Your issue on 1984 (Oct 19) aroused a mountain of memories: good and bad. The accounts and photographs of victims of the anti-Sikh riots reminded me of a colleague who was burnt alive but whose widow was turned away by Sikh religious organisations as well as powerful individuals who clamour for justice. I also wonder why no one ever takes serious note of the hundreds of Hindus shot at close range in the fields of Punjab. Bhindranwale had become a despot by then and people like Lala Jagat Narain were beheaded at his behest even as Badal and Tohra lay conveniently low. On a visit last year, I observed that a section of the Golden Temple parikrama has been left unrepaired as if to keep the wounds of Operation Bluestar alive. While PM Manmohan Singh has apologised to the nation for the anti-Sikh riots, no Sikh leader has ever regretted the atrocities inspired and committed from within its precincts during the Khalistan movement. The redeeming feature of your anniversary edition was the recounting of positive developments in 1984, from Siachen to Everest, BSP’s birth to Azhar’s debut.
