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1984 Anti-Sikh Pogrom Blind City Of 1984

Admin

SPNer
Jun 1, 2004
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SPN
This is a peep into the too-well known Blind City of 1984 –Delhi. The capital city of India, for three days hounded the Sikhs in a naked show of savagery, unparalleled in any civilized society. This is a peep into that Blind City from journalist Jarnail Singh’s forthcoming book, which will be released in the coming months.

The first three days of November 1984, turned Delhi blind. The vast media presence in the capital of the country could not see beyond Teen Murti House. On the fourth day, Rahul Bedi of Indian Express opened the eyes of this blind city and its purblind people. Other reporters either wore blinkers or were semi-blind –the killing of Sikhs with burning tyres around their necks was reported as “some stray violent incidents here and there.” Not only were the people blind, but seemed as if there is a veneer of fear and pressure to stop all news of the killing of innocent Sikhs all around the city.


The only TV channel of the times –the government owned Doordarshan was the blindest of them all. All its cameras in Delhi were devoted to showing the dead body of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from all angles and the remorse of the Congressmen from across the country and the city. Nothing else. Men and women dying on the streets were ignored as pariah dogs or stray cows –which are otherwise worshipped but left to die on the streets.
Civil society rose to the occasion and came to the rescue of the dying Sikhs. The human pain and misery was lost in the efforts of rehabilitation. The story of the families, their anguish about their future was secondary at that moment and time. After 25 years, it is time to record the human side of the event that gave a new meaning to the life of Sikhs in Delhi and others parts of the country.


Police stations refused to register First Information Reports. The first First Information Report against politicians accused of leading mobs on Sikhs was registered after 11 years. Policemen resorted to disarming those Sikhs who happened to have some arms for self-protection. In some areas police mingled with lumpens in identifying Sikh houses to be burnt and men, women and children to be killed.

Till today, the judicial system has not given a judgment to any of the perpetrators which can be talked about. Those who were the leaders of the criminal acts again became leaders, nay, ministers in the government of India, rubbing salt on the wounds of the victims and their families. The flow of tears of such families refused to stop at the sight of Tytler, Sajjan Kumar, Kamal Nath and others.


Sikh sentiments had been trounced. Sikhs had become numb. Their very existence looked meaningless. Sikhs had been reduced to second class citizens. After 24 years, when Sikhs wanted to recollect the times and seek justice, from the prime minister downwards, there was a call for “forget it” –virtually rubbing salt on Sikh wounds.
In this kind of depressing scenario, it was necessary to raise the voice of the community. It is time to tell the world that we have not forgotten. It is time to grow beyond numbers and statistics and understand the human side of the tragedy. It is time to tell the Sikhs themselves and the world how the poorest of poor Sikhs in Delhi are spending their lives in ignominy in the last 25 years. It is time to tell how the conspiracies were conducted to spread mayhem against the Sikhs in a coordinated and pre-meditated manner. It is time to tell the story of how all the investigating agencies of the country toed the government line, obfuscated facts, destroyed evidence and totally obstructed the path of justice.


The forthcoming book of journalist Jarnail Singh will have these and many other stories in graphic detail. It will tell the story of Jarnail Singh, who was barely 11 years old when 1984 happened. What has happened behind the scenes after the shoe hurling would be another interesting chapter in the soon to be released book.
Jarnail Singh may be contacted at jarnailsingh16@gmail.com
 

spnadmin

1947-2014 (Archived)
SPNer
Jun 17, 2004
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The information in this article has yet to sink in to the general consciousness about this issue. There was only one AP reporter, only one, no other, in Amritsar covering BlueStar. It is a miracle that his reports were ever filed. Days passed before anyone outside of India knew what had occurred. It is very hard to be objective in the framework of this kind of operation. I do not judge anyone who is angry.
 
May 24, 2008
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Not only Delhi but in 200 cities of India a total of 12,000 to 20,000 innocent Sikh men , women & children were killed . Property worth hundreds of thousand crores ( at 1984 prices ) was destroyed . Countless women were raped & Gurudwaras,SGGS burnt . All this just because two Sikhs killed Indira . One question always comes to my mind if that happened to Sikhs because two Sikhs killed Indira , how many Tamils were killed when Rajeev Gandhi was killed ?
 

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