November 1st, 1984 - is on my mind - on this 30th anniversary of one of the most cataclysmic and terrible tragedies to strike the entire Indian subcontinent. I was a 19 year old student in Miranda House, Delhi University. I had no idea when I woke up that morning to a beautiful Delhi October sky - not unlike the one outside my window in LA right now - that there was unspeakable violence and atrocity about to happen right around the walls of my college. We were kept locked in for those 3 days and saw the smoke outside - clueless as to what was happening. There were no cell phones. From the one public telephone in our hostel we started hearing strange rumours that Sikhs were being targeted all over the city. It seemed surreal and not possible. On the only television channel that existed in those days - Doordarshan - there was only Mrs Gandhi’s body lying in state. But every now and then we heard a mutter of Congress leaders muttering - Khoon ka badla khoon se lenge (blood will be avenged with blood). Rumors started seeping in. And I watched with disbelief how easily people believed them and panicked. “The water had been poisoned by the Sikhs” - girls came out of the dining hall mess and started puking on the lawn! “Khalsa College (the Sikh college across the street) boys are going to attack. Girls shrieked and ran into their rooms and locked the doors. While the reality that was being played out outside was the exact opposite - unknown to these hysterical girls. It is fascinating though to understand the role of rumour in a highly charged situation. On November 4 - led by my Department of History Head - Uma Chakravarti - I joined scores of other Delhi University students in going to the “riot” affected areas and the temporary relief camps set up by citizens of Delhi (Hindu) - as there was no relief being provided by the government. I was nervous as I walked in the first day. By now - from the media we were told that Hindus had attacked Sikhs and so we were not sure how we would be received in the camps. But nothing could stop me or countless other Delhi-ites - going out there to provide assistance and compassion. From the very first moment and interaction it was quite clear that this was no riot. It was a highly orchestrated cold blooded massacre planned at the highest levels. These were grief stricken victims - spread across many camps with no axe to grind - most of them Mrs Gandhi’s supporters. Their stories and accounts of what happened were all the same. A mob from outside the neighbourhood had come in and targeted the Sikh houses using electoral rolls (in the better neighbourhoods like Defence Colony). They had huge supplies of kerosene with them which they used systematically to pour over the Sikh men and set their bodies alight. The same method of killing across the city. Hardly spontaneous. They were often protected by the police. And certainly no police came to aid the victims when they asked for help. In many places known Congress Party leaders - H.K.L. Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar - were sighted as instigating the mobs and directing them to the Sikh houses. The last fact that we were always told - was that those survivors were only alive because of the courage of their Hindu neighbours who had given them shelter. These were the facts; these were the stories we heard repeatedly whether in Trilokepuri, Mongolpuri, Sultanpuri or Defence Colony and Safdarjang Enclave……. It left an indelible mark on me resulting in my debut film being Amu - which brought out the fact that not only was this a genocide and not a riot but Hindus gave protection to Sikhs time and again. I spent many years here in North America - going hoarse explaining to people that this event did not occur out of prejudice or hatred. But the media sowed communal seeds and people to this day call it a Hindu Sikh riot. This event - made it clear to me what the nature of government was - and how and why they used “riots” when it suited them. It also made clear how ordinary people inevitably reacted from their higher side - with courage and compassion. When there is a riot - people only talk about the ugly side of people. They don’t understand that that ugly side - is actually part of the cold blooded ruling machinery which exists in every single country on this planet - a ruthless machinery that can and will and does sacrifice lives for political gain. And there is a beautiful side - of courage and compassion - that we should also not forget and is rarely written about - that emerges from ordinary people. Right now 30 years later - the world’s largest democracy is still guilty of letting the main killers and perpetrators of this genocide walk free. 1984 - is used by the Modi government as a tool in it’s game with the Congress as it too is guilty of a genocide in Gujarat. A genocide that perhaps would not have been carried out if an example had been made of the politicos in 1984. But instead of punishing the guilty they were rewarded - and thus the cycle of violence does and will continue in the sub continent. But don’t be fooled for a second that it is ordinary Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians of our land who are behind these senseless atrocities. And stand up to the governments that continue to rule and give impunity to the guilty - including themselves. My heart is filled with remembered pain and sorrow today for the close to 10,000 Sikh families in Delhi itself who lost loved ones so brutally and whose lives changed forever - many emigrating to North America. It is the duty of every Indian - whether in India or abroad - to demand that there be justice. This is an Indian issue. Not a Sikh one. We should never forget 1984. The lessons are many.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 21:38:06 +0000
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