User:KarthikVetri/1984 anti-Sikh riots

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Personal Accounts

The grief, trauma, and survival of Sikh victims and witnesses is an important human perspective missing in much factual coverage of the riots. In interviews with Manoj Mitta and H.S. Phoolka for their book "When a Tree Shook Delhi," survivors recount harrowing tales of watching loved ones burned alive, raped, and dismembered.[1] One Hindu woman describes her family sheltering over 70 Sikhs from murderous mobs who were targeting Sikh homes marked with an "S."[1] Ensaaf’s 2006 report “Twenty years of impunity” contains dozens of eyewitness statements accusing police and government officials of enabling and even participating in the violence.[2] Personal stories help convey the true horrors endured by the Sikh community.

Long-Term Impacts

The riots catalyzed lasting political and social changes among India’s Sikhs. With the government failing to protect them, many Sikhs felt betrayed and marginalized, providing momentum to the Khalistan separatist movement.[3] Joyce Pettigrew's book "The Sikhs of the Punjab" analyzes this increased radicalization and militancy.[3]