Preserving oral testimonies of women survivors of 1984 anti-Sikh violence through literature

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 26

The history of atrocity, human rights violations and oppression is shared. So, is the trauma and tragedy of crimes against women, largely denied justice by law, globally. This is the reason why the recent brutality with a medic in Kolkatta made women across the country hit the streets in a demonstration of shared grief and anger. This is the reason, why 40 years down the line, the women, who were victims of 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, need to be heard, over and again.

In Sanam Sutirath Wazir’s book The Kaurs of 1984, these ‘Chaurasi ki ladkiyan’ (the daughters/girls of 1984) come to haunt us forever. In the book, Wazir weaves together stories of women survivors of 1984 anti-Sikh violence, some of who are still seeking closure by telling their story. In a moving session on the book at Majha House, Wazir, along with author-educator Dr Ishmeet Kaur Chaudhary, spoke about why he thought these stories needed be told.

“Growing up in Jammu and Kashmir, under the crackdown half of my life, the conversation of Partition and 1984 never left our dinner table. While listening to these stories, some of which remained in my memory, I realised that this dictum, unity is diversity, is built on the bodies of minorities. In case of 1984, voices of these women were marginalized, patriarchy devoid women from speaking out, even if they wanted to. The cycle of violence and trauma never ended for them, they never got closure. But they speak now, because they don’t fear anyone,” he shared.

The book archives oral accounts of women survivors of 1984 riots, underlining the staggering impunity and delay in justice in the cases of victims. There is Darshan Kaur, a 50 year old now, whose family bore the brunt of 1947 first and then 1984, whose husband was murdered and mutilated in front of her. There is Laxmi, who calls herself ’84 ki ladki’, a 16-year-old girl at the time, when she was gang raped in front of her mother. “A 16-year-old girl being violated and all she could say to her mother, who watched helplessly, was “Mummy meinu Chadd ke Na Jayi” (Mother, do not leave me alone). Her story kept me awake for several nights. She refused to speak to me for six months, when I started my research. Then, one day, she did and shared how she wanted to speak her mind when it happened, but wasn’t ‘allowed’ to by her family, fearing humiliation,” shared Sanam. Taking to these victims, Sanam said, the common sentiment among them was that they were abandoned, their lives and stories buried.While working on the book, Sanam came to a realisation. “India’s has a shameful history of forgetting communal violence victims. I was working on report for Amnesty International on 1984 Anti-Sikh riots when I decided to document the accounts of these victims. As a researcher I feel it’s important to bear witness and tell their stories on their words, to give them some sense of closure,” he said.

The Kaurs of 1984 is not only a book about trauma, pain and injustice, but also about hope and resilience. “These women lost everything, but their resilience and strength must be told, documented. This generation (1984) won’t be around for much time, so their stories need to be archived.”