1984
It Still Hurts:
New Photos from 1984
SHAILAJA TRIPATHI
Nineteen-year-old Anusha Roy, student at a vocational institute, would have probably never come to know about the carnage of 1984 if it were not for the scores of photographs put up at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib as part of “Forgotten Citizens 1984: Justice Campaign for 1984”.
“I know about the Hindu-Muslim riots but not about these Sikh killings,” said Anusha moving around, wearing a bewildered expression.
On the other hand, Bhupinder Singh is trying to identify his relatives amongst a group of 20 widows. “We had six houses in one row in Sagarpur and all male members were finished off. I can identify not all but some of my relatives in this picture. I feel pained and hurt and that’s why I am here.”
The 80 black-and-white frames, most of them not seen before, are a gruesome reminder of the Sikh massacre that shook the nation 28 years ago. “When judiciary, executive, legislature and even media failed us, we had no other option but to go to the people,” says Jarnail Singh, journalist and author of “I Accuse ...The anti-Sikh Violence of 1984”.
And what better way to reach out to the masses than laying bare the truth in front of them.
Artist Arpana Caur was entrusted with the responsibility of gathering the photographs capturing the horrific incident. She collated images taken of those fateful three days by photographers like Ashok Vahie, Ram Rahman, Sondeep Shankar and others.
“Some of the images, particularly of Ashok Vahie, were already with us as they were used in my book. I had bought some of these images,” says H.S. Phoolka, who along with journalist Manoj Mitta had written “When a Tree Shook Delhi”. Some lithographs by Sushant Guha and paintings by Vivan Sundaram and Arpan Caur were also part of the exhibition.
Senior advocate H S Phoolka is spearheading the movement which was kicked off in Jallianwala Bagh in October and travelled through various cities in Punjab. The photographs were also showcased at Delhi University, Ashok Vihar, Jail Road, Patel Nagar, Kalkaji and culminated at Jantar Mantar with a demonstration and a candlelight vigil.
On November 9, a public hearing will be held at India International Centre to highlight the State’s failure to provide justice to victims of the pogroms.
“Ashok was there on the streets of Delhi all the three days shooting the violence taking place in front of his eyes, so that’s how we have pictures of burnt vehicles at AIIMS crossing and other incidents of street violence,” said H S Phoolka. A whole section was devoted to such shots capturing Connaught Place shops on fire and charred vehicles.
“All the four brothers were burnt alive,” shares a middle aged viewer with his wife, pointing at the picture of the Sahni Parts and Tiles store in Paharganj.
Ram Rahman’s poignant frames were made in Trilokpuri right after the violence ended. Visiting the gulli in Trilokpuri along with a relief team, he found just one male alive. There was one panel on Nanki Kaur, whose photograph holding her husband’s finger is one of the most telling of them all. The finger was chopped off by the hooligans, after he was killed, to remove his gold ring.
“While we found the interview on BBC, I had her affidavit and it turned out that Ram (Rahman) had shot her so it all came together,” said attorney H S Phoolka, adding that it is because of the impact of these images that 35,000 signatories have signed the petition.
The petition is being sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that all cases closed by the police be reinvestigated and all culprits be punished. A strong law to deal with communal and sectarian violence is also being demanded through this campaign.
These pictures can now be seen by CLICKING here.
[Courtesy: The Hindu newspaper. Edited for sikhchic.com]
November 5, 2012
Conversation about this article
1: Sunny Grewal (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada), November 05, 2012, 11:32 AM.
How on earth can one be born in India, especially North India, and not be aware of the 1984 massacres? Could someone please enlighten me as to which period contemporary Indian history stops being taught in schools? This pogrom is only 28 years ago! Absolutely horrible.
2: Charandeep Singh (Chandigarh, Punjab), November 05, 2012, 12:21 PM.
Sad but true. There is no mention of these killings in text books. People - especially the non-Sikh younger generation is not aware of it. I have come across many young Sikhs too who do not know much about this carnage. There is a saying - those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Let us make them know what our brothers and sisters have gone through. Let us make use of various available channels and media.
3: Harpreet Singh (Delhi, India), November 05, 2012, 10:33 PM.
Yes, the mainstream media mostly does not mention it or merely says that there was violence ... "riots"! Reinforces my pleas that we are unable to effectively tell the world as to what was done to us. Many thanks to The Hindu newspaper, NDTV, IBN 7, etc., which have effectively covered this. The Hindu even wrote an editorial on November 1, 2012.
4: Devinder Pal Singh (Delhi, India), November 08, 2012, 1:11 AM.
While the assassination of Indira Gandhi is mentioned in the school books, there is no mention of the events thereafter. The institutions in India have never paid heed to the pleadings of the victims that seek justice. In fact the Media ran a story that the accused in the Gujarat riots recently sought the expertise of lawyers in Delhi to thwart the efforts for bringing to justice the criminals behind the Gujarat massacres. Not surprising therefore when we hear that the head of the Delhi GPC covertly sides with the ruling party members to successfully nullify the efforts of those seeking justice for 1984.
5: Jay (United Kingdom), November 08, 2012, 6:15 PM.
Why are we wasting our time asking for justice from the very establishment that wants to destroy us and sees us as the enemy.
6: Vicky Waraich (India), February 01, 2013, 5:19 AM.
I'm from North India. We never saw a word about 1984 in our books. There's no mention about it. My parents told me about the 1984 pogroms. I have talked about this with my Hindu friends. They know about Operation Bluestar only, and ascribe it to Sikhs being terrorists!