Sikh Genocide 1984 » Special News

Hondh Massacre: Why mismatch in figures?

March 1, 2011 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau

Ludhiana, PUNJAB (March 01, 2011): More than 26 years after the November 1984 Sikh massacre in village Hondh Chillar, Haryana government has acknowledged killings of 32 persons in village Hondh Chillar in Rewari district, Haryana on November 2, 1984. The FIR, number 91 which was registered at police station Jatusana in Mahendergarh district, now in Rewari, based on DDR no 5, had a count of 20 persons massacred in village Hondh Chillar.

There are several questions which remain unanswered. Why is there a mismatch in the figures? Which records have the Haryana Government considered and where have they got their numbers from? How the FIR which was registered after the incident was lost or misplaced? Why was there no investigation in the matter and none of the eye witnesses ever contacted? And why did the police close the case? There are many more unanswered questions.

Only after the mass grave of Sikhs killed in November 1984 discovered, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda sought a report in the incident and demanded a judicial probe.

On November 02, 1984 attackers surrounded Sikh houses and attacked by throwing petrol bombs into Sikh homes. Men and children were beaten and thrown into the burning houses and women were first raped and then thrown into the fire. The Guru Granth Sahib was desecrated and Gurudwara was put on fire as indication of the murderous rage of the mob, looking to destroy any and all traces of Sikh identity. The entire village was burnt along with its Sikh population and Gurudwara.

Victims of the massacre are waiting for the justice for years. The killings were never investigated even after an FIR was registered.

According to the FIR, no 91, a copy of which was presented in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday, which was registered at police station Jatusana in Mahendergarh district, now in Rewari, based on DDR no 5, the killers had first arrived in a truck from the side of Hali Mandi in Pataudi, Gurgaon district on the morning of November 2, at around 11am, but were “pacified” by a group of villagers of Chillar and persuaded to go back. However, they returned in the evening, accompanied by more people in two or three trucks and started the bloodbath. “They said they were determined to eliminate the Sikhs because those Sikhs had killed our beloved leader Indira Gandhi’ reads the statement recorded by the complainant in the FIR.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of Dhanpat Singh, the then sarpanch of Chillar who has stated that the killers came back in the evening and started burning the dwellings of the Sikhs. Though, the locals tried to stop them but the killers carried on their arson and attack, while threatening the locals to keep out. The complaint states, “Deep Chand Nambardar, Nanak Chand, Kanhaiya Lal Panch, a resident of Nurpur came to the spot and tried to convince them (killers). But, none of them paid any heed to it and said that Sikhs are traitors and we will finish them, and if you said a word then you will also face bad consequences. They were 400-500 in number and they put houses and shed on fire and started pelting stones, due to which some people were burnt in the houses”.

The sarpanch also stated that the locals could not identify the burnt bodies, which were 20 in number. “We wanted to come to report the incident immediately but those people confined us and did not allow us to come.” He also mentions the name of Subedar Deep Chand, who accompanied the sarpanch to the police station to report the incident.

The FIR was attested and signed by head constable Ram Kumar and it was registered under sections 148/149/302/436 and 34 of IPC. The document also says that a “special report is being sent by hand through Lal Prashad to Illaqa magistrate sahib and officers. Since the SHO sahib has gone to Rewari along with officials vide report no 21, dated 1.11.84 for special duty, he is being informed through wireless, and I, 2 HC along with constable Dharampal are leaving for the spot along with Dhanpat and Deep Chand.”

Sikhs for Justice and All India Sikh Student Federation had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court demanding a judicial probe into the horrific killing of Sikhs in village Hondh-Chillar in Rewari District, Haryana on November 2, 1984. In a Civil writ petition filed with the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Sikhs for Justice and All India Sikh Student Federation demanded an enquiry from a retired High Court to be assisted by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The killings of Sikhs in village Hondh Chillar further demonstrate that the massacre of Sikhs in November 1984 did not take place only in Delhi and that the killings of Sikhs were not sudden and angry reaction but a planned and organized genocide of the Sikhs. The way the massacre has remained undetected and the guilty unpunished, demonstrates complicity and participation by the highest functionaries of the government and the ruling party.

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Related Topics: 1984 Sikh Genocide, Denial of Justice, Hondh Chillar Massacre, November 1984

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