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Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 21
Santok Singh of Daroli Kalan village in Jalandhar, whose younger brother Hardev was lynched and three other siblings left for dead by a mob during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, has not been able to overcome the nightmares of the violence.
The punishment awarded by a Delhi court to two accused — one sentenced to death and the other to life imprisonment — relates to the case in which Santok’s brother was killed along with Avtar Singh of Patiala. “Their conviction is a consolation…all culprits need to be brought to justice,” he said in a choked voice.
He was flanked by his three brothers, Kuldip, Sangat and Surjeet, who survived the attacks on November 1, 1984. Santok and his brothers used to come all the way from their village to attend hearings and they were deponents against the accused.
“A mob of 800 people armed with country-made and sharp-edged weapons, led by the two convicts, arrived at Mahipalpur and poured kerosene and other inflammables at the shops of six Sikh families who were residing there,” Santok said, recounting horrors of the day. “With smokes billowing from the shops, they herded onto the roof of one of the landowners’ house to save their lives. But the miscreants managed to reach the roof and attacked them,” Santokh said.
Besides Hardev, his brothers — Kuldip, Sangat and Surjeet — were also on the roof. “All of them were attacked. While Hardev was killed, all others were left for dead.” Santok had gone to a gurdwara in a different locality at that time.
Santok is the eldest of the siblings. He had called Hardev (then 17) from Daroli Kalan here to take the examination for defence services. Bad fate seemed to have plagued him as he forgot to bring his matriculate marksheet. Thereafter, he was enrolled for Class XI. He got involved in running Santok’s rented shop. Avtar, a resident of Patiala, was recruited in the defence services.
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