Six long years have crawled by since those nightmarish three days in November 1984 when the streets of Delhi and several other Indian cities were red with the blood of Sikhs murdered en mass by rampaging Hindu mobs. The horror and the trauma persist. Terrible images of Sikh men with burning tyres around their necks, heaps of bodies with dogs feeding on them, burnt homes and businesses are as vivid today as then and make the most stoic hearts bleed in anguish. The anger and the honest desire to never let it happen again also persist.

In Delhi, 4000 Sikh widows exist with the hopes, dreams and aspirations of their lives pinned on walls in photographs of husbands, fathers and sons who became Sikh martyrs in the mad communal frenzy. They do not have much to be thankful for. Most of the children have not been able to overcome the trauma. Their mothers do not have much time for them as they often work at two jobs to make ends meet. The govt which is directly responsible for what happened to them has not done much. The butcher of Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi who was then prime minister is on record for having said “we have given each affected family Rs.20, 000 ($1,000). A Tilak Vihar widow was quick to respond “let Rajiv lose his son, we will collect twice that amount for him.”

The poignant irony of the much talked about “healing touch” in the context of the exact opposite actions of the Delhi regime makes it all the more tragic. Not a single perpetrator of the horrible mass murders has been punished or brought to book. Earlier this month, the CBI made a halfhearted attempt to question the Congress I thug Sajjan Kumar who led mobs on those fateful days. His supporters wrecked not only the CBI men’s cars but all public property in the area. The investigators had to be escorted out of the area by a large contingent of policemen. And that was the end of the matter. So much for Indian democracy and rule of law.

The anxiety of Delhi to teach the Sikhs a lesson also persists. Punjab has turned into a medieval era like occupied colony of India where loot, rape and plunder are the rule rather the exception. All Sikhs are fair game for the ever increasing number of security men and undercover Black Cat commandos who operate in the guise of Sikh nationalists. Killers of Sikhs are honored and feted by the Shiy Sena, RSS and other Hindu organisations. The Congress I and BJP are patrons to the lumpen Hindu element which was used to murder thousands of Sikhs.

The Sikhs are a nation with a destiny. Abuse and tyranny are no stranger to them. But what is heartening to note is that in their 500 years they have grown and gone from one success to another. The mighty Mughals could not keep the Sikhs enslaved. The British had to leave India thanks almost entirely to the Sikh effort. The Hindus have made a grave mistake in taking on the Sikhs.

The Sikhs have always had to fend for themselves. Their moral and spiritual fiber has seen them go ever higher in all their endeavors. The defeat of the sinister designs of Delhi has begun. We have made dramatic strides in our freedom struggle. Only Khalistan can ensure that we never see the likes of the holocaust of November 1984. Never. Never again must we allow that.

Article extracted from this publication >> October 26, 1990