A chilling recount of the 1984 riots

[The Realist]

Khurshied is an a hole. Proven a hole. How he is allowed to be in politics is amazing. Kejriwal exposed him and his reaction in goonda style showed up his true face(like most of our politicianns), threats and violence reaction. So what did congress do? Sack him, throw him out? No promoted him to foreign minister. The mind boggles!!

Everytime you see him trying to be a diplomat the heart sinks, he is so out of his depth. Just looks confused and as if he is about to soil himself. He he would be better off working in a library somewhere, anywhere really as long as its not running the foreign affairs of a nation state.

[PBN]

Police did nothing during the 1984 genocide of the Sikhs. They merely watched for days. Rajiv Gandhi merely supported the atrocities with this when a tree falls, the earth shakes. I wonder how his name is honored all around India from stadiums to airports. Carneige in Delhi, Haryana, Bihar, MP,etc. Thousands wiped out in a matter of days....and some places no one even remembers what happened. Only recently there were mass graves of Sikhs found in Haryana.

[PBN]

Everybody knows the police just watched.. and did nothing according to orders from higher up the chain. ------------------------ article: 1984 riots: Delhi's missing policemen Written by Sidharth Pandey, Edited by Samira Shaikh | Updated: November 02, 2012 22:30 IST Delhi: "This was a case where the police acted in a pre-planned manner and every policemen was keeping his eyes closed", the words of the public prosecutor earlier this year before a CBI court in the capital that is trying Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and five others. Kumar along with the others is accused of inciting mobs to attack Sikhs in 1984. The case against Sajjan Kumar is still on in court and a verdict may not be out before March next year. However, the question that still remains unanswered till today is, what was bulk of the Delhi police doing as mobs roamed the streets of the nation's capital in 1984 targeting Sikhs coming off trains and buses, pulling them out of their homes and shops and then killing them, often in the most brutal of ways- some with swords, others by putting tyres around their necks and setting them on fire. Surely, the police couldn't have been scared of the mob? Were they asked to remain in the police stations as the mobs had a free run of the capital? And even if political leaders of the day may have asked them to look the other way, did the policemen not fail in their duty to protect innocent citizens? After a virtual three-day free run of the capital by the mobs, some order finally returned on the evening of the 3rd of November 1984 when the police and the army finally started coordinating and started restoring order. But by then the damage had been done- 3000 innocents had been killed. Even young boys were not spared. Eyewitness accounts have recounted the horrific events of those dark days when even Hindu families who tried to give shelter to fleeing Sikhs were not spared. "We were fleeing for our lives. I had two young boys who I know would be attacked," says Mrs Kaur, a survivor of the 1984 riots who had been living in South West Delhi. She asked her neighbour who had daughters the same age as her boys for two salwar kameez, which she made the boys wear. Being Sikhs, both had long hair and Mrs Kaur asked both her boys to open their hair, "atleast from afar they may just pass off as women" she said. "They hadn't started killing the women yet," she adds. She was lucky, they managed to escape on board a truck. She recounts the scene she saw on the road out of her colony which was attacked. "We saw an incident of a man with a tyre around his neck and him burning and screaming. The police vans were moving up and down. They could see the man being attacked, why couldn't they stop it? What apathy was this?" says Mrs Kaur "The Delhi police of 1984 have much to answer for," says H S Phulka, a High court lawyer who has single-handedly spearheaded the quest for justice for some of the Sikh families. After the 1984 riots, Ved Marwha, a former top cop with the Delhi police and someone who would go on to serve as governor of two states was asked by the government to probe the role of the police. Mr Marwah was given three months to do his job, but just as he had begun to complete his inquiry, he was taken to court. "Several of the police officers who didn't like the way the enquiry was progressing, approached the High Court to stay my inquiry" Says Mr Ved. The Court however refused to step in, but then, just as abruptly, the government asked him to stop his inquiry and another committee started investigations. "I had studied records of police stations, the startling thing was that while there were hundreds of calls made to police stations, the registers which records the movement of policemen were absolutely blank. That means that either the police was sitting inside the police station or deliberately they did not want to disclose where they were and what they were doing," says Mr Marwah. Till date, there have been more than 10 commissions and committees set up to probe the 1984 riots. And while 2 commissions and Committees have recommended action against 142 policemen, proceedings could only be started against 35 as 72 of them had either retired or died. "It's the last opportunity we have to try and provide justice. Most of the eyewitnesses have died as have many of the accused. But there are still some alive who saw what happened and there are still those who either took part in the carnage or failed to do their duty," says Mr Phulka. Several Sikh organisations are working to petition the Prime Minister to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the crimes that took place during 1984 riots. "If the Supreme Court could order an SIT to look into the Gujarat Riots, why not 1984?" adds Mr Phulka. So far, they have already got more than 50 thousand signatures, including signatures of top jurists, former Judges and activists. Question is, will it be enough to finally get the wheels of justice moving? -NDTV

[PBN]

The Widows Colony in Delhi courtesy 1984 [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=251Gzpw2x_w]The Widow Colony - Delhi - Khalistan Zindabaad - YouTube[/ame]

[PBN]

They lost their childhood to the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots

Tripal Singh was 11 years old when his father was killed in Nandnagri. He used to run a small dhaba and Tripal would help him after school. Tripal was in a bus with his cousin and going to his father on 1st Nov. He had a turban then and he remembers being slapped by strangers on the way. But someone also warned him not to travel any further. He was given shelter by a Hindu family. He hid for three days and after the riots found his father's dhaba burnt. They never found his fathers body.

(Interview with Rediff.com on my photo-essay on the Second Generation 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims, Delhi) They lost their childhood to the 1984 riots. In a moving photo documentary, the children of the horrific October 31-November 1-2, 1984 riots narrate personal tales bound together by the common themes of violence, loss and the death of their childhood, reports Sanchari Bhattacharya. When photographer Sanjay Austa knocked on the doors of the ominously named Widow’s Colony in Delhi, the residents all survivors of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots assumed that he had come to do a routine story. But when he asked the women if he could talk to their children instead, they were taken aback. For residents of this colony in Trilokpuri, west Delhi, are used to talking to inquisitive journalists, who often ask them to recount details of the communal carnage that had taken away their beloved husbands. They are also used to the sudden media attention every year around the time of the anniversary of the riots, or when a senior leader is rapped on charges of inciting them 26 years ago. But their children had so far remained beyond the spotlight of journalistic curiosity. “Whenever one thinks of the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, we think of the widows of the victims,†says Austa. “But no one pays any attention to the children of these widows. Perhaps because the children don’t appear to be as interesting as victims, or maybe because they were too young at that time to give any gory account of the riots,†he adds.

Rajinder Singh was 10 years old when his father was killed in the 1984 anti-sikh riots in New Delhi. Rajinder was hiding in his neighbour's house with his six siblings. His father was advised to cut of his hair but he refused. He hid in his house in Nandnagri but the mob found and killed him on 1Nov. He was also a ricksha-puller.

The vivid images of From Lost Childhood to Uncertain Future, his photo documentary, starkly outline the stories of children “who grew up in the shadow of the riots. These children were newborns or only a few years old or in their mother’s womb when they lost their fathers, brothers and uncles,†says Austa. Now in their mid to late twenties, these youngsters narrate personal tales bound together by the common themes of violence, loss and the death of their childhood. While working on the photo documentary, Austa discovered that the riots had not only left an indelible scar on the minds of the survivors, it had also altered social and financial equations forever for the bereaved families. “The male members were the only breadwinners and the women were housewives. Suddenly the women had to take up clerical posts to make a living and there was no one to look after the children at home,†says Austa. “Some of the widows remarried and their children from the first marriage were often neglected or alienated,†he adds. “All these children had a difficult childhood and it showed. As children, they either dropped out of schools or had to help their mother supplement the family income,†reveals Austa. “Today, more than 60 percent children born in the wake of the 1984 riots are either drug addicts, or unemployed or involved in petty crimes.†Austa, who visited the colony for an earlier assignment, was struck by the sight of several young men milling around on the streets, apparently ‘doing nothing’. “I made enquiries and found out that these were people who were born during the riots. Most of them were school dropouts and were unemployed. Some of them were clearly on drugs,†he says, explaining how he chanced upon the unusual subject.

Manjeet Singh was three years old when his father was killed by a mob in Bhanjanpura on 1Nov. They descended on their house and dragged his father out. His mother went with him pleading with the mob. They even threw her 10 year old son in a burning pyre. But someone from the mob rescued him. His father was taken away and his body was never found.

On why he chose to take up photography full time, Austa says, “I think a photograph can convey a story in a stronger way than words. In words, we can exhibit our prejudices, our biases, but a photograph is just what is there. I am not really comfortable with the idea of shooting someone on the street and not having anything to do with him or her later. I like to engage myself in the subjects I shoot. The subjects I choose must have an interesting story to tell which I try and tell through pictures,†he says. Austa realised that the process of sharing the tragic stories of his subjects would require extremely sensitive handling and a lot of patience in this case. “During the first few visits, I did not take a single picture,†he says. Instead, he spent that time meeting the families, talking to the youth and forging an understanding with them. “It was much later, after I had won their confidence, that I began shooting,†he says. The members of the second generation of the riot victims are painfully aware that life has dealt them a raw deal, that they lost their shot at a better life when their fathers lost their lives in the riots. The trauma of either witnessing or hearing stories about the brutal murders of their family members continues to haunt these youngsters. “Some of them, who were four years or older, remember the events vividly. Very few second generation victims could make something of their lives,†says Austa. His photographs, which capture the moods and moments of the second generation survivors, have garnered a considerable amount of attention after they were posted online. They also received a fair amount of interest from an unexpected quarter. “Hardline sympathisers of the Khalistani movement, who are settled abroad, wanted to appropriate these pictures for their anti-India propaganda. But my intention is only to tell the story as best as I can,†says Austa. On how the young residents of the Widow’s Colony have reacted to being photographed thus, Austa says, “Some of them were happy (with the photographs), but others wanted to know why I shot them from such crazy angles. They wanted to know why I didn’t take straight shots like they do in studios.†source

[PBN]

6 part program on the atrocities of 1984, the victims speak [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtGUr8Sl3dg]1984 sikh genocide - victims part 1 of 6 IBN 7 Zindagi Live - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r-PprsKld4]1984 sikh genocide - victims part 2 of 6 IBN 7 Zindagi Live - YouTube[/ame] rest of parts in spoiler below:

[ame=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWic7wtg8As]1984 sikh genocide - victims part 3 of 6 IBN 7 Zindagi Live - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4FtvJeu0wg]1984 sikh genocide - victims part 4 of 6 IBN 7 Zindagi Live - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JopDRvCilHg]1984 sikh genocide - victims part 5 of 6 IBN 7 Zindagi Live - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-JY2mYvd-A]1984 sikh genocide - victims part 6 of 6 IBN 7 Zindagi Live - YouTube[/ame]

[PBN]

Thousands of Sikhs disappeared or vanished into thin air following 1984 in Punjab. Illegal secret cremations, fake encounters, bodies flushed into canals, human rights violations suppressed. --------------- The Murder of Human Rights Defender Jaswant Singh Khalra In 1995, the Punjab police abducted, tortured, and murdered human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra for his work in uncovering thousands of disappearances, extrajudicial deaths, and secret cremations of Sikhs perpetrated by the Punjab police. It took ten years to bring Khalra’s murder to trial, but in 2005, Ensaaf worked alongside private attorneys to bring some of the perpetrators to justice. Six police officers were convicted. In 2007, the Punjab & Haryana High Court upheld five convictions, enhancing all sentences to life imprisonment. The sixth officer was acquitted. In November 2011, India’s Supreme Court upheld the convictions and sentences. http://www.ensaaf.org/programs/legal/khalra/

[Crookbond]

PBN, Just want to say :icflove:

[PBN]

Documentary : The Widow Colony (13 min preview) by Sach Productions

"The Widow Colony India's Unsettled Settlement", borrows its name from the settlement in Tilak Vihar, on the west-side of New Delhi, which is locally called the Widow Colony or Vidhva Colony. The film takes the viewer to the streets of Trilokpuri, Kalyanpuri, Himatpuri, Sultanpuri and Mongolpuri, the same localities that suffered the major brunt of the Sikh killings in November of 1984. Director Harpreet Kaur, uses the testimonies of the widows and subject experts, along with images of the killings and destruction that followed after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to convey the trauma of the widows, their battle for justice and their struggle for survival in India.

www.thewidowcolony.com [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jXHhT1OV5U]The Widow Colony - YouTube[/ame]

[someone]

We talk about the unfortunate 1984 riots. But it's important to realize that even the investigation itself of this event has been a big scandal and something which has to be realized as well. From the systematic cover-up done by the Congress government since 1984, then to the denials and acquitted persons, and then the likes of Khurshid taking pathetic potshots at this event.

[Tiger80]

1984 riots: Rajiv Gandhi did not take calls from Zail Singh, claims aide New Delhi: Tarlochan Singh, press secretary of former president Giani Zail Singh, has contradicted Rahul Gandhi's claim that the Congress government had tried to stop the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. In an interview given to an English news channel, Congress vice-president and party's face for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections had asserted that unlike Narendra Modi whose government had pushed the riots in 2002 in Gujarat, the Congress government in 1984 had tried to do everything to stop rioting against Sikhs following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Tarlochan Singh was quoted as saying by an English daily that the 1984 riots were in fact “orchestrated and sponsored”. According to him, Rajiv Gandhi who took over as PM following the death of Indira Gandhi, even refused to take calls from the then president Giani Zail Singh when the latter tried to speak to him to discuss the situation. Singh, who has served as vice-chairman of the National Commission for Minorities from 2000 to 2003, further alleged that unlike the 1984 communal strife, the 2002 Gujarat riots were “spontaneous”. The Gujarat police did everything to stop rioting, Singh said, adding the same is evident from the fact that 137 rioters were killed in police firing. In Delhi, only one rioter was killed in police firing in 1984. It may here be noted that Singh served as the NCM chairman when the NDA was in power at the Centre. Later, he entered the Rajya Sabha from Haryana in 2004 with support from the BJP and INLD. http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/1984-riots-rajiv-gandhi-did-not-take-calls-from-zail-singh-claims-aide_907816.html

[Tiger80]

Media this year covered anniversory of 1984 riots in big way.Star news even had an actor playing Rajiv Gandhi and saying jab ek bara per girta hai to dharti hilti hai.