21 year old Hardev Singh’s father, Pal Singh and a relative, Baldev Singh were dragged out by locals from their home in West Gonda, Shahdara and burnt alive, in the presence of the police.1

Jasbir Kaur of Gamri, Shahdara relates how her husband, Harbhajan Singh and five other family members were beaten and then dragged out and set ablaze with the chemical powder in front of women and children.2

Another Jasbir Kaur of Nathu Colony, Shahdara testified that on the morning of 2nd November, her home was set ablaze. Her sons took shelter in the house of a Congress worker who was close to the local MP, H.K.L. Bhagat. Soon after, the mobs pulled out all three sons, her brother-in-law and her grandson from their place of hiding and beaten before being burnt alive.3

In Ashok Nagar, Shahdara, Jaswant Kaur heard that the person leading the mobs was holding lists of Sikh resident and was directing the mobs to attack them one by one. Three members of her family fell victim to the gang while plain clothed policemen from the area continued to threaten the women.4

Lakhbir Singh from the Jagatpuri Mandoli Road area of Shahdara was only 15 years old when he witnessed the burning of the local Gurdwara by a mob of 500. Although his elder brothers were clean-shaven, this didn’t stop a local Hindu neighbour pointing them out to the mobs. Jasbir Singh was the first to be attacked by iron rods. Kerosene oil was poured over him and set on fire. The other brother, Kulvinder Singh was abducted by the mob to the cross-road and killed there. The murderers then turned their attention to Lakhbir Singh’s sister, Sukhwinder Kaur who was robbed of her jewellery before being killed.5

Lakhbir Singh luckily survived the ordeal by being rescued by a neighbour but he ends his affidavit with the following:

On 3.11.84 the military took us to Shyam Lal College Camp. There I came to know that I and my nephew aged 9 months were the only survivors of the family. The nephew was rescued by our neighbour and restored to me after 13 days. In this episode the loss incurred is to the tune of Rs. 2 – 3 lakhs. The following persons of my house were killed during the riots: –

Gurdeep Singh, my father; 2. Harbans Kaur, my mother; 3. Sukhwinder Kaur, my sister; 4. Kulvinder Singh-brother; 5. Jasvir Singh-brother; 6. Bhajan Kaur-tenant; 7. Ujagar Singh-tenant; 8. Sudagar Singh-tenant; 9. Balbir Singh-tenant; 10. Grand-mother of Balbir Singh.

Affidavit of Lakhbir Singh submitted to the Misra Commission 1987.6

Manjit Kaur of Jagjit Nagar, New Usmanpur states that after her home was set alight, she and her family members hid at a neighbour’s house. Yet they were thrown out of his house once the mobs arrived with the police. Her husband, Gian Singh, and two of his brothers were put to death by burning, with kerosene supplied by a local oil depot supplier.7

In Babarpur, Shahdara, the local police dropped off Mohan Singh’s father, Jeewan Singh and his eldest son, Narinder Singh, age 21 and cousin, Surinder Singh to their home on morning of the 3rd of November saying their home was safe. Soon after, the mob came and all three were burnt to death together with the Sikh scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib.8

Nihal Singh, residing of Shahdara witnessed Sikhs being killed on the nearby G.T. Road and a building was set alight along with eight Sikhs trapped inside, including Mohinder Singh of Mahindera & Sons. A police party in a jeep was seen taking no action during the carnage.9

Pyar Kaur, age 25 years old of Ashok Nagar tell us what she saw:

On 1-11-1984, at about 9 AM, mob comprising of about 2000 – 3000 men was being lead by Sat Paul, aged about 20 – 22 years son of Pati Ram, Akbar and Vinod etc. these all lived in our neighbourhood. These people assaulted all the six members of our family with iron rods, gandasas and lathis – their names are my father-in-law s. Uttam Singh aged 60 years, my husband s. Gurbachan Singh, aged 28 years, Saudagar Singh aged 25 years, Rani wife of Saudagar Singh, aged about 23 years, my sister-in-law (husband’s sister) Rani about 16 years of age who had been married, my brother-in-law (husband’s younger brother) Jagir Singh aged about 18 years.

My father-in-law was tied with an electric pole, and in a very bad condition was beaten. Then all were beaten and thereafter one by one were sprinkled with kerosene oil and set on fire. While they were still waiting the mob left. Kerosene oil was sprinkled or me also and I, too, was badly beaten but since I was in a family way they left me in a unconscious state. May be I was spared because I was in a family way. My sister-in-law (husband’s younger brother’s wife) left behind their orphan children aged about 5 years, 3 years and ten months.

Affidavit of Piar Kaur submitted to the Misra Commission 1987.10

Prem Kaur of Ashok Nagar, Shahdara said that her husband, Baldev Singh was advised by two policemen to return to his home. Soon after, a mob of 2000 entered the colony. Their neighbour pointed their house to the killers. Despite cutting their hair, both Baldev Singh and their son, Kuldip Singh age 17 were found hiding in the nearby Tyagi colony and burnt alive. All eleven members of the mob were identified by Prem Kaur as fellow neighbours.11

Rawel Kaur of Kartar Nagar witnessed her husband, Gurcharan Singh being pushed to the ground by his neighbour while others beat him to death with iron rods. Eldest son, Gurbaksh Singh ran out and was also attacked by local shopkeepers. The other son, Shankar Singh ran after his brother. He was also chased, caught and his eyes were gouged out. He was beaten to death with iron rods. The young son, Sunder Singh was also beaten in the same manner. The semi-dead bodies of the father and sons were dragged over to their house, hung over the door of the house and all were burnt alive. Four months later, after being arrested for the murders, the police released the killers. They would continue to intimate Rewel Kaur and threatened to liquidate he and her remaining family if she gave their names to the Inquiry Commission. Despite this being reported to the Silampur District police station, no action was taken against the perpetrators.12

Surjit Kaur of Ram Nagar, Shahdara, relates how the local Ram Nagar Gurdwara was set alight on 1 November. A Muslim woman, Latifan overheard a conversation between two Congress party men of the locality: ‘Yeh Sardar ka Ghar hain, inko raat main jalana hain’. Surjit Kaur’s father-in-law Sant Kala Singh, age 60 and his eldest brother, Harnam Singh, age 65 ran out of the house, but were caught, beaten and thrown into a burning truck on Loni Road. Her brother-in-law, Mahender Singh, age 28 was next to be beaten and also thrown into the burning truck to be burnt alive. Her husband, Gurmukh Singh managed to hide behind the truck but was spotted, shot at and also thrown into the truck.13

Five policemen were watching nearby without intervening. Two days following the attacks, when other policemen came to take the survivors of the family to a relief camp, they were overheard telling the local Hindus in Ram Nagar “What did you people do? these Sikhs are still alive. We had given you three days and even then, you could not finish them”.

On 2 November, Swaran Kaur of Hardev Puri, Shahdara watched a mob, lead by the local kerosine oil dealer arrive. Her family had already been taken in by a Hindu neighbour, but when the mobs arrived, the oil dealer directed them to where the family members were hiding. Swaran Kaur’s husband, Balbir Singh and their son, Gurbachan Singh, who was married just fifteen days ago were both attacked by axes and burnt alive. Swaran Kaur and her daughter both suffered injuries during the attacks. Her son-in-law, Ganga Singh, age 30, her son, Harbhajan Singh, age 18, nephew Babu Singh, age 18 were next to be targeted, beaten and burnt alive.14

Beant Singh, a resident of Yamuni Vihar testified that 19 Sikhs had been killed between 1 and 3 November 1984, despite pleas to the local police Station House Officer to what was taking place.15

Satnam Kaur’s husband, Surender Singh and his brother Kartar Singh, age 20 were attacked by swords, and then burnt alive in Brahmpuri, Shahdara. Satnam herself was attacked and a tyre put around her neck, but she managed to escape.16

At a dera (a Sikh religious camp), located on a large farm, opposite Guru Harkrishan Public School, Jyoti Nagar, Shahdara was also attacked by a large mob of 200-300 people. There were nine Sikh sevadars (voluteers) at the dera. Following the attacks, eight were killed and only one survived.17

  1. Affidavit of Hardev Singh. ↩︎
  2. Affidavit of Jasbir Kaur of Gamri. ↩︎
  3. Affidavit of Jasbir Kaur of Nathu Colony. ↩︎
  4. Affidavit of Jaswant Kaur. ↩︎
  5. Affidavit of Lakhbir Singh. ↩︎
  6. Affidavit of Lakhbir Singh submitted to the Misra Commission 1987. ↩︎
  7. Affidavit of Manjit Kaur. ↩︎
  8. Affidavit of Mohan Singh. ↩︎
  9. Affidavit of Nihal Singh. ↩︎
  10. Affidavit of Piar Kaur submitted to the Misra Commission 1987. ↩︎
  11. Affidavit of Prem Kaur. ↩︎
  12. Affidavit of Rawel Kaur. ↩︎
  13. Affidavit of Surjit Kaur. ↩︎
  14. Affidavit of Swaran Kaur. ↩︎
  15. Affidavit of Beant Singh. ↩︎
  16. Affidavit of Satnam Kaur. ↩︎
  17. Affidavit of Amarjit Singh. ↩︎