Report of a joint inquiry into the causes and impact of the riots in Delhi from 31 October to 10 November 1984. Published jointly by Gobinda Mukhoty, President, PUDR, 213, Jor Bagh, New Delhi- 110003 AND Rajni Kothari, President, PUCL, 1, Court Road, Delhi – 110054. November 1984
Following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh Bodyguards on 31 October 1984, parts of Delhi, North India and other areas with Sikh populations became engulfed in an anti-Sikh pogrom. From 31 October to 3 November 1984 in the national capital, organised violence against the Sikh community was unleashed, unlike anything it had witnessed previously since the anti-Muslim carnage of September 1947. The ‘official’ claim later was that 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and 3,350 elsewhere in the country. However, independent sources suggest a much high figure. Among these, one of the first to come out was this fact-finding report by political scientist Rajni Kothari of the People’s Union For Civil Liberties and Gobinda Mukhoty of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, which investigated the murders, looting and rioting that took place during those 10 days and published it later the same month. It starkly concluded that:
…the attacks on members of the Sikh Community in Delhi and its suburbs during the period, far from being a spontaneous expression of “madness” and of popular “grief and anger” at Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination, as made out to be by the authorities, were the outcome of a well organised plan marked by acts of both deliberate commissions and omissions by important politicians of the Congress (I) at the top and by authorities in the administration. Although there was indeed popular shock, grief and anger, the violence that followed was the handiwork of a determined group which was inspired by different sentiments altogether.
Shaker, Why don’t you sing? by Maya Angelou (Random House, 1983), p16-17
Caged Bird
The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
Gupta, Jyotirindra Das, and Jyotirindra Dasgupta. Language conflict and national development: Group politics and national language policy in India. Univ of California Press, First published 1970. PP.46-7
Gupta, Jyotirindra Das, and Jyotirindra Dasgupta. Language conflict and national development: Group politics and national language policy in India. Univ of California Press, First published 1970. PP.46-7
Swaran Singh (Civil Lines, Jullundur City) to Sardar Baldev Singh, 6 March 1951 (Nehru Papers post-47 file 75)
“A very serious situation has arisen in Jullundur district over the language controversy. You must be already aware of the propaganda which was carried on by a certain class of Hindus for persuading the Harijan classes to state at the time of census that Hindi was their mother tongue. Partly as a result of this propaganda and partly on account of the predominance of Hindus amongst the enumerators, a very large section of Harijan population has been recorded as Hindi-speaking population…Illiterate Harijans in the villages who cannot speak or understand even one word of Hindi have been recorded as Hindi-speaking individuals. This has naturally caused resentment in the minds of the Sikhs and they have in a quiet and peaceful manner told the Harijans that the latter have nothing to do with them and a state of peaceful boycott prevails in a fairly large number of villages…The Hindu communalists nakedly in some cases and under the grab of Congress and nationalism in other cases, have fully exploited this situation. They have instigated the Harijans to pick up some quarrel or the other and thus to afford a pretext to the police to make arrests. During the last 3-4 days over 100 persons have already been arrested from villages situated in the different tehsils of the district. Of the arrested persons, about 30-40 so far are the Harijans and the remaining persons are Sikhs, mostly Jats. The action is taken for breach of peace and bails are purposely delayed in order to demoralize the rural people…I had a long talk with [Chief Minister] Dr. Gopi Chand who was on tour at Jullundur yesterday, but as usual he is extremely indecisive. [Some] MLAs are doing their worst to instigate the Harijans and are poisoning the ears of the local officers. Lala Jagat Narain [future founder/editor of Punjab Kesari] has been particularly poisonous in his writings. A very serious situation prevails, and I won’t be surprised if the province is hurled into chaos and if serious effort is not made to straighten out this matter…The self-styled leaders, the press and the local officers should be made to realize that they are playing with fire and the consequence can be extremely disastrous”.
PV Bhaskaran (Deputy Director – Intelligence Bureau) to HVR Iengar (Ministry of Home Affairs), VP Menon (Ministry of States) & Dharma Vira (Pr. PS to PM), 15 March 1951 (Nehru Papers post-47 file 75)
“The bitter animosity which has been witnessed in Punjab and the PEPSU between the Sikhs and the Hindus over the Punjabi-Hindi language controversy in the census has had unpleasant repercussions for the Harijans in many centres of these two states. There have been several complaints of the coercion [arson] and economic boycott [departure] of the Harijans of the PEPSU by the Sikhs, [across villages] in Kapurthala and Patiala district(s). Security proceedings have had to be commenced against Harijans and Sikh Jats…
A deputation of Hindus and Harijans of [some] villages of Kapurthala district, waited on the District Commissioner with complaints of oppression, but were reported to have been told that they had themselves invited this trouble by furnishing Hindi as their language, while living in a Punjabi-speaking area…of Sikh Zamindars. Some of them complained that Akali workers had forcibly obtained their thumb impressions on applications, which sought to have their language changed from Hindi to Punjabi. Some harassment of Harijan women has also been mentioned, [amidst] reported, [en]forced [departures]…Some Harijans, apparently acting under intimidation, actually applied to the DC to alter their language from Hindi to Punjabi in the census returns. In Sangrur district, the Harijans are reported to have been boycotted by the Sikh Zamindars, with the result that they had to march long distance to the town to fetch their food-grains and other daily necessities of life. The districts of Bhatinda and Fatehgarh Saheb were the [other] areas from which such trouble has been reported [with] Harijans of rural areas reported to have moved to town for safety.
In Punjab, Jullundur district has been the worst affected. 98 Jat Sikhs and 45 Harijans have been arrested in this district. A Harijan was murdered by Jat Sikhs…on February 28. Some of the houses of the Harijans who furnished Hindi as their language were reported to have been set on fire…It is reported that the Harijans of these areas have refused to remove the dead bodies of the animals belonging to the Sikhs, and that the latter have boycotted them…Similar complaints have also been made against the Sikhs by the Hindus and the Harijans of some centres of Gurdaspur district…Hoshiarpur and Ferozepur district have also been scenes of similar communal trouble.
The PEPSU Achhut Federation has protested strongly against the “unprovoked high-handedness and injustice” done to Harijans during the census and has demanded their immediate resettlement in their own villages. [There was] a well-attended conference of the depressed classes’ league at Patiala on March 4. A resolution was then accepted, urging the central government to order an independent enquiry on the high-handedness of the Sikhs and the maltreatment of the Harijans of Punjab and the PEPSU in the course of the census operations. [A] speaker warned that the Harijans could cause havoc by staging a week’s hartal of sweepers. [Another] warned the Sikhs not to poison the atmosphere with the language controversy.
The Harijan Sabha of Amritsar convened a meeting on March 6 and warned the Harijans to beware of the tactics of both the Hindus and the Sikhs, and to remain aloof as a separate group. The government was also requested to take the necessary action against the aggressors, failing which, it was warned that a movement of satyagraha would be commenced by refusing to do scavenging and other menial services. The Sweepers Federation of Simla also held a meeting, to deplore the communal tension created by the census operations due to the coercion of the Sikhs. One of the speakers…threatened a strike of sweepers. Resolutions were adopted protesting against the victimisation of the Harijans and demanding the appointment of an enquiry committee consisting of officials drafted from other states.
A refugee camp has been set up at Amritsar by the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSSS, with the assistance of the local Scheduled Castes Federation, to shelter the Harijans who have been migrating from rural areas…There are now only 25 inmates in this camp, but about 245 other Harijans are in shelter in the town with the help of local Hindu hide merchants…This situation was mentioned by NC Chatterjee of the Hindu Mahasabha, at a public meeting at Amritsar on March 11, when he said that the social boycott of the Harijans of Punjab would lead to civil war and anarchy. [A] Punjab Hindu Mahasabha [speaker] advised the Sikhs to stop their oppression of the Harijans in rural areas, warning them that the Sikhs might similarly be victimised in other states of India where they were n a minority.
As is well-known, Master Tara Singh and other leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal have been bitterly critical of the Hindus and their action in recording Hindi as their language in the census…[Their] visit in Patiala, in the last week of February, gave rise to rumours of impending communal disturbances…Several refugees are reported to have left…Unless firm measures are taken both at official and non-official levels, there may be the danger of the situation getting out of hand”.
Further reading: Singh, Atamjit. “The Language Divide in Punjab.” South Asian Graduate Research Journal 4, no. 1 (1997). Available via Apna.org
Habib Jalib was born in 1928 in Hoshiarpur, East Punjab. He migrated to Pakistan after partition and worked as a proof reader in Daily Imroze, Karachi. Read further about him: https://www.letsstartthinking.org/Pakistan/personalities/habib-jalib.php. All his poetry is available via Rekhta. Below is the poem Bagiya Lahoo Luhan-The Garden Is A Bloody Mess. The poem is about the oppression in East Pakistan in 1971 but unfortunately it continues to resonate, even today.
Bagiya Lahoo Luhan
Haryali ko aankhen tarsen bagiya lahoo luhan
Pyar ke geet sunaoon kis ko shehar hue weeran
Bagiya lahoo luhan
Dasti hain suraj ki kirnen chand jalaye jaan
Pag pag maut ke gehre saye jeewan maut saman
Charon ore hawa phirti hai le kar teer Kaman
Bagiya lahoo luhan
Chhalni hain kaliyon ke seeney khoon mein lat paat
Aur nahjaney kab tak hogi ashkon ki barsaat
Dunya walon kab beeteinge dukh ke yeh din raat
Khoon se holi khel rahe hain dharti ke balwan
Bagiya lahoo luhan
The Garden Is A Bloody Mess
Our eyes yearn for greenery
The garden is a bloody mess
For whom should I sing my songs of love
The cities are all a wilderness
The garden is a bloody mess
The rays of the sun, they sting
Moonbeams are a killing field, no less
Deep shadows of death hover at every step
Life wears a skull and bone dress
All around the air is on prowl
With bows and arrows, in full harness
The garden is a bloody mess
The battered buds are like a sieve
The leaves drenched in blood smears
Who knows, for how long
We’ll have this rain of tears
People how long do we have to bear
These days and nights of sorrow and distress
This oppressor’s blood bath is a frolicsome play
For the mighty of the world, a mark of their prowess
The garden is a bloody mess
Source: Revolutionary Democracy
“In 1949, while in Lahore, Sahir Ludhianvi wrote a revolutionary poem, ‘Avaaz-e-Adam’ (The Voice of Man), in which ‘hum bhi dekhenge’ remains a memorable phrase. It ended on the optimistic – and one could say provocative – assertion that the red flag of communism would fly high. Pakistan had already decided to become a frontline state in Western attempts to contain Soviet Communism. It was trying desperately to convince the US that it could be a strong ally in its anti-Communism policy. Pakistan also wanted to portray itself as a trusted ally for the West, not just in South Asia but also in the Middle East. But after the poem was published, Sahir was threatened by intelligence agencies and he migrated to India. In effect, ‘hum bhi dekhenge’ came to symbolise Sahir’s farewell to Pakistan, which he felt would be a puppet of the West, and his search for sanctuary in Nehru’s India.” Source: The Wire.
aavaaz-e-aadam
Dabegi kab talak aavaaz-e-Aadam hum bhi dekhenge
rukenge kab talak jazbaat-e-barham hum bhi dekhenge
chalo yoonhi sahi ye jaur-e-paiham hum bhi dekhenge
dar-e-zindaan se dekhen ya urooj-e-daar se dekhen
tumhen rusva sar-e-bazaar-e-aalam hum bhi dekhenge
zara dam lo maal-e-shaukat-e-jam hum bhi dekhenge
ye zoam-e-quvvat-e-faulaad-o-aahan dekh lo tum bhi
ba-faiz-e-jazba-e-imaan-e-mohkam hum bhi dekhenge
jabeen-e-kaj-kulaahi ḳhaak par ḳham hum bhi dekhenge
mukaafaat-e-amal tareeḳh-e-insaan ki rivaayat hai
karoge kab talak naavak faraaham hum bhi dekhenge
kahaan tak hai tumhaare zulm mein dam hum bhi dekhenge
ye hangaam-e-vidaa-e-shab hai ai zulmat ke farzando
sahar ke dosh par gulnaar parcham hum bhi dekhenge
tumhen bhi dekhna hoga ye aalam hum bhi dekhenge
The Voice of Man
We too shall see till when one can suppress the voice of Adam
We too shall see till when can be stopped the angry emotion(s)
We too shall see, sure, just like this, the constant oppression.
Whether we view from the door of the dungeon or the elevation of the scaffold
We too shall see you dishonoured in the marketplace of the world
Just take a moment’s breath, we too shall see the consequences of the grandeur of Jamshed.
You too behold this vanity of power
We too shall see this by the kindness of the firm belief’s fervour
We too shall see a bend upon the dusty face that wears the jaunty headgear.
Retribution is a tradition of human history
Till when will you amass the arrows, we too shall see
We too shall see how far will you persist with your tyranny.
O sons of darkness this is the time for departure
We too shall see the morning shoulder the flag of red colour
We too shall see, you too shall have to see this clamour.
Source: ‘We Too Shall See, You Too Will Have to See This Clamour’: A Tribute To Sahir Ludhianvi by Raza Naeem, NayaDaur
Faletti’s Hotel is the oldest colonial hotel in Lahore. It opened in 1880 in the old walled city. Back then, it claimed to be one of the finest hotels. By modern standards, this is not a big place, but it is certainly one of the most sought after. It retains the colonial architecture along with a matching attitude. One of the reasons that Faletti’s continues to attract so much attention is to do with the famous guests that have stayed there, over the years.
Read about the origins and owner, Giovanni Faletti on Faletti’s website.
A fascinating account in Dawn about the owners changing hand:
According to tales recounted by old hotel employees, Faletti’s Hindu clerk, Oberoi, offered to buy some shares, and Faletti was so impressed and delighted that someone whose job was to haul coal for the rooms had saved enough to buy the shares of his hotel that he allowed him to become his trusted employee. When Faletti finally left Pakistan, he gifted Oberoi all his hotels on the condition that he would not change the name of Faletti’s. Oberoi stayed true to his word and earned so much from just Faletti’s alone that he invested in a hotel in Delhi, the famous Oberoi, following which he established more hotels in India…After the 1965 war, Oberoi decided to move to India and sold majority shares of the hotel to PTDC — again on the condition that the hotel name would not be changed.
Everyone from the great Quaid-i-Azam to Hollywood actors have stayed at the hotel. Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger stayed here for three months during the filming of Bhowani Junction, which took place in 1955. The room in which she stayed is now known as the ‘Ava Gardner Suite.’ Marlon Brando stayed here when he was visiting the country on behalf of UNICEF. One of the Chief Justices of Pakistan, A.R. Cornelius, took up residence at Faletti’s and stayed at the hotel for over 40 years until his death in 1991. Whereas Mohammad Ali Jinnah stayed at Faletti’s when he came to Lahore to argue the appeal of Ghazi Ilm-ud-Din Shaheed before the Lahore High Court in July 1929.
Other guests have included the cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers, Jawaharlal Nehru, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, and Mohammad Rafi.
BAGICHA 