Sameer Ahmad
Anantnag
This is a heart wrenching picture of four innocent children crying bitterly outside a cowshed in the chattisingpora when unidentified gunmen on March 20, 2000 brutally killed 36 persons belonging to faith of Sikhism.
The children in the photograph had lost their dear ones in the brutal massacre. Little did they know about the loss they had suffered , except they were frightened by the hue and cry of the people following the massacre. The picture received a lot of media attention and is still continues to attract attention whenever chattisinghpora massacre is recalled.
This correspondent was fortunate enough to locate one of the children in the picture. Identified as Gagandeep, the first from left in the picture, is presently working in National Defense Services and posted in New Delhi.
Gagandeep singh was only 8 year old and studying in class 3rd in year 2000 when the infamous incident took place. His father Uttam Singh was a truck driver who was one of the victims in the Chattisinghpora carnage.
Gagandeep, the only son of his parents is having two sisters. Eldest one Sukhwinder Kaur, is also in the picture (Last).
Today, Gagandeep is a handsome young man of 27 years of age. Ask him about the massacre, he trembles while recounting the horrifying scene.
“We don’t know who was behind the killings. It has been 19 years since the incident took place but the only grudge is that we have not been heard and merely assured that enquiry will be conducted. We are still living under the constant threat as the government has shown their back in conceding their demands for probe,” says Gagandeep.
“I was at home completely unaware of the untoward that was going to change our lives for the rest of the years to come. It was 7 p.m. when we heard some noise and somebody was shouting that army had cordoned our village. At 7:15 pm uniformed men barged into our house and took my father along. The men in uniform were herding up men in groups in Shoken Mohalla facing guruduwara. The whole operation seemed to have been pre-planned as we could hear these armed men talking to each other in Hindi. Their faces were covered with veils and some of them had applied colors on their faces, may be to avoid any identification. At 7:35 pm, we heard gunshots. We were so terrified that we ran inside the house to hide ourselves. It was later that I was told that my father was killed. I was not able to understand fully as what had happened. I think it was more of fear rather than the loss of my father that led me to cry. I think I was too young to understand the actual meaning of death,” said Gagandeep and too much of sadness was very much visible on his face while narrating the horrifying story. Continuing his horror tale of death and destruction in his village and his family being one of the worst victims, Gagandeep says: “But now when I am a grown up young man, it haunts me to recall that gruesome incident and I always feel like asking myself , “How could I bear the trauma of losing my father, my uncle and other relatives? I don’t remember much what happened later but one of our maternal relatives took all of us to his house where we stayed for many days and all of us were taken care of.”
He shared that life has not been so easy for them after the incident. He said, “After the death of my father it was my mother who looked after the family. My mother was only a housewife and didn’t know anything about professional life as she is not much educated. We had no regular source of income as our livelihood depended entirely upon my father’s earnings. It was the support of relatives especially the maternal support which helped us to recover both mentally, emotionally and financially. My mother stood by her family like a rock.”
However, after eight years of the death of his father, Gagandeep’s mother was provided with job of a librarian under the relevant SRO. This eased out things for them.
“My mother is my world and inspiration. Because of her unrelenting support, I was encouraged to work hard and that’s why I could qualify for NDA in 2011,” said Gagandeep.
His family has not moved out of the village. They live there and even his elder sister has been married in the same district. He visits his family during vacations.
He concluded the conversation expressing his pain which the massacre has given him and also the relief which his mother’s care and love has extended to him. He says, “Now that we are financially stable and we have accepted our fate but it’s the pain that never goes away. I still cherish the memories of my father when he would hold my tiny fingers and take me around the town. I still struggle with the grief without letting anybody know about it. But I am trying to get on with my life as I know that is what he would want”.
The good part of the story is that all the children in the photograph are doing pretty good in their lives and have overcome the tough time slowly and steadily without harbouring any grudges against anyone. However, as they say a picture speaks a thousand words. Things which can never be expressed in words. Emotions which cannot be explained that easily. But a picture can.
(The story is edited by Zia Darakshan,Associate Editor of INS)
