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1984 Anti-Sikh Pogrom 21 Relatives Killed In 1984. That's Her Life

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Jun 17, 2004
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21 relatives killed in 1984, that's her life


MY WHOLE life is like this -- there is no single moment when the thought of my husband goes away, says Manjeet Kaur, now 45. She speaks about the massacre after a lot of persuasion. "But no pictures." Then 20, she chose not to remarry. She didn't have kids from the marriage. ( ( That one day changed my life forever. It's just me and my mother now. Since then, I have never gone to Sagarpur, not even close to that place. I am living with the memories of my husband.

MANJEET KAUR

She was 20 then, happily married for two years.

But Manjeet Kaur's world came to be covered in blood on the night of November 1, 1984 when her husband along with 20 other men in the family were killed right outside their homes in the mindless anti-Sikh violence. "It was the morning of November 1. Indira Gandhi had been killed a day earlier.
News of the riots had spread.

All the women and children were hiding in our house, the men in other places."

She used to live with her husband and others -- fatherin-law, mother-in-law, three brothers-in- law and sister-inlaw -- in Sagarpur area of west Delhi. Members of the extended family lived next door.
"Our houses were in a row.

When we were hiding, we could hear people raising slogans against Sikhs and talking about killing us," she says.

Her eyes well up from time to time, she finds it difficult to summon the words. "There was a tubewell near our house and adjoining it was a small room.

In it, 13 men were hiding. The rioters somehow got information about them and they burnt the room. As the men came out because of the fire, they killed them mercilessly."

The mob put burning tyres around the necks "of our men and thrashed them with rods.

Among the 13 were two of my brothers-in- law, my father-inlaw Gurnam Singh, his four brothers and their sons", Manjeet recalls, her hands trembling.

She had been married to Narendra Singh for two years.

"From the roof, I saw my husband's body lying on the road in front of our house. He was killed by rods and was lying in a pool of blood. We shouted for help, but there was no one to listen to us.

"His death was the end of my world. He was everything for me and he was gone. The women took me inside fearing I could attract the attention of rioters," she says.

"One of my brothers-in- law had cut his hair and was with the mob so that no one could identify him," she says.

The women then took shelter in an empty house built were sure that very soon they would come inside our house.

So we shifted to an empty house -- just behind ours. No one was living there. All the women and children went there as we felt no one would suspect there were people inside," Kaur says.

"The rioters tried to draw us out by shouting that the mob would have to run as the `sardars had come to kill' them. But we knew that wasn't the case, so we kept hiding quietly.

"They had some chemical which they used to throw on people," she says.

At night, these 30 women and children somehow gathered courage and went out.

"We decided that sitting in the house wouldn't help us.

During the night, we slipped out and went to our relative's house in Hari Nagar.

I will never forget the scenes I saw at that time," Manjeet says.

Later she got monetary compensation and a house in Tilak Vihar area where she now lives with her mother.

Her only source of income is sewing clothes. Her father died a few years ago -- a bro ken man.

"That one day changed my life forever. It's just me and my mother now. Since then, I have never gone to Sagarpur, not even close to that place.

I am living with the memo ries of my husband," says Manjeet, who chose not to remarry. She didn't have any children from the marriage.

"I was promised a job but never got one. I have again filled a form and hope to get a job."

Asked if she expects justice, she says: "I don't have any faith that anyone will ever get punished. Twenty-five years have passed since the riots and nothing has happened."

Forwarded by forum member Tejwant Singh ji Malik on behalf of Amandeep Singh ji.
 
To all the members of SPN, this is the impact of the pogrom/ genocide of Sikhs that after 25 years this lady has forgotten the exact number of the members killed in 1984. She recalls 21 but actually there were 24 members of her family who lost their lives in Sikh genocide. It seems she has lost her memory, can't count.
I know it so state truthfully. If you go through the records, you will find my statement true.
It was also published in a leading Magazin after the massacre, most probably it was 'MAYA' Magazine and was also published in almost all the leading news papers of India.
Whatsoever is narrated in this soul touching tale of horror, is true because this family is in my relationship though the distanced one. I remember everything which Manjeet kaur did not disclose. I was 33 years old at that time and well known to S. Budh Singh Ji, My elder brother (First cousin) S. Pritam Singh Ji resides at Hari Nagar, His son Harbhajan singh was married in this family. I belong to Dehra Dun and after hearing this massacre i came to Delhi on 5th Nov. by car. Somehow we came to know that a boy of this family is in hide , so we went to search in Sagarpur. My nephew Harbhajan Singh was afraid going there but i was a brave heart person and i assured him, "Let them attack on my car and see how many shall be killed in retaliation. I went to their homes and saw the ashes of the deceased, where they were burnt alive by garland of Tyre in their neck.
When i inquired about the missing boy , i went to different placed in nearby areas, house to make a search, i went to Sonepat also in search of that boy but we couldn't find him, may be a rumor, but i noticed a deserted look in the eyes of the villagers..
When i continued my search , though i could not found that boy in the village but the tale of terror was betrayal by the Pardhan(Village head) of Sagarpur Village, named Pratap. This family had about 24 male members in all and were brave, they prepared to face the mob and to retaliate but they were requested by the village Pardhan Partap that he will provide them a shelter and hide them at different places in 2 to 3 persons, at some of the village houses. He took them,disarmed them, divided them and hide them but disclosed their hidden places to the miscreants and they got killed because they were disarmed and divided by Pardhan.
So this is the story of betrayal and jeopardize in faith.
A few of them were at Tubewell where they were also burnt alive.
I am the first person to visit their after this massacre. The old lady of their family (Mother-in-law of Harbhajan Singh of Hari Nagar)always welcomed me by taking me in her arms and blessed me by kissing my forehead. He used to say by looking at my visit, "Here comes my son". It was due to my dare to visit Sagarpur in search of kid of her family, soon after the massacre.Now she is no more.
Since then i have never visited to their families any more but i remember one more incident related to this.
A refugee camp was set at Hari Nagar. I too visited there. When I was there in that camp, Lalit Makan and Mrs.Tajdar Baabar paid a visit to that camp. I had a disgusting look to them (as Lalit Makan was also a mastermind of Sikh genocide), After spending nearly half an hour or so in that camp, they went back but i was standing near the gate. When they passed beside me, i passed a hateful comment that,"These are the persons responsible for the genocide. First they kill the innocent people and then flow tears of crocodiles in their eyes". He (Lalit Makan) just looked towards me and left silently.
Lateron he was given a suitable reply by Bhai Sukhdev Singh and Harjinder Singh Jinda, by killing him at his residence in Rajouri garden. New Delhi.
When father in law of Lalit Makan wa sworn-in as President of India, these two brave man were executed to please the president as he his daughter Geetanjali and son-in-law Lalit Makan were killed by these two brave Sikhs.
 

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