zindaa hae,

Zindaa hone per sharminda hae!

Human beings are still alive;

They are ashamed to be alive!

[Renowned cultural-political-human rights activist of Pakistan, Shahid Nadeem’s Urdu couplet on the silence of the civil society on attacks on minorities in Pakistan. He received forty lashes for writing and singing these lines by the Zia regime in Pakistan. It would be no different in present day India ruled by RSS-BJP.]

For almost all of the past three decades, on every anniversary of the horrific 1984 massacre of Sikhs in India, this author has been reminding the nation of how the Indian State and judiciary did not bother to punish the perpetrators of this horrendous mass killing of innocents of the second largest religious minority of our country. On every anniversary the author had hoped that thereafter justice would be done and he would not have to write the painful story once again as a reminder. This has not happened this year 2024 either. The saga of the criminal betrayal by the Indian Republic has no end and the author along with victims continues to cry before a deaf and dumb Indian State. Shockingly, on the 40^th anniversary of the genocide of Sikhs, the Indian State has even stopped making the claim that it continues to strive to get justice for the victims, like in the past!

What is the status of justice delivery for 2,700 Sikhs[1] massacred in Delhi? Renowned advocate H S Phoolka, who battled along with victims, puts it succinctly:

“The number of commissions and committees set up to probe the murders… is more than the number of convictions…One such commission was the G T Nanavati Commission, set up in 2005 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government. According to its report, 587 FIRs were registered in Delhi in relation to the riots. While 241 of these have been filed as untraced, 253 ended in acquittal. Of the remaining, 40 FIRs are pending trial and one is pending investigation. Eleven FIRs have been quashed, and in 11 other FIRs, the accused have been discharged. Three cases have been withdrawn. To date, just 27 cases have ended in convictions. Of these, just 12 are convictions in murder cases.”

‘Anti-Sikh riots: Four decades on, just 12 murder cases have ended in conviction’, The Indian Express, Delhi, October 31, 2024.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/anti-sikh-riots-four-decades-on-just-12-murder-cases-have-ended-in-conviction-9646833/

Two kinds of justice

Whenever the country witnesses large-scale violence against the minorities and Dalits, the search for perpetrators continues endlessly and the criminals are rarely identified or punished. Major incidents of violence against minorities like Nellie massacre (1983), Sikh massacre (1984), Hashimpura custodial massacre of Muslim youth (1987), pre/post- Ayodhya mosque demolition violence against Muslims (1990-92), Gujarat carnage (2002) and Kandhmal cleansing of Christians (2008) and continuing blood-bath of Kuki Tribals (who are mostly Christians) in Manipur  are testimony to this reality.

When the victims are Dalits or minorities no such urgency is shown. In such cases the Indian State is fond of playing the commission-commission game. Enquiry Commissions after commissions would be constituted to see that the heinous crimes disappear from the public memory. The horrendous massacre of Sikhs in different parts of India in 1984 is a living testimony of this attitude of the Indian justice system with the motto in Sanskrit: ‘Yato Dharma Tato Jaya’ [Where there is righteousness and dharma, there is victory]. The higher Judiciary must explain what it means by Dharma. Does it include religions of minorities and right of Dalits also?

The scenario for anti-Dalit violence is no different. The major incidents of persecution and massacre of Dalits; 1968 Kilvenmani massacre, 1997 Melavalavu massacre, 2013 Marakkanam anti-Dalit violence, 2012 Dharmapuri anti- Dalit violence (all in Tamil Nadu), 1985 Karamchedu massacre, 1991 Tsundur massacre (all in AP), 1996 Bathani Tola Massacre, 1997 Laxmanpur Bathe massacre (all in Bihar), 1997 Ramabai killings, Mumbai, 2006 Khairlanji massacre, 2014 Javkheda Hatyakand, (all in Maharashtra), 2000 Caste persecution in (Karnataka), 5 Dalits beaten/burnt to death for skinning a dead cow 2006, 2011 killings of Dalits in Mirchpur (all in Haryana), 2015 anti-Dalit violence in Dangawas (Rajasthan) are some of the thousands of incidents of the Dalit persecution. In almost all these cases perpetrators are yet to be identified. Even if identified the prosecution rate has never exceeded 20%.

On the other hand, in the reverse, in cases where Dalit, working class and minority ‘perpetrators’ of violence are efficiently put on trial by constituting special investigation teams and punished by fast track courts. In order to meet the end of ‘justice’, ‘national security’ and ‘wish of the society’ they are hanged and jailed. The over-all reality is that whenever victims are minorities, working class and Dalits the State and judiciary go into coma.

Betrayal by governments until 2014

After giving free run to the killer gangs, the government appointed one man Marwah Commission to find out the perpetrators of the 1984 ‘riots’. As this exercise was proving inconvenient, it was asked to disband itself within short period of its existence and a sitting Supreme Court Judge Ranganath Mishra was asked to conduct inquiry into 1984 ‘riots’ who submitted his report in 1987. Shockingly, this fact finding (or fact-hiding) commission headed by Misra observed that

“riots which had a spontaneous origin later attained a channelized method at the hands of gangsters”.

The full-fledged massacre was reduced to ‘riots’ as if Sikhs equally participated in the violence. This was a brazen manipulation. The ‘apostle of justice’, Mishra, champion of the theory of spontaneity was not, naturally, able to find out from where these gangsters came! According to Jarnail Singh author of the book I Accuse: The Anti-Sikh Violence of 1984 for this service to the State he was awarded a seat in the Rajya Sabha.

Over the next two decades, not less than nine commissions of inquiry were instituted. For the Indian State it became a routine to announce constitution of some new commission or some more compensation to the families of victims in order to deflect the mounting anger at the times of elections. Highlighting the anti-minority bias of such commissions, H. S. Phoolka, a renowned lawyer, commented that instead of getting convicted many of the political perpetrators get promoted to seats of power!

In the latest development Supreme Court of India on August 16, 2017 ordered the constitution of a panel comprising two of its former judges to examine the justification for closing 241 anti-Sikh riot cases probed by SIT in next 3 months; these three months are yet to be over!

Betrayal by the RSS-BJP regime

The RSS always claims to have always stood for Hindu-Sikh unity. It occasionally expresses its gratitude to Sikhism for “saving Hinduism from the Muslim aggression”. It may not be irrelevant to note here that RSS does not treat Sikhism as an independent religion, which discarded Casteism and Brahmanical hegemony, but part of Hinduism. The RSS/BJP leaders have blamed the Congress for anti-Sikh violence Modi while addressing a public rally during last parliamentary elections at Jhansi, UP (October 25, 2013) asked Congress leaders to explain who “killed thousands of Sikhs in 1984” and “has anyone been convicted for the Sikh genocide so far”. Modi during Punjab elections and 2014 general elections kept on referring to ‘qatl-e-aam’ or genocide of Sikhs.Modi after becoming PM in a message (October 31, 2014) said that anti-Sikh riots in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination were like a,

“dagger that pierced through India’s chest…Our own people were murdered, the attack was not on a particular community but on the entire nation.”

Hindutva icon, RSS whole-timer and PM Modi lamented the fact that culprits were yet to be booked and tried for this massacre. However, Modi did not tell the nation what NDA governments which ruled this country from 1998 to 2004 did to persecute the culprits. Modi also forgot to share the fact that as per the autobiography of LK Advani (page 430); it was his Party which forced Indira Gandhi to go for army action infamously named as Operation Blue Star which killed large number of Sikh pilgrims.Renowned journalist Manoj Mitta, author of the book When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and Its Aftermath straight forwardly tells that

“Despite the BJP rule, there has hardly been any will to enforce accountability for the massacres that took place under the Congress. It’s as if there is a tacit deal between the sponsors of 1984 and 2002″.

It was no over-sight that during 2024 parliamentary elections 1984 massacre was totally forgotten. This is not what outsiders or critics of the RSS have been telling. The perusal of contemporary RSS documents show that major focus was on condemning the Sikh extremism, eulogizing Indira Gandhi and welcoming the crowning of Rajiv Gandhi as new prime minister.

RSS ideologue Nanaji Deshmukh’s questionable attitude on the Sikh massacre

The most important proof of such a dehumanized attitude towards the massacre of Sikhs is a document circulated by Nana Deshmukh, a prominent whole timer and ideologue of the RSS [now deceased]. This document titled as ‘Moments of Soul Searching’ was circulated by Deshmukh on November 8, 1984, may help in unmasking the whole lot of criminals involved in the massacre of innocent Sikhs who had nothing to do with the killing of Indira Gandhi. This document may also throw light on where the cadres came from, who meticulously organized the killing of Sikhs. Nana Deshmukh in this document is seen outlining the justification of the massacre of the Sikh community in 1984.

This document also reflects the degenerate and fascist attitude of the RSS towards all the minorities of India. The RSS has been arguing that they are against Muslims and Christians because they are the followers of foreign religions. Here we find them justifying the butchering of Sikhs who according to their own categorisation happened to be the followers of an indigenous religion. In this document we will hear from the horse’s mouth that the RSS like the then Congress leadership believed that the massacre of the innocent Sikhs was unavoidable.This document was published in the Hindi Weekly Pratipaksh edited by George Fernandes, who later became Defence Minister of India in the NDA regime, in its edition of November 25, 1984 titled ‘Indira Congress- RSS collusion’ with the following editorial comment:

“The author of the following document is known as an ideologue and policy formulator of the RSS. After the killing of Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) he distributed this document among prominent politicians. It has a historical significance that is why we have decided to publish it, violating the policy of our Weekly. This document highlights the new affinities developing between the Indira Congress and the RSS. We produce here the Hindi translation of the document.”

The original pages of the Hindi Weekly Pratipaksh edited by George Fernandes, may be seen below.

Deshmukh in his document, “Moments of Soul Searching” on the massacre of the Sikh community in 1984. His defence of the carnage can be summed up as in the following:

1. The massacre of Sikhs was not the handiwork of any group or anti-social elements but the result of a genuine feeling of
2. Deshmukh did not distinguish the action of the two security personnel of Indira Gandhi, who happened to be Sikhs, from that of the whole Sikh community. According to his document the killers of Indira Gandhi were working under some kind of mandate of their
3. Sikhs themselves invited these attacks, thus advancing the Congress theory of justifying the massacre of the Sikhs.
4. He glorified Operation Blue Star and described any opposition to it as anti- national. When Sikhs were being killed in thousands he was warning the country of Sikh extremism, thus offering ideological defense of those killings.
5. Sikh community as a whole was responsible for violence in
6. Sikhs should have done nothing in self-defence but showed patience and tolerance against the killer
7. These were Sikh intellectuals and not killer mobs which were responsible for the massacre. They had turned Sikhs into a militant community, cutting them off from their Hindu roots, thus inviting attacks from the nationalist Indians. Moreover, he treated all Sikhs as part of the same gang and described attacks on them as a reaction of the nationalist
8. He described Indira Gandhi as the only leader who could keep the country united and assassination of such a great leader such killings could not be avoided.
9. Rajiv Gandhi who succeeded Mrs. Gandhi as the PM and justified the nation- wide killings of Sikhs by saying, “When a huge tree falls there are always tremors felt”, was lauded and blessed by Nana Deshmukh at the end of the
10. Shockingly, the massacre of Sikhs was being equated with the attacks on the RSS cadres after the killing of Gandhiji and we find Deshmukh advising Sikhs to suffer silently. Everybody knows that the killing of Gandhiji was inspired by the RSS and the Hindutva Ideology whereas the common innocent Sikhs had nothing to do with the murder of Indira
11. There was not a single sentence in the Deshmukh document demanding, from the then Congress Government at the Centre or the then home minister Narsimha Rao (a Congress leader dear to the RSS who later silently watched demolition of Babri masjid by Hindutva goons as prime minister of India in 1992) remedial measures for controlling the violence against the minority community. Mind it, that Deshmukh circulated this document on November 8, 1984, and from October 31 to this date Sikhs were left alone to face the killing gangs. In fact November 5-10 was the period when the maximum killings of Sikhs took place. Deshmukh was just not bothered about all
12. It is generally believed that the Congress cadres were behind this genocide. This may be true but there were other forces too which actively participated in this massacre and whose role has never been investigated. It could be one of the reasons that actual perpetrators remain unknown. Those who witnessed the genocide were stunned by the swiftness and military precision of the killer/marauding gangs (later on witnessed during the Babri mosque demolition, burning alive of Dr. Graham Steins with his two sons, 2002 pogrom of the Muslims in Gujarat and cleansing of Christians in parts of Orissa) which went on a burning spree of the innocent Sikhs. This, surely, was beyond the capacity of the thugs led by many Congress
13. It is shocking that Deshmukh presented 1984 massacre of Sikhs as an issue between Sikhs and Hindus. He wrote: “I feel proud of all those Hindu neighbours who protected lives and property of troubled Sikh brothers without caring for their lives. Such things one being heard from all over Delhi. These things have practically increased the faith in natural goodness of human behavior and particularly faith in Hindu nature.” He remained oblivious to the fact that these were not only Hindus but Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Atheists, Communists who defended Sikhs’ lives and

RSS problematic attitude towards the Sikh massacre

The Deshmukh document did not happen in isolation. It represented the real RSS attitude towardsthe Sikh genocide of 1984. It may be relevant to know here that the RSS cadres did not come forward in defence of the Sikhs. The RSS is very fond of circulating publicity material, especially photographs of its khaki shorts-clad cadres doing social work. For the 1984 violence they have none. In fact, Deshmukh’s article also made no mention of the RSS cadres going to the rescue of Sikhs under siege. This shows the real intentions of the RSS during the genocide.

The RSS English organ, Organizer in its combined issue dated November 11 & 18, 1984 carried an editorial titled ‘Stunning Loss’ which praised Indira Gandhi in the following words:

“It will always be difficult to believe that the Indira Gandhi is no more. One had got so used to hearing her myriad voices for so long, that everything looks so blank without her. The violent manner of her death is the most shocking horror story, giving the nation the creeps…It is a case of treacherous fanatics stigmatizing the whole nation by butchering a remarkable specimen of Indian womanhood…She literally served India to the last drop of her blood according to her own lights.” The same editorial ended with the words supporting newly installed PM, Rajiv Gandhi who “deserves sympathy and consideration”. 

Organizer also carried statement of RSS Supremo; Bala Deoras titled ‘Balasaheb condemns assassination, Delhi carnage’ in a single column. He mourned and condemned the carnage but not even once referred to the fact that Sikhs were under attack. For him it was “infighting in the Hindu Samaj”. He also overlooked the fact that it was not only Delhi where Sikhs were butchered/burnt but in many other parts of India too. According to this statement “swayamsevaks have been instructed to form or help in forming Mohalla Suraksha Samitis” for restoring peace and rehabilitation of the sufferers. However, there are no documents available in the contemporary RSS archives to show how these Samitis functioned. It is a fact that RSS which is fond of displaying photographs of its cadres doing social work did not publish any visual of the activity of these Samitis.

In the same statement Deoras reacting to the assassination of Indira Gandhi stated,

“It is shocking beyond words to express  the  feelings  at the murder of PM Mrs.               Indira Gandhi by some fanatic elements. She had been carrying on almost the entire burden of the country since 1966. She was loved and respected not only in this country but all over the world. Her passing away at this critical juncture will create a void in India and also in the world.”

According to  the above mentioned Organizer, “RSS Sarkyavah, Rajender Singh issued instructions to all the branches in  the country to hold a special meeting in Shakha condemning the dastardly murder of the PM and paying  homage  to the departed             soul. He also issued instructions to cancel all public functions to be held by RSS during the period of mourning”.

Of course, the RSS archives do not contain any instructions from RSS top brass instructing the mourning of Sikh victims.

RSS against former PM Manoham Singh’s apology for the 1984 massacre

That the RSS continues to downplay 1984 Sikh massacre is alsoe clear by the perusal of charter of demands submitted to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in last July. The senior RSS  ideologue, Dina Nath Batra on behalf of RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas submitted five pages containing list of items to be removed from school text-books. Batra demanded that any reference to violence against minorities in the text-books should be removed which included references to a simple apology tendered by the former PM Manmohan Singh over 1984 violence.

It is to be noted that in an apology in Parliament on August 12, 2005, Manmohan Singh, the then PM of India stated:

“I have no hesitation in apologising to the Sikh community. I apologise not only to the Sikh community, but to the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our Constitution.”

So the search for finding the perpetrators of Sikh massacre of 1984 continues endlessly. The present RSS/BJP rulers who claim to be co-religionists of Sikhs prove no different from Congress. The only hope is that those Indians who have stakes in continuation of democratic-secular Indian polity will come forward to force the Indian State to identify and punish the killers. Scholars who have been involved in the study of religious violence are unanimous in the conclusion that if 1984 massacre was not allowed to happen, there would not have been 1992-93 (violence against Muslims in pre/post Babri mosque demolition period), 2002 (massacre of Muslims in Gujarat), Kandhmal 2008 (cleansing of Christians) and many other massacre of the minorities of India. Allowing the 1984 massacre the Indian State, let it be known to all the majoritarian fascist organizations that in such criminal happening the former would remain silent! 

Nana Deshmukh awarded ‘Bharat Ratna’

As if it was not enough injustice to the martyrs and survivors of the 1984 massacre, on the eve of the last Republic Day (January 25, 2019) RSS/BJP rulers of India, bestowed the highest national award, the Bharat Ratna (gem of India) on Nanaji Deshmukh. PM Modi praising Deshmukh said, “He [Nana Deshmukh] personifies humility, compassion, and service to the downtrodden. He is a Bharat Ratna in the truest sense”.If anybody wants to understand the exact meaning of the proverb ‘to rub salt into the wound’ this Bharat Ratna to Deshmukh is the fittest example!

This photograph is of a street theatre performance titled ‘Sadharan Log (common people) by Nishant Natya Manch against massacre of Sikhs in 1984. It was performed at more than two thousand places. The author is also doing a role.

Link of a 2023 interview of the author on the same tragedy:

https://www.academia.edu/107044638/Victims_Will_Never_Forget_The_Violence_Shamsul_Islam_On_1984_Massacre_of_Sikh

Link for the full English text of the RSS ideologue Nana Deshmukh’s document: https://www.academia.edu/4890979/RSS_IDEOLOGUE_ NANA_DESHMUKH_J USTIFIED_MASSACRE_OF_SIKHS_IN_1984_From_RSS_archives_

[1] This is the official figure, according to the civil rights organisations around 3,000 were killed!

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

The post Fortieth anniversary of the forgotten mass 1984 killing of Sikhs, rapist and killers yet to be identified and punished appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times

“What do you expect from those who are not loyal to the salt of the nation?”,  came the reply from fellow soldier.

This discussion had left my father shaken to the core.

Maybe the soldiers did not notice a turbaned Sikh sitting next to them or maybe they just brought this up to humiliate him.

For those who need to understand the context of the conversation it is important to know that salt is a test of one’s loyalty in India. Those who are loyal to their masters are called namak halal (for being indebted to the one who provides for food) and those who aren’t, are namak haram.
For these two soldiers in a conflict zone, the locals were namak haram. They were most likely from Uttar Pradesh, a northern Indian Hindi speaking state where people eat peanuts with salt. You get it for free if you buy peanuts from a vendor. But in Punjab where they were posted now this wasn’t the case. If you buy peanuts you won’t get free salt with it simply because people in Punjab eat peanuts differently.

My father knew what these soldiers were talking about. He had been to Uttar Pradesh so he also understood their language. It was a clear reference to his people whose loyalty to the nation had come into question ever since Punjab was turned into a military zone.
The time when this incident occurred was when my father was posted in Amritsar- the Mecca of the Sikhs. He worked as a sales manager with a government owned Oil Company. He was traveling back home on a train when he bumped into these soldiers who were passing a judgement on his co-religionists, just because they did not get free salt from the vendor on railway station.

My father never forgot this conversation. He felt completely helpless and couldn’t muster courage to confront them either. It was challenging for any ordinary Sikh to argue with Indian soldiers who were now ruling their homeland of Punjab. But he shared his pain with me and the story has stuck with me since he first narrated it and on Father’s Day I still remember the way he explained it with lump in the throat.  

This happened months after the infamous Operation Bluestar that was executed by the Indian army in the first week of June, 1984. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had ordered the military invasion on the Golden Temple Complex, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs to deal with handful of armed extremists who were accused of using the place of worship as their hideout to carry out their political movement for religious rights. Their leader and a fiery preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale believed that the Sikhs were being treated as second class citizens in a Hindu dominated India. Since the government wasn’t sincere to address the issue and had deceived the moderate Sikh leadership at every step, Bhindranwale became more popular among the ordinary Sikhs. He emphasized that the Sikhs should arm themselves to fight against injustice in accordance with the principles of Sikhism that teaches its followers to resist against repression.

An era of killings had started. Ordinary Hindus and moderate Sikhs became the target of violence, besides the political leaders who were on the hit list of Bhindranwale and his supporters.

On the pretext of crushing terrorism, the Indian government decided to go ahead with Operation Bluestar. The Indian forces stormed the place of worship even as the Sikh pilgrims had gathered there to mark the martyrdom day of their fifth Guru, Arjan Dev – who had laid the foundation of this holy place.

Instead of resorting to other means to prevent the bloodshed and sacrilege and making the militants surrender, the Indian government let the army turn the temple complex into battlefield. The incident had left scores of pilgrims dead and the highest temporal seat of the Sikh faith Akal Takhat Sahib heavily destroyed.

All these ugly memories have freshened up following the May 23 election results of India that brought back the right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power with a brute majority. The BJP got more than 300 seats in the house of 543. The number was even higher than 282 seats BJP won in the 2014 election when Modi first became the Prime Minister.

This year’s election coincided with the 35^th anniversary of the Operation Bluestar and subsequent events. The linkage between the two episodes happening within a span of three decades cannot be overlooked.

What my father and his fellow Sikhs faced during 1984 has lot in common with other minorities, especially Muslims and Christians facing today under BJP rule.  Especially when the Indian electorate re-elected the BJP that openly scapegoated Muslims and riled up Hindu majority against them during the campaign and throughout its first tenure, there is a reason to draw parallels between 1984 and 2019.  

The Operation Bluestar was clearly aimed at teaching two percent of the Sikhs a lesson to garner the support of Hindu majority in the forthcoming election. This was proven soon after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards. Gandhi’s Congress party that claims to be a secular alternative to the BJP engineered anti-Sikh pogrom across the country. The mobs led by Congress party activists targeted innocent Sikhs to avenge the murder of their leader. In the general election held in the aftermath of the massacre, Indira’s son Rajeev Gandhi got a huge majority of more than 400 seats. The BJP got only two seats in the parliament as its vote bank had shifted to Congress that won the election riding on the anti-Sikh wave and using the slogan of national unity.

The Sikhs felt alienated and insecure during that period. In particular, turbaned Sikh men like my father became potential suspects in the eyes of police and paramilitary soldiers. The majority community remained largely indifferent to the grievances of the Sikhs caused by the Operation Bluestar and anti-Sikh massacre.

My father who was a carefree man often trimmed his beard, but after Operation Bluestar decided not to cut his facial hair anymore and started growing it. He now became more religious and the events of 1984 had lot to do with this. Though he never got baptized, he became a much dedicated observant of his faith.

Before the army stormed at the temple, my father was given the responsibility to install cooking gas cylinders at the Golden Temple Complex kitchen. His company also supplied the cooking gas. When the process began, he often used to visit the Golden Temple and had a chance to meet Bhindranwale personally on number of occasions. Sometimes, the colleagues visiting him from Delhi used to ask him if he can arrange their meeting with Bhindranwale as they were curious to know what this man was fighting for. To this my father obliged.

Once Bhindranwale pointed out to him that he shouldn’t be trimming his beard and be respectful to the religious code. However, my father just ignored this. He had mixed feelings about Bhindranwale who had become a hero for many in Punjab. While he agreed with him on the attitude of the government toward Sikh issues, he was also critical of the violence on part of the militants.

Around that time, the audio tapes of Bhindranwale’s speeches were in great demand. We also used to bring them home to listen to them to understand the nature of conflict between the government and the Sikhs. One day our father got so upset with some violent incidents that had taken place inside the Golden Temple Complex that he wanted us to stop playing his tapes.

However, everything changed after the Operation Bluestar.

The state of Punjab was brought under curfew and there was a complete press censorship. In the nights, the administration carried blackouts claiming that the neighbouring Pakistan might attack taking advantage of the situation to help the Sikh militants in creating a separate homeland of Khalistan.

I was 14 at that time and was sick with stomach flu. Neither was I in a position to go anywhere, nor the situation allowed anyone to step out in the first place. But the sounds of gunfire and shelling are still etched on my memory. Our house was little far from the Golden Temple Complex – but we could clearly hear those deafening sounds throughout the army operation. During day time, we would see heavy smoke emerging from the direction of the Golden Temple complex.

In order to prevent any accident in the kitchen of the temple, my father was asked by the administration to go and make arrangements to relocate the cooking gas cylinders. For this he was given a curfew pass.

When he came back he was depressed over what he saw at the temple. He shared with us his first-hand account of having seen the signs of destruction everywhere and the dead bodies.

After the operation was over and when the temple was finally opened to the devotees, my father took all of us inside. When I saw myself before my eyes the building of Akal Takhat scarred with shelling, I could not believe it. This had frightened me completely. I became angry and felt so helpless. Even though my father wasn’t political and my understanding of politics was nil, I was convinced that the government has humiliated my people.

After witnessing all this, my father one day told me that he has decided to stop trimming his beard out of respect for Bhindranwale who had died fighting against the Indian army. Thanks to the Operation Bluestar, he had now become a martyr for my father. An ambivalent admirer had now become his follower.

Some of his colleagues had already started spreading rumours that he was a supporter of Bhindranwale. A complaint was made against him within his organization but nothing was established.  They failed to understand that he was only pained just like many other Sikhs. Notably, his mother was a Hindu and his elder sister was married into Hindu family so he was always aware to keep a distance from the Sikh separatists.

Interestingly, one of my cousins who is a Hindu and had served the army supported the Operation Buestar, while a distant one who is a Sikh had deserted the army in retaliation of the army attack. He was among those who revolted as soon as the news of army invasion on their Vatican reached them.

My father had voted against the Congress party for many years after the events of 1984. But in 2004 when the Congress appointed Manmohan Singh as the first Sikh Prime Minister he softened his position and tried to bury the past and move on.

Singh’s appointment came after BJP threatened to stop Congress leader Sonia Gandhi from becoming the Prime Minister because of her foreign origin. Sonia who is the widow of Rajeev Gandhi – who was responsible for Sikh massacre, is of the Italian descent.

Even when my father was disillusioned with Congress, he was very clear on one thing that never to support BJP. He often used to tell me that the BJP is much more dangerous than the Congress as it wants to turn India into Hindu theocracy. He believed that the BJP supporters were also involved in the anti-Sikh massacre. Though the Congress was directly complicit as it was in power, the BJP folks he used to say also had a hand in the violence. He sincerely trusted Sonia Gandhi for giving Singh a chance to become the Prime Minister to bring closure, though I never agreed on this with him. I still believe that the Congress never tried to address the issue of 1984 honestly and the appointment of Singh was merely symbolic. Yet, my father stuck to his belief until the final years of his life. 

He died in November, 2017. I was visiting India to see him as he wasn’t keeping well because of cancer when he passed away following a cardiac arrest. He expressed his concern over growing attacks on religious minorities under Modi, a night before.

Modi is widely accused of repeating 1984 like massacre against Muslims in 2002. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat back then. The bloodshed followed the burning of a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. The incident that left more than 50 people dead was blamed on Islamic fundamentalists by Modi after which the BJP supporters began targeting Muslims all over Gujarat. Much like Rajeev Gandhi, Modi gained a huge majority in the next assembly election.

Ever since Modi became the Prime Minister, India has witness spike in violence against minorities. During this year’s election campaign, Modi and his cohorts had intensified their hate campaign against Muslims and constantly accused them of indulging in terror and anti national activities. The police violence against Muslims has also increased under Modi. So much so, the newly appointed Home Minister Amit Shah was responsible for the killings of Muslims in police custody in Gujarat. The narrative of Muslims being Pakistani agents or terrorists is no different from the one used in 1984 against the Sikhs.

Before the election when 40 soldiers died in a February 14 suicide attack blamed on Kashmiri Muslim militants in Pullwama, ordinary Kashmiri Muslims were targeted by the mobs throughout India. 

Agree or not, this polarization had helped Modi to come back to power with even greater majority.  

The structural violence against Sikhs during 1984 need to be understood to comprehend what India is facing today. It had set the stage for a culture of impunity that gives police and the state sponsored vigilantes to pick on minorities, scapegoat them and get majority to support their masters.

In the end, I want to confess that I like to eat peanut with salt as I lived in Uttar Pradesh for many years with my parents. My wife and others often joke that I am more like someone born in Uttar Pradesh. I have every reason to shun this practice in protest against what my father was subjected to, but I am still sticking to it with a hope that real India based on the principles of pluralism and diversity will recover one day from this madness and will be back on the rail. I may not agree with my father hundred percent, but I am keeping a hope that someday his resilience will work and help us in regaining what we have lost under a majoritarian democracy. If my father could keep his hopes alive and never compromised on his belief of Hindu-Sikh kinship even under worst circumstances, why can’t we?

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New Delhi: The Delhi Patiala House Court sentenced one of two convicts Yashpal Singh to death for his role in 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The other convict, Naresh Sherawat was given the life sentence. Both were convicted on November 15 for killing two young Sikhs in Delhi’s Mahipalpur area after the assassination of erstwhile Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.
 
This is the first death sentence awarded in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Both convicts have also been fined with Rs. 35 lakh each.
 
Naresh Sherawat and Yashpal Singh were held guilty of killing Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh.
 
The murder case was lodged in 1993 based on a complaint filed by Santokh Singh, brother of Hardev Singh. The Delhi Police had closed the case in 1994 citing lack of evidence but a Special Investigation Team reopened the case.
 
As per a report, the SIT said in a statement that it was a “brutal murder of two innocent young persons aged around 25 each. It was a planned murder since the accused were carrying kerosene oil, sticks etc.”
 
Singh and Sherawat “took out the victims, who were hiding inside a room, injured them with dangerous weapons with the intention to kill and threw them down from the first floor”, causing their deaths, the judge said while delivering the punishment.
 
“An eyewitness and relative of the two victims said that the mob below then poured petrol and some powder in their mouths which caught fire. “Tyres were hung around their necks and burnt. As they struggled, the attackers laughed and said ‘they’re like dancing monkeys’,” remembered the relative,” reported NDTV.
 
The two accused were held guilty under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, attempt to murder and voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means.
 
“The Vasant Kunj police had lodged an FIR on a handwritten affidavit submitted before the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission of Inquiry in 1985 on the recommendation of Justice J.D. Jain and D.K. Aggarwal committee. The complainant, Santokh Singh, was an assistant granthi at Gurdwara Sadar Bazar in Delhi Cantonment at that time. He had said in his complaint that a mob on November 1, 1984, attacked them, killed his brother Avtar Singh (24) and his customer Hardev Singh (26), and looted their shops in the presence of police officers,” The Hindu reported.
 
“When the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission was constituted, a “first informant”, Santokh Singh, filed an affidavit stating that 500 people looted shops in Mahipalpur in 1984. Based on his affidavit, another FIR was registered in 1993, and an ACP-rank officer filed an “untrace report” in court. The Metropolitan Magistrate, however, had said, “Police were at liberty to file challan as and when accused persons were arrested,” reported India Express.
 
“In 2017, the chargesheet in the case was filed by a Special Investigation Team, constituted in 2015 to re-investigate “serious criminal cases” filed in Delhi after the anti-Sikh riots, which had been closed,” the report said.
 
“During arguments in this case, the defence counsel had said that registration of two FIRs for the same incident was illegal. The court said: “This case involves extraordinary circumstances justifying the registration of the second FIR.” The defence had also pointed out that the witnesses were examined after 33 years and none of the accused persons were named correctly by them. The court, however, said that this was “immaterial” and recounted one instance involving the witness Sangat Singh, whose brother Hardev Singh was murdered,” the report added.
 
“Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey held Sherawat and Singh guilty of killing Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh during the riots, and said that “victims of mass genocide” cannot be left in “the lurch,” the report said.
 
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots left nearly 3,000 people dead, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The 1984 carnage erupted just hours after she was killed by her Sikh bodyguards.
 
The violence, which occurred mostly in the capital New Delhi, lasted three days when Sikhs were raped, murdered and burned alive, while their homes and businesses were torched.
 
Many believe that justice has been served although it took 34 years to reach this juncture. Relatives of the victims hoped that next up would be two former Congress ministers, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.
 
https://twitter.com/shammybaweja/status/1064839045224615936
 
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing and Member of Parliament from Bathinda spoke in favour of BJP for speeding up the process and thanked PM Modi for setting up the SIT in 2015.
 
https://twitter.com/HarsimratBadal_/status/1064848721920368641
 
https://twitter.com/HarsimratBadal_/status/1064840618646691840
 
“We will not rest till the last murderer is brought to justice,” she added.
 
Chief Minister of Punjab, Capt. Amarinder Singh also tweeted in the favour of the sentence.
 
https://twitter.com/capt_amarinder/status/1064853830335000576
 
Sikhs make up 2 per cent of India’s 1.25 billion population.

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The Supreme Court on Monday sought a comprehensive status report on the probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases being investigated by the SIT set up in 2014.

A bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice R Banumathi sought the report as petitioner S Gurlad Singh Kahlon told the court that the Special Investigation Team has utterly failed in carrying out the probe.

The Centre earlier told the court that further investigation was on in 21 out of the total of 221 cases. 

The court has adjourned the matter for next hearing on February 20.

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