Their testimonies have been crucial in exposing state complicity, resisting the erasure of history, and demanding accountability. Yet, their pursuit of justice has been met with intimidation, legal obstruction, and, in some cases, criminalisation. Across these three instances, a grim pattern emerges: the deliberate targeting of women, the systemic failure of institutions meant to protect them, and the extraordinary resilience with which they have fought back.

1984 anti-Sikh pogrom: Survivors bore became the voice of the battle for justice

The anti-Sikh riots of 1984 resulted in the targeted killings of close to 3,000 Sikh men in Delhi alone though the all-India figures are higher. The targeted violence left behind a generation of widows who not only survived brutal gendered violence at the time, but also bore the burden of documenting the atrocities and seeking justice for over three decades. These women, who were often left to fend for themselves by a cruel state apparatus, after witnessing the murders of their male relatives, rose out of the tragedy to become among the strongest voices to reclaim memory and assert the cries for justice. It was their collective voice that ensured that the history of the massacres was not erased. Their testimonies and persistent legal battles formed the backbone of efforts to hold the perpetrators accountable.

The Sikh women who survived the 1984 riots had to overcome the dual trauma of sexual violence and the loss of their families. Many were raped in front of their own children, while others were kidnapped and tortured for days. Their homes were looted and burned, leaving them homeless and destitute. The legal system and government, rather than offering justice, attempted to silence them through intimidation and bureaucratic neglect. Yet, these women refused to let the world forget what had happened.

Women like Nirpreet Kaur, who was 16 when she witnessed her father being burned alive, dedicated their lives to collecting evidence, documenting survivor testimonies, and ensuring that cases against the perpetrators remained alive. Kaur, despite facing police torture, years of imprisonment under false charges, and the loss of two husbands, continued to fight for justice. She meticulously gathered witness statements, encouraged other widows to testify, and resisted repeated offers of bribes and compensation meant to buy her silence.

Similarly, many widows who had lost their husbands and sons stood as the primary eyewitnesses in court. Their testimonies were critical in exposing the involvement of political leaders who had orchestrated the violence. Women who had lost everything, such as Pappi Kaur, who saw 11 of her male relatives burned alive, and Bhaagi Kaur, who was left to raise her children in abject poverty, took the stand despite threats and intimidation. Their courage ensured that the narratives of rape, murder, and destruction remained central to the legal battle.

The state machinery worked relentlessly to suppress the voices of Sikh women. Many were offered financial compensation to withdraw their cases, while others faced direct threats to their lives and families. Witness protection was virtually non-existent, with police officers themselves leaking information to the accused. In one instance, police allegedly warned a witness that her children would be killed if she continued to testify.

Despite these threats, Sikh women continued to push for legal accountability. They filed affidavits, attended court hearings, and worked with human rights lawyers to challenge the impunity granted to perpetrators. Their efforts led to the reopening of cases, the formation of commissions, and, after decades of struggle, the eventual conviction of senior politicians such as Sajjan Kumar in 2018.

The importance of women’s testimonies in the Sikh pogrom

The testimonies of Sikh women were instrumental in revealing the premeditated nature of the violence. Unlike the state’s claim that the riots were spontaneous, these women detailed how mobs were armed with chemicals, iron rods, and torches; how police officers either stood by or actively participated; and how political leaders directed the killings. Their statements also underscored the targeted sexual violence inflicted on Sikh women as a means of communal humiliation.

At the time, after the mob set Darshan Kaur’s husband ablaze, she gathered her three children, the youngest just 15 days old, and ran. In the frenzy, the baby slipped from 19-year-old Darshan’s hands. But there was no time to stop. For the next three days, she and the remaining two children ran from the police station to gurudwara searching for a safe place. Yet she has not given up and remains the haunting yet strong figure for justice for the survivors of 1984.

The fight for justice was long and arduous. It took 26 years for the trial of Sajjan Kumar to even begin, and even then, convictions came only after relentless pressure from survivors like Nirpreet Kaur. Many Sikh widows, facing extreme poverty, had to make painful choices—some accepted financial compensation in lieu of pursuing legal battles, while others withdrew their cases due to fear. Yet, those who persisted forced the legal system to reckon with the atrocities committed in 1984.

Some women were denied even dignified rehabilitation. There is Satpal Kaur, 13 years old and the eldest of four girl survivors at the time. Suddenly from living a normal middle-class life, on November 1, 1984 everything changed. Four members of their family, their father, mother, brother and uncle, were killed and only the four sisters were left alive. As the eldest, Satpal Kaur, was 13 and the youngest girl only four years old at the time, and finally it was Advocate HS Phoolka who helped the legal battle for custody of the girls that was given to the grandfather. Another story about 21 widows, all from one family, who lived in the Sagarpur area of West Delhi near the Delhi Cantonment. On November 1, 1984 a resident of the area suggested that the male members of the family should all take shelter in a tube well room located near their house. The men were locked up in the room ostensibly to save their lives but later the mob was informed of their whereabouts. They came and set fire to the room, roasting the men alive. The youngest of these 21 widows, Manjit Kaur, was just 20 years old and had only been married for two years when tragedy struck. She had no children and after this traumatic incident, did not marry again. For the two and a half decades thereafter, she tried to get a government job to no avail.

The Sikh women who survived the 1984 riots not only bore the weight of personal tragedy but also became the torchbearers of justice. Their documentation of crimes, unwavering testimonies, and refusal to be silenced ensured that the massacre was not forgotten. Though justice came late and in fragments, their fight set a precedent for future struggles against state-sponsored violence. Their resilience remains a powerful testament to the strength of survivors who refuse to let history be rewritten by those in power.

Gujarat 2002: Testifying against unimaginable horror

The Gujarat riots of 2002 marked one of the darkest chapters of communal violence in India. Amidst the widespread bloodshed, women not only bore the brunt of gendered violence but also led the struggle for accountability, documenting atrocities and seeking justice. These women, many of them victims themselves, stood against systemic apathy and intimidation to ensure that the truth was recorded and the perpetrators were held accountable. Their determination played a crucial role in exposing the extent of sexual violence during the riots, despite efforts to erase or suppress these accounts from official records. In one of its shining moments the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo moto action in Gujarat 2002. The seminal report followed by path-breaking interventions in the Supreme Court of India ensured, in some measure, that other institutions responded with some seriousness.

The gendered violence during the Gujarat riots was unparalleled in its brutality. Women were raped, mutilated, and killed, often in broad daylight; their bodies used as battlegrounds for communal hatred. The systemic nature of these crimes was evident in the way women were specifically targeted, often in public settings, as a means of humiliating the entire community. Survivors, however, refused to let these crimes be erased from history. According to officially admitted records, documented by Citizens for Justice and Peace, 97 women eye-witnesses played a critical role in criminal trials related to the massacres. Despite immense pressure, intimidation, and threats, they deposed before courts, describing the horrifying acts of sexual violence and targeted attacks in explicit detail. State Intelligence Bureau figures admitted to 99 cases of gendered violence though citizen’s efforts put the figure at twice the number.

In cases such as the Naroda Patiya massacre, where over 110 people were killed, and the Gulberg Society massacre, where at least 69 lives were lost, women testified about the gruesome acts of violence they witnessed or endured. These testimonies included accounts of gang rape, public stripping, and the killing of pregnant women and infants. Women described how mobs used iron rods, swords, and petrol bombs to attack them, often displaying a sadistic violent brutality in each of the attacks. The testimonies highlighted the premeditated nature of the mob violence as also the utter complicity of the state, from local police to other authorities.

The struggle to document sexual violence was particularly difficult, as official records often downplayed or omitted these accounts. Women survivors and activists persisted, ensuring that evidence of rape and brutalisation was included in legal proceedings and public records. Forensic reports were often manipulated or withheld, and in many cases, there was an absence of medical documentation due to the fear instilled in victims and their families. Despite these hurdles, women continued to speak out, determined to create a historical record that could not be erased.

Women who stepped forward to testify faced relentless harassment. Many were forced to relocate multiple times due to threats from the accused and their supporters. In some cases, male relatives were pressured to withdraw cases or dissuade women from testifying. Police officers and local authorities often refused to file FIRs or conducted deliberately flawed investigations, further victimising survivors. Women were denied legal representation, forced to relive their trauma in hostile courtrooms, and subjected to humiliating questioning by defence lawyers who sought to discredit their accounts.

Among those who played a pivotal role in this documentation were women like Bilkis Bano and Zakia Jafri, who recently passed away. As survivors, they turned their personal tragedies into a relentless pursuit of justice, ensuring that accounts of gendered violence were not buried under political pressure. Bilkis Bano’s testimony became instrumental in exposing the extent of sexual violence during the riots, as she recounted how she was gang-raped while her family members, including her infant daughter, were murdered. Zakia Jafri, despite losing her husband, former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, in the Gulberg Society massacre, fought for years to hold state officials accountable for their complicity in the violence. Their struggles, alongside those of many other unnamed women, challenged state complicity and legal apathy, fighting in courts for years to establish the truth. CJP was among the leading groups that persisted over two decades with legal aid for survivors like Zakia Jafri, Rupa Mody, Saira Sandhi (Gulberg case), Bashirabi and others (Sardarpura case) and Farida bano, Shakila Bano and others in the Naroda Patiya case.

Despite multiple attempts to derail these cases, the persistence of women survivors led to rare convictions in some instances. The Supreme Court eventually intervened to move key cases, including the Best Bakery case, outside Gujarat due to concerns over bias and threats to witnesses. This was a direct result of the relentless efforts of women who refused to back down despite knowing the risks involved.

The importance of women’s testimonies in the Gujarat riots

The documentation of violence by women played a crucial role in countering the official narrative that sought to dismiss or minimise the scale of gendered atrocities. In many cases, the state machinery attempted to frame the violence as spontaneous riots rather than a coordinated attack. Women’s testimonies dismantled this argument by providing detailed accounts of how mobs were armed, how attacks were systematically carried out, and how law enforcement agencies either stood by or actively participated in the violence.

The legal battle that followed the riots was long and fraught with challenges. The initial investigations were deliberately botched, with crucial evidence being destroyed or tampered with. Public prosecutors appointed by the state were often affiliated with the ruling party and acted in ways that favoured the accused. Women survivors, however, continued to file petitions, demand re-investigations, and push for special hearings. Their relentless legal advocacy forced the courts to acknowledge the specific targeting of women during the riots and set legal precedents for future cases of communal violence.

One of the most significant impacts of women’s documentation efforts was the recognition of sexual violence as a weapon of communal conflict. Their testimonies became part of a larger movement that called for reforms in how gender-based violence was prosecuted in mass crimes. Women’s organisations, both within and outside Gujarat, used these testimonies to demand accountability at national and international levels, submitting reports to bodies such as the United Nations and the Supreme Court.

The Gujarat riots of 2002 showcased the brutalisation of women, but they also highlighted their resilience. In the face of unspeakable horrors, women survivors fought relentlessly, not just for their own justice but for a historical record that would not allow their suffering to be forgotten. Their testimonies and legal battles remain a testament to the power of resistance, ensuring that gendered violence in communal conflicts does not fade into obscurity. The documentation of these crimes by women survivors forced India’s legal system to confront the role of sexual violence in communal conflicts and laid the groundwork for future legal battles. Their fight continues to inspire generations to confront hate with courage and demand accountability, even against the most formidable adversaries.

Delhi 2020: The weaponisation of the state against women

The communal violence that unfolded in northeast Delhi between February 23 and 26, 2020, was not a spontaneous riot but an orchestrated attack. The violence, which resulted in the deaths of 53 people—40 of them Muslim—was a brutal response to the anti-CAA protests that had mobilised thousands across the country, led significantly by Muslim women. While the state and the media sought to rewrite the narrative, blaming protestors for the violence, women who had witnessed and experienced the attacks fought to document the truth and seek justice. Unlike past instances of communal violence, where survivors slowly found avenues for legal battles, the women of the Delhi riots faced an unprecedented challenge: criminalisation, incarceration, and continued suppression by the state.

The anti-CAA protests, particularly the Shaheen Bagh movement, symbolised peaceful resistance led by Muslim women. However, these women soon became targets. In Jaffrabad, one of the protest sites, women were on the frontlines, protesting discriminatory citizenship laws when mobs, emboldened by political leaders’ inflammatory speeches, launched targeted attacks. Homes and shops were torched, mosques vandalised, and people lynched. Women who led protests, like Ishrat Jahan, Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, Safoora Zargar, and Gulfisha Fatima were arrested under draconian laws, accused of conspiring to incite the violence they had, in reality, been victims of.

Unlike previous instances of communal violence, where women fought prolonged legal battles for justice, in Delhi, they were pre-emptively branded as conspirators and jailed. Gulfisha Fatima, an MBA graduate and grassroots activist, was arrested under FIR 48, initially granted bail, only to be re-arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), ensuring her prolonged incarceration. To date, she remains in jail, a stark reminder of how the state weaponised the legal system against Muslim women who dared to resist. Gulfisha remains under arrest as an undertrial, without bail to date, five years later.

Similarly, Safoora Zargar, arrested while pregnant, was accused of being a key conspirator despite a lack of evidence. Ishrat Jahan, a former municipal councillor, was denied bail for years, and when granted, it was seen as an exception rather than a norm. Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, founding members of Pinjra Tod, were arrested and re-arrested on multiple charges, illustrating the state’s relentless pursuit of women activists.

Even those who weren’t arrested faced systemic suppression. Police dismissed the testimonies of women who had lost family members and refused to investigate cases that implicated Hindutva extremists. In courts, victims found their cases delayed indefinitely, while those accused of instigating the riots walked free. The judiciary, instead of upholding justice, repeatedly sided with the state’s narrative, making it nearly impossible for Muslim women to seek legal redress.

The importance of women’s testimonies in countering false narratives

The role of women in documenting the 2020 Delhi riots goes beyond legal battles—it is about preserving the truth against deliberate erasure. The mainstream narrative continues to blame Muslim activists for the violence, while the actual instigators remain shielded by the state. The testimonies, photographs, and first-hand accounts collected by women protestors and survivors challenge this state-sponsored narrative and ensure that the history of these attacks is not rewritten.

In contrast to past instances of communal violence, where survivors eventually found some measure of justice after decades of struggle, the women of the Delhi riots face an ongoing battle where justice remains entirely out of reach. With Gulfisha Fatima still in jail after four years and many others continuing to fight baseless charges, their struggle is far from over. Their resistance, however, ensures that their stories remain alive, refusing to let the truth be buried under propaganda and state repression.

The women of the 2020 Delhi riots fought not just against targeted violence but against a state determined to criminalise their very existence. Their documentation of the attacks, their refusal to remain silent, and their continued struggle for justice in the face of legal persecution exemplify resilience. In a system that punishes those who seek accountability, their fight is one for survival, memory, and truth. Their resistance stands as a testament to the unyielding spirit of women who refuse to let history be rewritten by those in power.

Women and their unyielding fight for truth

Women who have fought for justice in the aftermath of communal violence in India have done so against overwhelming odds. They have defied a state machinery that actively seeks to erase their suffering, a legal system designed to delay and deny, and a society that too often treats them as collateral damage. Their fight has not only been about personal justice but about exposing the larger structures of power that enable such violence.

Despite decades of struggle, justice remains a distant dream. In Gujarat, where a handful of convictions took place, the state machinery ensured that most perpetrators walked free. In 1984, justice came too late for many survivors, with key political figures being convicted only after decades of relentless legal battles. And in Delhi, justice is yet to arrive—Muslim women who dared to protest against discriminatory laws remain imprisoned while the instigators of violence roam free.

The stories of these women force us to confront an uncomfortable truth: the state is not merely a bystander in communal violence but an active participant, shielding perpetrators and punishing those who seek accountability. Their resilience in the face of such repression is a testament to their courage. But their continued struggle also serves as an indictment of a system that has failed them at every level. This International Women’s Day, their fight must not only be remembered but actively supported—for justice, for truth, and for the right to resist oppression without fear.

Related:

This women’s day CJP celebrates all women in resistance

The women of CJP: Resilient and resolute in their mission to advocate for the rights of all and counter prejudice

Oh, what a year to be a woman! IWD 2023: CJP lists some advocates who paved the way for women’s rights

Wounds still linger

Remembering 1984

The post Surviving Communal Wrath: Women who have defied the silence, demanded accountability from the state appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Exactly 35 years ago, around this time in 1984, thousands of Sikhs were murdered all across India following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The massacre was orchestrated by the ruling Congress party that claims to be secular with the connivance of police to polarize Hindu majority to win the forthcoming general election in the name of national unity.

The Hindu mobs were incited to kill Sikhs, as a result of which in the national capital of New Delhi alone close to 3,000 people had died. Many of the top senior officials, including the succeeding Prime Minister and Indira’s son Rajeev Gandhi remained unpunished in spite of their complicity in the crime. The judiciary also failed to deliver justice, barring the conviction of a single former Member of Parliament Sajjan Kumar and that too 34 years after the mass murders. 

Every year, Sikhs all over the globe remember the dead. In Canada, they hold annual blood drive which has saved more than 1,40,000 human lives since 1999. On Saturday, I donated blood as part of this campaign for the very first time. As I sat on the chair with my blood dripping into the pouch, the memories of those dark days came back haunting.

I was fourteen when the massacre happened. Although I was lucky enough as we lived in Punjab, the Sikhs in most parts of India outside the state were being hunted down by the Congress led goons. The TV imagery of Congress supporters chanting “Blood for Blood” as the body of Indira Gandhi lay in state is permanently etched on my mind. While the Indian state machinery was after Sikh blood, here the Sikhs are trying to save human lives by giving their blood. But that wasn’t the only tragedy I have not been able to forget. Many more bloody incidents were yet to come. 

Eight years later, Hindu mobs demolished Babri Masjid – a 16^th century mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh as the police stood by. Hindus claim that the mosque was forcibly built by the Muslim emperor Babar after removing a temple that stood at the birthplace of Hindu God, Lord Ram in Ayodhya. At the behest of currently ruling right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the mobs had razed the mosque to the ground in December, 1992. 

Whereas, the BJP ruled the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Congress ran the national government led by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao back then. Notably, Rao had served the country as Home Minister when the Sikh Genocide happened. Although he was the in charge of law and order, he did nothing to protect the Sikhs. And now, he failed to stop an assault on the mosque as a Prime Minister.

Much like some BJP supporters participated in the Sikh massacre as foot soldiers; some Congress supporters were also among those who wanted to see the mosque replaced by a temple. A makeshift Hindu temple has remained on the controversial site since then. In fact, when Sikhs were being killed a movement for Ram temple was picking up. The BJP had started mobilizing people against Babri Masjid. Rajeev Gandhi too did not leave any stone unturned to pander the supporters of this campaign. His government started TV serial based on the epic of Lord Ran. Most of the actors who played lead role, including that of Ram later joined the BJP.

In 2002, more than 50 passengers had died after a train bringing Hindu pilgrims from Ayodhya caught fire in Gujarat. The then-Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi who is the current Prime Minister had blamed the incident on Pakistan sponsored Islamic extremists after which the state of Gujarat went up into flames. Thousands of Muslims were slaughtered by the mobs led by BJP activists in the state. Thus, Modi repeated 1984 in Gujarat to win the upcoming assembly election and much like Rajeev Gandhi, he mustered a majority in the legislature. 

The most recent Supreme Court verdict ordering for the construction of Hindu temple at the disputed site and giving a separate piece of land to the Muslims for building a mosque is like rubbing salt on the wounds. Instead of punishing those who were responsible for the demolition of the mosque and restoring back the place of worship to a minority community, the courts have clearly sided with the mandate of the BJP. It is no secret that the BJP always wanted to build Ram temple in Ayodhya and has remained steadfast on its promise to the Hindus. 

It would be more appropriate to put the blame on the Indian state rather than one party or the other to understand the pattern of impunity and systematic violence against minorities in India which has become a majoritarian democracy under the garb of secular democracy. 

As of now, I stand with the organizers of annual blood drive and its Campaign Against Genocide to send a strong message to the Indian government that continues to patronise violence against religious minorities. It is no surprise that under Modi, who first got elected as Prime Minister in 2014,attacks on minority communities have sharply increased. The Supreme Court verdict that came close to this year’s blood drive only indicates how Modi has institutionalized bigotry through his influence over the judiciary. Some of those I met at the blood donation campsite in Surrey were outraged over the verdict and felt that the Indian judiciary has deceived minorities. Giving blood to save lives is our collective response to a repressive regime.

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Image Courtesy: AFP

All I knew was that the kids go door to door on this day and ask for candies. This is no different than Lohri – a festival of bonfire celebrated in January each year in Punjab. The children go home to home asking for treats. Cool!

As our first Halloween came that year my curiosity grew seeing madness for scary costumes. I did some research and found that it was one way of warding off evil spirits that come to the earth at that time and children dress themselves up like monsters to keep them away so that they consider them as one of their own. Obviously, this is all superstitious, but it has a complete different meaning for someone like me. It’s mainly because of an unforgettable and ill-fated date of October 31 that coincides with something more horrific done to my people 35 years ago.

On this day in 1984, then-Prime Minister of Indira Gandhi was assassinated at her official residence in New Delhi by her Sikh bodyguards who were outraged at the military invasion on their holiest place, the Golden Temple Complex in Amritsar. The controversial army operation was ordered by Gandhi in June that year to deal with handful of Sikh militants who could have been otherwise forced to surrender by using other means. Accusing the extremists of committing violence and taking refuge in the shrine, the government of India used its military might to suppress Sikh movement for autonomy of Punjab and equal rights for the minority community. The intent was to polarize the Hindu majority in the name of national unity in the impending general election.

The ill-conceived military attack left many pilgrims dead and historically important buildings inside the complex heavily destroyed. This had enraged the Sikhs all over the world and resulted into the death of Gandhi.

As soon as the news of Gandhi’s murder spread, the violent mobs started organizing against the Sikhs. The members of the slain leader’s ruling Congress party instigated Hindus to avenge her death by targeting innocent Sikhs. As a result, in the national capital of New Delhi alone, close to 3,000 Sikhs were slaughtered. Their women were gang raped. The Sikhs were also murdered in other parts of India under the watch of police. Years have passed, but there is hardly any justice done, barring the conviction of lone former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar and that too in 2018.

The accountability of Indira’s son Rajeev Gandhi – who later took over as the next Prime Minister, was never established, although all signs indicate that he was directly complicit in the genocide that actually helped him to win the December 1984 election with a brute majority on the slogan of national unity and by demonizing the Sikh community.  

The bloodshed of the Sikhs had begun while people in Canada were celebrating Halloween. Those who were dressed up like monsters to ward off evil spirits had no realization what was going on in another part of the world. The evil spirits had actually come alive to go after Sikhs. The international community largely remained indifferent to the massacre. It was seen as a natural reaction to the death of a towering leader, whereas it was not. A state sponsored act of terror was completely overlooked, leave aside the question of slapping sanctions against India.

The issue is relevant even more today as the fight for justice continues, while the massacre has set a culture of impunity in the world’s so called largest democracy. This had encouraged the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use a similar experiment against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002. Modi who is the leader of right wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was the Chief Minister of the state back then. He is widely blamed for the violence that followed the burning of a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. Over 50 passengers had died in the incident that was instantly blamed on Muslims by the BJP following which large scale violence was orchestrated against the community across Gujarat. This paid electoral dividends to Modi in the next assembly election.  

Fast forward to 2019. Early this year, a suicide attack by a Kashmiri militant had left close to 40 soldiers dead in Pulwama following which the BJP and its supporters started harassing Kashmiris all across India. The attack was blamed on Kashmir based political extremists who have been fighting for right to self-determination. BJP that is known for its hawkish position on Kashmir used every tool in its toolbox to turn Hindus against Kashmiri Muslims in the wake of Pulwama episode. And despite poor performance of Modi government on many fronts since he first became the Prime Minister in 2014, he won another majority in the May 2019 election. Much like 1984 and 2002, Pulwama episode gave breather to those in power.

Emboldened by the mandate given to him by the Indian voters, Modi government arbitrarily abrogated special status given to Kashmir in August 5 and turned the entire state into an open jail. The lockdown continues even though three months have passed.

On this Halloween while we enjoy our treats and have fun with our families and children, it’s necessary to take a moment to remember those claimed by evil spirited politicians 35 years ago and later on. This is the least we can do to first educate ourselves about this dark chapter of the history and pressure our elected officials here to stand up for the minorities who are being persecuted in India with no fear of the outside world. It’s a shame that Canada that claims to be a human rights leader in the world has remained silent over what is going on in Kashmir and growing attacks on religious minorities under Modi. This silence needs to be broken and we all know Halloween fireworks can’t do this. We all need to raise our voices to make this happen. 

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I still feel, however, that those times were a tad better than today because we did not have these goons who threaten people from their newsrooms and instigate violence against them. Can you imagine, what would have been the role of this (today’s) media under a powerful government of Rajiv Gandhi?

Doordarshan kept showing the dead body of Mrs Gandhi for several days as people were shouting slogan : Khoon Ka Badla Khoon se lenge..

Indiraji had brought the colour TV revolution to India, people watched the entire drama unfold on their TV screens: they were being fed all the sarkaari reports minute by minute. It was perhaps the first 24×7 ‘spectacle’ for the TV media in India. It extended for some days. Newspaper sales increased and in smaller cities, copies of editions of newspapers would be sold off in minutes of arrival at the outlets. 
 
Doordarshan and All India Radio did their “duty” by the government of the dat. Absent were the screaming voices of “party spokespersons” inside the studios like we are witnessing today. Today, there would have been a direct campaign launched against the Sikhs. The media at the time was silently just “doing its duty as per government orders”.  Doordarshan-Akashwani would stop all regular programmes and we would have repeated news on Indira Gandhi’s Assassination. We depended on external sources like the BBC which had declared by 10 am that she had been shot dead but there was no official word about it. Though she was shot at her home in the morning time around 9 am, the official announcement of her death came at 6 pm on radio and television simultaneously. When I imagine what would have happened if Indira ji’s Assassination  tool place today, during commercial 24X7 TV channels, I shudder… 
Violence erupted or was made to erupt by the goons of the Congress party but it was not merely an issue of Congress. In her death, Indira Gandhi had become or was projected as a Great Hindu leader killed by the Sikhs. So in the subsequent days, we saw, a manifestation  of ‘Hindu’ outrage, though we conveniently called it only Congress goons but it was not so. Congress had become the Hindu party, a party of the Hindu sentiments, whose leader was called and Rajiv Gandhi called her Bharat Mata in his first broad-caste to the nation.

The violence or pogrom whatever we call as the state of India completely abdicated its duty. The goons whether Congress Party or any other sympathizer, whether Hindus or not, had complete protection from the administration and its police. It was like a ‘national’ ‘resolve’ to ‘teach’ Sikh a lesson. Innocent children lost their parents. We never saw such brutality since partition of India. Butchering of families. The Home Minister P V Narsimha Rao sat silently allowing the goons to do all the things and police remaining quiet. All over the country, there was a pattern, whisper campaign against Sikhs as if they killed Mrs Gandhi. This is a serious question to ponder over.

Why did we blame the entire community if some crime is committed under their name. Muslims have been punished for that, Dalits, too and Sikhs got their “punishment” because the murderer of Indira Gandhi happened to be Sikh. But the murderers of Rajiv Gandhi were Hindus while that of Gandhi ji was a Brahmin but we never saw that kind of isolation and condemnation of that community. It means, that the dominant define the discourse: who to vilify and who to glorify. That is why, Gandhi’s murderers are still being glorified and nothing has, metamorphically,  happened to them.
Today when we moan the brutal murder of Indira Gandhi anx remember her legacy, we can not keep our eyes shut at the massacre in her death. that  Sikhs were butchered and murdered in the aftermath of her assassination were a complete abdication of the state Rajdharma. It was a project of the Hindu Rashtra, this time under Rajiv’s Congress where Sikhs were vilified and Rajiv became symbol of Hindu Asmita.

If we are today living in these terrible time when the Indian state apparatus has turned brahmanical then the project started since the return of Indira Gandhi in 1980. It got strengthened in her unfortunate assassination in 1984. 

India is paying a heavy price today for the games that the Congress played during this period in the absence of fighting the issue ideologically, it tried to sail through the same boat of communal polarisation which resulted in massive mandate for Rajiv Gandhi but victory of the Hindu Rashtra. Subsequently, Rajiv’s flirtation and Congress’s complete ideological bankruptcy paved the way for the Hindutva forces whose cherished dream to rule India was realised in May 2014 and second mandate of 2019, they have further strengthened their position.

Today is the day to not merely remember Mrs Gandhi and her contribution to our polity but also the Congress’es failure to fight communal forces ideologically by virtually becoming the B team of Hindutva, resulting in the legitimacy and ascendancy of hate mongers in the power structure of the state.

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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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Image: Ram Rahman
 
Two Kinds of Justice
 Whenever the country witnesses the large-scale violence against minorities and Dalits, the search for perpetrators continues endlessly and criminals rarely 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), and Kandhmal cleansing of Christians (2008) are testimony to this reality. Gujarat carnage (2002) broke this pattern –to some extent–due to the relentless pursuit of justice by Survivors and Rights Groups.
 
The status of 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 the perpetrators are yet to be identified. Even if identified the prosecution rate never exceeded 20%.
 
On the other hand, if ‘perpetrators’ of any kind of violence are from among the Dalit or the minority, they are most efficiently put on trial by constituting special investigation teams and punished by fast track courts. In order to meet the end of justice and national security they are even hanged, certainly jailed. But when the victims are Dalits or minorities no such urgency to mete out punishment is shown. In such cases Indian State is fond of playing the commission-upon-commission game. Commissions after commissions are then constituted to ensure that such heinous crimes disappear from the public memory. The horrendous massacre of Sikhs in different parts of India is a living testimony to this discriminatory play out of the Indian criminal justice system
 
Farcical Justice to Sikh Victims of 1984
After giving a free run to the killer gangs the then government appointed one man Marwah Commission to find out the perpetrators of the 1984 ‘riots’. This Commission was asked to disband itself within a short period of its existence and a sitting Supreme Court Judge Ranganath Mishra was asked to conduct inquiry into 1984 ‘riots’. He submitted his report in 1987. Shockingly, this fact finding (or fact-hiding) commission observed that “the riots which had a spontaneous origin later attained a channelised method at the hands of gangsters”. The apostle of justice, and champion of spontaneity was not unable to find out from where these gangsters came! According to Jarnail Singh author of the book I Accuse: The Anti-Sikh Violence of 1984, it was for this ‘service’ to the State that he was awarded a berth in Rajya Sabha.

Over the next two decades, not less than nine commissions of inquiry were instituted. This patten has become a convenient ruse, often to ensure that the new commissionor directs more compensation to the families of the victims in order to deflect the mounting anger. Highlighting the anti-minority bias of such commissions,H. S. Phoolka, a renowned lawyer, has commented that instead of getting convicted many of the political perpetrators get promotions within their political outfits.

The latest development in the Sikh massacre of 1984 is that the Supreme Court of India has, on August 16, 2017 ordered the constitution of a panel comprising two of its former judges to examine the justification in closing down 241 anti-Sikh riot cases. This ‘probe’ will be conducted by a Special Investigation team (SIT) and a report submitted over the next 3 months. Will this investigation also be consigned to the dustbin of history? We hope not. But one thing is sure that even after 33 years of the gruesome massacre of Sikhs, the Indian Republic is yet to locate the killers.

Betrayal by All
The RSS claims to have always stood for Hindu-Sikh unity. It occasionally expresses its gratitude to Sikhism for saving Hinduism from ‘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 insists that it is part of Hinduism. The RSS/BJP leaders have blamed 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, even during the Punjab state elections (2017) 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 (NDA I between 1998-2004) did to persecute the culprits. Modi also forgot to share the fact that, according to the autobiography of

LK Advani (page 430), it was his Party (the BJP) that pushed Indira Gandhi to go in for army action inside the Golden temple (Operation Blue Star) which killed a large number of Sikh pilgrims.

Renowned journalist Manoj Mitta, author of bookWhen a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and Its Aftermath comments 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″.

This is not what outsiders or critics of the RSS say. The perusal of the 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 Nana Deshmukh De-Humanised the Sikh Massacre
The most important proof of such a dehumanized attitude towards the massacre of Sikhs is a document circulated byNana 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 reveals 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 faiths’. 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 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.”
 
Deshmukh in his document‘MOMENTS OF SOUL SEARCHING’is seen outlining the justification of 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 anger.
 
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 community.
 
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 Punjab.
 
6. Sikhs should have done nothing in self-defence but showed patience and tolerance against the killer mobs.
 
7. It was 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 Hindus.
 
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 document.
 
10. Shockingly, the massacre of Sikhs was 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 Gandhi.
 
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 RSS) remedial measures for controlling the violence against the minority community. Mind you, 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 this.
 
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. This 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 leaders.
 
The Deshmukh document was not penned in isolation. It represented the real RSS attitude towards 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 double 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. 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 meetingin 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, RSS archives do not contain any instructions from RSS top brass ordering to mourn the Sikh martyrs.
 
The RSS continues to downplay the 1984 Sikh massacre. This is also clear from 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 apologizing to the Sikh community. I apologize 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.” The objection is to the following text in the class XII political science book. “During his parliament speech in 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed regret over the bloodshed and sought an apology from the country for anti-Sikh violence.”
 
And so the search for finding the perpetrators of Sikh massacre of 1984 continues endlessly.    The present RSS/BJP rulers who even claim Sikhs to be co-religionists prove no different from Congress.
 
Link to read the full text of Nana Deshmukh’s document: https://www.academia.edu/4890979/RSS_IDEOLOGUE_NANA_DESHMUKH_JUSTIFIED_MASSACRE_OF_SIKHS_IN_1984_From_RSS_archives_
 
The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.
 

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The name of the two judges will be notified after consultations and the panel will be asked to submit its report to the apex court in three months.

In February 2015, the Centre appointed a three-member SIT, headed by IPS officer Pramod Asthana to reopen all cases which were earlier closed by the Delhi Police ostensibly for lack of sufficient evidence. The SIT, after examining the available materials recommended closure of 241 odd cases and it is still examining nine cases.

But a bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar has decided to get the cases re-examined by its retired judges. The panel would see whether the SIT was justified in closing the 241 cases on the ground of lack of prosecutable evidence.

The court was hearing a petition filed by S Gurlad Singh Kahlon, a member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee seeking an independent probe in all anti-Sikh riot cases in Delhi.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior lawyer Pinki Anand who appeared for the Centre did not oppose setting up of the panel and left it for the court to take a call on the issue.

In the mass killing that followed the assassination of then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her two Sikh guards, over 3,300 Sikhs were massacred, of which 2,773 were in Delhi alone.

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