{"id":84,"date":"2005-09-21T19:09:01","date_gmt":"2005-09-21T23:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/2005\/09\/21\/frontline-article-on-nanavati-commis"},"modified":"2005-09-21T19:09:01","modified_gmt":"2005-09-21T23:09:01","slug":"frontline-article-on-nanavati-commission-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/2005\/09\/21\/frontline-article-on-nanavati-commission-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Frontline article on Nanavati Commission Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

A recent article in Frontline <\/a>discusses the reaction of the survivors of the 1984 pogroms to the Nanavati Report, also mentioning ENSAAF.<\/font><\/p>\n

The
\nFrontline article observes that the Nanavati Commission report has
\nrecast the 1984 massacres in a way that is palatable to the state. This
\ncover-up by the state and its failure to acknowledge its atrocities
\nhave had a lasting impact on the victims of the pogroms. <\/font> <\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

By
\nrefusing to file FIRs and aiding the attackers, the police were
\ncomplicit in the violence. This left the victims with nowhere
\nto turn for protection, and ensured impunity for many perpetrators of
\nthe violence. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

The
\ncomplicity of the police was crucial to the construction of an official
\ndiscourse. The police played a vital role in the cover-up by refusing
\nto record many testimonies. By refusing even to examine affidavits
\nfiled on the basis of personal testimonies and eyewitness accounts, the
\nstate delegitimised the Sikh voice – deeming it unreliable and
\nunimportant. By refusing to act against errant police personnel on the
\ngrounds that they have retired, the state indicated that it was ready
\nto condone violence, provided that it was directed against an
\nappropriate community at an appropriate time.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The article also mentions the ENSAAF report Twenty Years of Impunity<\/a>
\nand quotes ENSAAF executive director Jaskaran Kaur’s response to the
\nstate’s refusal to bring police officers to justice based on the fact
\nthat they are retired:<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

“It
\n[the government] is limiting itself to prosecutions based on
\ndereliction of duty. I don’t see how one’s retirement will influence
\nwhether he is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, or murder
\nitself. That has nothing to do with your tenure in office.”<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The
\n1984 pogroms continue to affect the Sikh community in the form
\nof poverty, unemployment, and addiction. The colony of Tilak
\nVihar, where many of the victims relocated, is one example of the
\nlasting psychological and economic effects of the pogroms. There, the
\npoverty of Sikh families makes it difficult for their children to
\nattend school, which results in unemployment, among other problems.
\nChamni Kaur, a resident, says: <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

It is like we’re being killed a second time.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Although
\nthe state continues to try to deny the facts of the pogroms, its
\nlegacy lives on in the memories and daily lives of its victims and
\ntheir families. The article notes:<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

The only way to close chapters truly is to ensure that justice is served, and visibly so.
\n<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/em><\/font>Sach
\nProductions<\/a> offers other testimonies of survivors living in Tilak
\nVihar, in its movie-in-progress Widow Colony.  View a preview here<\/a>.
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent article in Frontline discusses the reaction of the survivors of the 1984 pogroms to the Nanavati Report, also mentioning ENSAAF. The Frontline article observes that the Nanavati Commission report has recast the 1984 massacres in a way that is palatable to the state. This cover-up by the state and its failure to acknowledge its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1472],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1472"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jaskaran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}