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Remembering November of 1984

Some first-person history for the kids among my readers. Exactly twenty years ago (is it really twenty years? oh my!) I was a freshman in college, and they had just assassinated Indira Gandhi. A boy I knew told me that Sikhs were being butchered. I told him not to spread such rumours, because I didn't think such a thing would happen in Independent India. There was not much media coverage about the violence on Sikhs; afterall the violence was sponsored by the ruling goverment; there were horrible rumours -- which were confirmed only much later. IMO murder and looting of Sikhs is the most shameful event to take place in India since independence. To this day, no one has been punished. Punished by the law enforcement of India that is. I'll be honest with you. I really felt that the powers of justice that rule our world were at work, when the terrorists killed one of the thugs (if I recall, he was the son-in-law of the then President of India) responsible for the riots. They chased him in the streets like a dog and killed him as he begged for his life -- in the same way his men had killed innocent Sikhs of Delhi. Another Congress leader who is said to have arranged the riots, was later made into a minister for Information and Broadcasting -- the ministry under which my mother worked, so in some ways, he became her boss. How unfortunate! Remember how the Palestinians danced after 9/11? As repulsive as it was to us in the non-Islamic world, there was a reason for their celebration. Similarly, some Sikhs had danced and celebrated the murder of Indira gandhi on that fateful November day, that is said to have triggered the riots. I digressed. BBC: Painful Memories of 1984 See Also: • What I really think of Indira Gandhi • Sikhism Potpourri (Comments Disabled for Now. Sorry!) First Written: Sunday, October 31, 2004 Last Modified: 11/27/2004 7:01:35 AM

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