NEW DELHI: Ten years have ‘passed since Delhi was ravaged by the anti-Sikh riots, but the scars remain. One such scar is Tilak Vihar, where the majority of the Sikh widows have been resettled. ‘The riots transformed them from ‘managing the household to maintaining it.
Though most of the widows have Achieved some level of material ‘sustenance, they are today beset with a whole range of new problem’s.
The Indian Women’s Press ‘Corps dwells on some of these problems. The team, comprising Ms. Manini Chatterjee, Ms. Harminder Kaur, Ms. Ritambhara Shastri and Ms. Manimals, spent several hours spread over four days in Tilak Vihar, where over 900 of the widows have been resettled. Addressing a Press conference, the members said, “After talking to a cross-section of the widows, one thing emerged clearly, their remarkable strength and vitality despite the enormous difficulties they faced and continue to face even today.”
The difficulties these women face are legion. “Most of them primarily stem from single parenthood, mothers forced to become breadwinners, and the social stigma still attached to the single women,” says the report.
One of the most significant aspects of the widows of 1984, according to the report, is that a bulk of them were provided not merely with a onetime ex gratia compensation but with regular Government employment At the same time, the members added, employment to the widowed mothers is not enough. “All working mothers harbor certain guilt about neglecting their children.” In this case, the report says, “The problem of child care has multiplied and remains their greatest source of disquiet.” However, it is the psychological scars that have yet to heal, particularly of the children; the report says that the children suffer froma sense of alienation. It adds that “fatherlessness has affected many of them in many ways a deep sense of insecurity, the lack of male authority in a patriarchal society, and the stigma of living in a widows’ colony, even their school teachers often taunt them.”
The members said the widows of Tilak Vihar have become targets of false accusations and attempted exploitation. They have to carry the burden of being single. “This Sustained propaganda has had a devastating impact on their sense of self-worth and the psyche of their children. Some women have got married but only a few have succeeded, and there are the cases where they have got married to their brothers-in-law. While many voluntary organizations had worked in this colony in the early period, now only two, Nishkam and Sikh Forum are active. According to the members, “there is a need for psychological counseling of women and children.’
However, none of them harbors any ill feelings or animosity towards the Hindus even though their resentment against the police and some Congress leaders runs high.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 4, 1994
