CONSIDERATIONOF SOME AFFIDAVITS Few incidents may now be dealt with mainly for the purpose of showing that the pattern of incidents was similar to those of Delhi. Smit. Gurjinder Kaur ( No. 286) in her affidavit has stated :
“ On 1-11-84, in the morning, I along with my husband late S. Balwinder Singh, daughter Ginni aged 15 years, sons Manpreet Singh aged about 12 years and Bhupinder Singh aged 10 years and my ewmployee Karnail Singh was at my house situated at 81, Inustrial Estate, Kanpur. In the morning at about 10.30 a.m. about 500 - 600 persons came to my house. They were raising slogans , ‘ Pradhan Mantri Indira Gandhi Zindabad”. After breaking the gate they pushed out Fiat car No. UPG 8000 on the road. Then,after breaking the inner gate and getting iron rods etc. in their hands, came to the first floor. Then, they tried to breakm open the channel gate but could not succeed. Upon this Ahmed shouted that the cement grills be broken. Then Prem Die-maker, Ahmed, Mishra’s tenants andf others whose names I do not know buut can identify if happened to come before me came in by breaking the cement grills. Ahmed and Prem Die-maker started beating my husband and Karnail Singh with attache and iron rods. They were demainding two lakh of rupees from my husbandD but the deponent’s husband had Rs.70,000 with him which he gave to Ahmed and Prem Die-maker. In the meantime, while being beasten, Karnail Singh jumped into the adjacent factory No.8. But the owner of that factory Shri Gupta and his wife, on being pressed by the rioters turned Karnail Singh out of their house. Then the rioters beat Karnail Singh with bricks, stones and sticks and threw him in front of our factory. In the meantime they came to the first floor and Ahmed hit my husband Balwinder Singh with a Gamla in his head whereupon he fell down and they started dragging himm down. At this my daughter Ginni tried to save her father by holding the hand of her father but Prem pushed her away. Meanwhile Ahmed cmpelled the deponent to relieve her of the gold bangles and which she was having on her person. After that they threw the deponent’s husband on ground and the deponent car was set on fire and my husband Karnail Singh were thrown in it. They also threw four to five wooden benches in the fire. The fire raged and my husband and Karnail Singh were burning in it. At this myself and my children screamed and shouted to help my husband and Karnail Singh. Them some amongst the mob and Ahmed and Prem shouted threatening that we shall meet the same fate if we fried (sic). The deponent and her children got scared and kept silence. Ahmed and Prem had a big hand in getting the deponent’s house looted and in getting her husband and employee Karnail Singh killed. On 1-11-84 at about 4 p.m. my brother-in-law S. Amarjit Singh who resides in Govindnagar gave money to two policemen who then accompanied two Hindu neighbours of his mohallaa who came in a tempo to rescue us and then we all went to his house in Govind Nagar.
Smt. Amar Kaur (No.54), resident of Kakadeo area narrates another incident of killing. Her husband had a motor repair workshop in Transport Nagar and two of her sons were having separate business and the third son works in the Indian Air Force. She has stated :
“ I became very sad on hearing the assassination of Smt. Indira Ganhi and started weeping. My husband S.Teja Singh was in the workshop in Transport Nagar . Karamjit Singh (son) had a motor repair shop at Gadariyan Purwa, Kanpur and my youngest son Varinder Singh was in IAF and had come on leave and he was at home. On 1-11-84 at about 3 a.m. my husband S.Teja Singh came home on a bicyccle. He was highly upset and sad. My middle son Karamjit Singh did not come. That on 1-11-84 at about 12 noon a police veicle passed near my house and it was announcing that curfew has been imposed and that nobody should come out. Sometime before the arrival of this vehicle we were planning to leave for some safer place but on hearing about the imposition of curfew we were satisfied that nothing would happen now.
That on 1-11-84 at about 2 p.m. a mob of 2000 - 2500 sahouting anti-Sikh slogans came towards our house. From the window I saw that they were having dandas, lathis, iron-rods, bricks,stones etc. in their hands. They broke the boundary wall of my house and after breaking open the door, started looting.
That when the rioters were breaking my boundary wall I made my daughters and children jump to the house of the neighbour. Both my sons Kulwant Singh and Varinder Singh also ran somewhere to save their lives. In the house only me and my husband were left. When the rioters were looting, they were shouting, ‘ Be quick, there are lot of things.’ On seeing me the rioters pelted stones at me. I got badly injured and blood started coming out from my head and ears. When my husband S.Teja Singh ran towards the stairs, the rioters hit him with stones and fell down badly injured. Then they beat him so mercilessly that he died. Then they dragged him out and threw him on the burning motorcycle of S.Autar Singh.
In my house there were big almirahs, big boxes, T. V. Fridge, beds, crockery, utensils,jewellery, cash etc. and they were taken away by the riotes. On 2-11-84 at about 5 a.m. my son Karamjit Singh, came alongwith one Ajay (a rickshaw driver) on a cycle. When Karamjit Singh and Ajay reached near the house some mohalla walas were standing there. They asked as to who was there. My son replied that it was he, Karamjit. At this the people standing there shouted to kill him as he had come.People ran towards him.Karamjit left his cycle and ran. Dr. Mishra residing at house no. 70/3, Vajay Nagar,Kanpur, hit my son with a spear which hit him in the stomach and he fell down there. Then all the rioters beat him mercilessly and set him ablaze after pouring kerosene oil upon him.”
Reference tomay be made to the affidavit of Smt. Manjeet Kaur (No. 106). She was a resident of Kakadeo area and has stated :
On 2-11-84 at 5 p.m. my landlord Mrs Bhatia and her sons Bhajana Lal Bhatia and Naresh Bhatia compelled us to leave her house. Myself and my husband begged them that they should allow us to remain there for 2 - 4 days more but they did not agree. Also we apprehended that if we did not leave the house, both the boys would call the goondas and get us killed. Left with no other option, we started from our house at 7 a.m. to seek refuse elsewhere. When we were passing through A-1 Crossing there wee some persons present here and there. They shouted, “Sardar jaa rahe hain, maro, pakro.” On hearing this, people ran from all directions and caught my husband and elder son Ravinder Pal and started heating them. After beating them with lathis and stones, both of them were set on fire.”
These were certainly incidents of brutal killing and clearly sxhibit the animality in the rioters. Unless there was a total loss of respect for human loife, the manner in which the killings have taken place would not have happened.
Reference may be made to the affidavit of Shiv Pyare Tiwari (No. 103 ) where he has said :
On 31-10-84 at about 7.30 p.m. when I was preparing my food at the shop, about 500 persons started pelting stones at the shop. I get frightened and came out of the shop. After sometime, the mob stopped a truck passing that way, got diesel from it, poured diesel upon the shop and set it on fire. I watched the burning shop upto 8 p.m. The mob asked me to run away and abused me for serving at the shop of a traitor. Tjhey threatened that if I did not run away they would throw me too in the fire. I got scared and took the cycle from the shop and went to the house of my employer.”.
The Army not only helped in restoraionn of law and order but also looked sfter evacuation , running of Relief Camps and provision of food and clothing. It continued to be in the city till 7 p.m. of 12th November, 1984 and thereafter withdrew to the Cantonment.
