For families ravaged by 1984 riots, justice comes four decades too late

Nearly all Sikh families moved out. There are no remnants of the colony it once was, not even the houses that once stood tall.

Kuldeep Kaur, 73, was in her 30s when she watched, in horror, her husband being burnt alive in Nangloi during the anti-Sikh riots that ravaged parts of Delhi in November 1984. In four decades since, every time a newspaper report or a news channel ticker even mentions what unfolded in the streets of Delhi those three days, she weeps – for herself, her dead husband, and the hundreds of strangers who lost their families.

Sajjan Kumar (PTI)

On Wednesday, as a Delhi court convicted former Congress parliamentarian Sajjan Kumar in an anti-Sikh riots case for instigating a mob to kill Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh and his son in Delhi’s Saraswati Vihar on November 1, 1984, Kaur wept again.

“I didn’t know them; I don’t know his wife and other relatives, but I know what they have gone through... Sajjan Kumar should not be alive. I saw him instigating locals against us... I watched rioters jump on my husband, remove his turban... His own friend came looking for him, and I watched as they doused him in fuel and burnt him. I know what others like me have gone through,” said Kaur, who now lives in Tilak Vihar – five km away from where the father and son were killed by a mob in Saraswati Vihar.

Over 40 years after the riots, Saraswati Vihar doesn’t resemble the colony it once was.

Nearly all Sikh families moved out – some to government provided houses in Tilak Vihar nearby, while others like Singh’s wife and daughter moved further away. There are no remnants of the colony it once was, not even the houses that once stood tall.

Atma Singh, 66, a resident of Tilak Vihar who lost 11 members of his family in the riots, told HT, “I have known Jaswant’s family for decades. His wife initially didn’t know about the legal procedures, so some of us helped her out. Through the years, she has stayed quiet because she was hoping for justice. She is still not ready to talk... They faced a lot and left this area entirely... We are all waiting for justice.”

In Tilak Vihar, the conviction has brought up a flurry of horrid memories for the residents, who said that the delay in justice is unforgivable, and that they can only hope for the harshest punishment for Kumar.

Manjeet Kaur, 75, lost her husband to the violence, and has now lost all hope of seeing the accused being punished.

“One or two convictions – that too after 40 years – won’t help. I don’t care for what the courts say now. I spent years going to police stations and courts, I recorded statements, I told them what I saw... I saw Sajjan Kumar near our house. I saw him instigate people. Giving us compensation and a house has not helped us... All we want is justice,” she said.

She said that her husband was stabbed inside their home in Palam, by a mob that threatened to rape her. “I think I will die like this... Remorseful about not being able to do anything for my husband.”

Wazir Singh, an auto rickshaw driver in Tilak Vihar, echoed similar sentiments. He said he was nine years old when he escaped from his house that was torched by a mob in Nangloi and was informed that his uncle was killed inside a gurudwara. At a friend’s house, his hair was hurriedly chopped off, so that rioters don’t identify him as a Sikh.

“We were well-off. We had three shops in the area... I hid under a bed for three days and later found out that my father was killed in the streets. We could never rebuild our lives after that... This conviction is also disappointing because it came so late. Forty-one years is a long time... A woman watched her husband and son die and she had to wait this long to get a conviction. It makes me think that we will never get justice,” he said.