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I Accuse ... The Anti-Sikh Violence of 1984 SIKHS were slaughtered following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. The attacks were planned, politically guided and provided for, and the coercive power of the state was only used to disarm the victims where they defended themselves, or assist attackers.
Jarnail Singh repents the act, but his anger and hurt at the indifference to the mass murders remains as he revisits that horrific time during which the police collaborated with the killers; the Army was kept at bay while murdering mobs killed innocent people, and the media was strangely silent. The report, Who are the Guilty? by the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties was commendable and came swiftly after the event. Other inquiries were either diluted or sabotaged and for years at end there were few arrests and no conviction. The cover-up was obvious, and it poisoned the social and political atmosphere, instead of healing the wounds. The author’s own
family history and quotes from survivors make a poignant reading. For
many, the present holds little promise—dreams were shattered 25
years ago, lives ripped apart because of senseless violence, bringing
out the worst in many, and the best in a precious few. Jarnail Singh
accusing finger covers a wide swath, but as he says: "How can a
massacre be forgotten? Especially, where there is no justice?"
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History was hurled into
our consciousness following an incident in which the author threw his
shoe towards Home Minister P. Chidambaram during a press conference.