Bibi Gurdip Kaur

My husband was in the army. He and my son were killed. On November 1, my house was burnt and looted and some people told my husband and son to either cut their or run away. Among those who said this were the Block 16 Jamandaar and the Block 18 bania who worked in the ration shop. Then, they took my husband and locked him up in the dhobi’s house. On the night of November 1, some people came and announced that a Sardar was hiding in the dhobi’s house and broke part of it. They made a big hole in the wall and fired four bullets. My children were told by their friends, "your father has been shot dead by Farash Singh of Block 18. ‘They also said that Farash Singh was accompanied by Soleh Singh of Block 18, who was armed with a sword. Farash Singh had always been after my husband’s life. Earlier, he had a heard and long hair but now we hear that he is clean shaven.

After killing my husband, the killers came to the front of our house. A tailor from our street told the mob that my son was hiding in our burnt house. The mob came inside and the tea shop Pandit told the mob to drag my son out. I was also inside. I fell on the feet of the killers and told them to please spare my children, the goons from block 16 and murderer jamandaar (whose names are on the list of offenders in the police station) were all there. They dragged my son out and a little distance away, they showered sticks on him. He fell down and then one of the jamaandaars from Block 16 slashed my son with a sword and killed him. My neighbors later told me that they took my son close to the drain where my husband’s body was lying and both were burnt. They came back to my house and spread a pule (cloth canopy) over the terrace and were about to torch it when the tea shop pandit came and began to strangle my daughter. Some people standing there told him to spare the rest of us. Then the mob went away. Prem (police mukhbir) also got Sikhs killed.

Just then two cops came on a motorbike to Block 18. The rioting mob was told by the cops, "you have two days to kill Sikhs or whatever, you can do it in these two days." Police had a direct and deliberate role in getting our men killed. We had recently built our house and some people were jealous of this too and some in Block 18 even expressed their resentment to us. But because my husband was in the army (for 18 years he was a Nayak driver), he was allowed to build a house in the area. He fought on India’s borders during three wars and also won a medal in the 1971-72 war (Indo-Pak).