Black November: Writings on the Sikh Massacres of 1984 and the Aftermath

On the 35th anniversary of the anti-Sikh carnage of 1984 | this unprecedented collection brings together the voices of survivors | writers | poets and activists to record the systematic violence | rape and trauma inflicted on a community | and its enduring after-effects. On 31 October 1984 | when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards | thousands of Sikh men | women and children were humiliated | beaten | burnt alive and lynched in unimaginable ways by organized | angry mobs across north and central India. This collection of interviews | affidavits | short stories | plays and poetry recounts the horrific violence | betrayals and the ensuing injustice suffered by the survivors | who have lived with their trauma for over three and a half decades. At a time when caste and religious minorities in India are being systematically targeted and isolated yet again | this book brings to light | with empathy and unflinching honesty the blood-curdling fear and alienation of a whole community torn apart by state-abetted violence | and worn down by the subsequent slog for justice. Black November contains interviews conducted by Nandita Haksar and Uma Chakravarti in the immediate aftermath of the riots | more recent interviews by the editor Ishmeet Kaur Chaudhry in the Tilak Vihar Widows’ Colony | chilling accounts by Jarnail Singh | Manmohan Singh | Dhiren Bhagat | as well as moving short stories | plays and poetry by Harish Narang | N.S. Madhavan | Rachel Bari | Bishnu Mohapatra | Harnidh Kaur | Parvinder Mehta | Manroop Dhingra | among others.