THE DELHI RIOTS: Three Days In The Life Of A Nation
By Uma Chakravarty and Nandita Haksar
Lancer International, New Delhi, 1987
Pages : 662; Price : Rs. 300.00


Following her death on October 31, 1984, it seemed as if Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, manifested for the next three days as Durga the proverbial Indian Goddess of death but only for the Sikhs.

From October 31 to November 2, 1984, according to Indian government sources, over 2700 Sikh men, women and children were slaughtered in Delhi alone; other sources put the numbers much higher. Sikh women were raped, Sikh houses and businesses looted and burnt. It was open season on all Sikhs not only in Delhi but also in several cities across India as well. Meanwhile, the Indian police and others responsible for law and order stood by or aided and abetted in the carnage.

If rational processes had prevailed, such civil disorders would have been promptly followed by an investigation and punishment of the guilty so that the government could quickly regain its right to govern. Then a book of this sort which, three years later attempted to chronicle those events through personal interviews, would attract no more than academic or historical interest. But Rajiv Gandhi, the loyal son who followed Indira Gandhi as the new leader refused an inquiry, called it a "dead issue" and attempted to close the book on it. In fact, it turned out that friends, cronies and cabinet colleagues of Rajiv Gandhi might well have been the evil geniuses behind the three-day orgy of rape, pillage and murder. Considerable evidence now supports such a finding, yet justice remains just as elusive.

This book therefore, provides a much-needed perspective on how these three days affected the lives of many Indians and no doubt the nation's future as well. This book serves a two fold purpose: Amidst the daily reports of fresh disasters, such as the Meerut massacre of Muslims and the regular State terrorism in Punjab and Kashmir, such a book is another reminder that the price for justice is constant vigilance. Secondly, the book without saying so is a scathing indictment of the Indian government that failed in its primary function - to guarantee the safety of its citizens. This reviewer wrote the above in 1987, it remains equally true fourteen years later in 2001.

This book is by two non-Sikh women, a lawyer and a professor. Like an earlier inquiry by non-Sikh jurists and scholars, it reinforces one's faith in the decency and integrity of individuals though certainly not in that of governments or politicians whose rhetoric is stridently patriotic but whose actions are devoid of patriotism.

Thirty-one interviews are presented, several with survivors of this holocaust - people who suffered, whose loved ones were murdered, who lost property but who survived in spite of the violence done to them. Their anguish is unmistakable, their faith in the Indian system of justice badly shaken. Another series of interviews chronicles the growing feeling of alienation and 'separatism' in those Sikhs who were always non-political, considered themselves in the mainstream of modern Indian intellectual tradition and who did not suffer personally during the Delhi Riots fateful three days. Interviews with a few Hindus, including non-Punjabis point out the growing communalization of Indian society.

A highlight of this book is the interview with the physician who attended Satwant Singh, the alleged assassin of Indira Gandhi. Satwant Singh showed no hatred of Hindus and clearly said: "Indira Gandhi's policies have led us into this." Contrast this attitude to incidents cited where some people urinated on the Guru Granth and burnt Sikh Gurudwaras. At one place, a Hindu is quoted: "We taught them (Sikhs) a lesson."

The interviews clearly point out the danger that the communalization of India's political fabric holds for its integrity. The so-called "Delhi riots" occurred almost seventeen years ago. This reviewer would take issue with the title of the book and with the continuous use of the term "riots."

The events of 1984 were not "riots" in that they were neither spontaneous nor did they have the two communities (Sikhs and non-Sikhs) fighting each other as happened during the Hindu-Muslim riots of 1947. Also, deaths by torture are not encountered in any riots and did not occur in 1947 but were widely seen in 1984.

In 1984 we saw a well orchestrated, organized carnage, massacre or pogrom undertaken by an armed community (not a mob) assisted by political authorities against an unarmed, peaceful, unprepared and unsuspecting minority. The modus operandi and targets all over India were the same, down to the timing.

In the face of the Indian government's continued refusal to conduct a credible investigation into these events of 1984, this book is a welcome addition to the small but growing literature of that time and bears testimony to the universal human yearning for truth and justice.

It should be noted that the Mishra Commission appointed more than a year after the killings and only in response to political pressure, failed to find anyone responsible for the killings; the Commission's report was universally condemned. The Jain-Bannerjee Commission appointed to monitor compliance with the results of the inquiry was disbanded without doing much of anything.

Unfortunately the price of the book places it outside the reach of most readers in India. Nevertheless the authors are to be commended for their refreshingly bold effort, particularly in the prevailing Indian political climate of governmental intolerance of dissenting opinion.


Dr. Inder Jit Singh is Professor & Co-ordinator in Anatomy, New York University. Among other publications, he is the author of two books: 'Sikhs and Sikhism: A View With a Bias' and 'The Sikhs Way: A Pilgrims Progress'.

I.J. Singh is on the editorial advisory board of 'The Sikh Review', Calcutta and 'The Encyclopedia of Sikhism', Punjabi University, Patiala.