s Mime” that his daughter had turned into a play, which was staged in the USA.

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