Hatred thrives in forgetfulness of a country’s past

Humans tend to forget history’s harsh lessons quickly. Those fanning communal tensions today conveniently forget that such attempts in the past have ended in devastation. The sentence served last week on Sajjan Kumar, a former Congress leader from Delhi, has not only revived memories of the dark days of the riots of 1984 in the wake of the assassination of Indira Gandhi but also forced us to reflect on our present-day world that reeks of hate.

Kumar was convicted of the murder of Jaswant Singh and his son in a case filed by Jaswant’s widow. Kumar hadn’t been arrested for long, and the police had even filed a “closure report" in the case at one point. But now the law finally has caught up with him. Till now Kumar has been found guilty on five counts of murder.

Jaswant and his son were burnt alive at Saraswati Vihar in Delhi on 1 November 1984, right before the eyes of his 14-year-old daughter. The child had chosen to stand by her father and brother despite the attackers asking women and children to leave the locality. She ended up with the lifelong trauma of witnessing the killing of her father and brother.

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The young girl didn’t know who the attackers were, where they had come from, or who had led them. All she knew was that the then prime minister Indira Gandhi had been shot dead at her official residence a day before by members of the community she belonged to. She had no connection with the murder, or the murderers. She was unaware of the politics that played out behind the nationwide carnage.

Kumar may have escaped the law, had it not been for a magazine cover bearing his picture. The girl recognized him from that picture, which led to the case that took 41 years to be closed. Today she’s 54, and a quintessential example of “justice delayed is justice denied".

Costly violence

The violence that broke in the aftermath of Indira’s assassination took 2,700 lives and destroyed billions of rupees worth of property around the country. It was feared then that the Sikh community in India would nurse a grudge and remain aloof from the mainstream. But the community deserves our respect and gratitude for picking up the pieces, rebuilding their lives and leaving the past behind, and doggedly pursuing the perpetrators of violence bringing them to justice even after long delays.

I, too, was a witness to the countrywide violence unleashed against the Sikhs. I used to live in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) then. I was in office, working on an evening bulletin on Indira’s assassination, when reports of the riots started coming in. Shops run by Sikhs were being looted, gurudwaras were being attacked and mobs had started ransacking the houses of Sikhs. By evening three people were killed and dozens were injured. The irony was that the district magistrate of Allahabad then was a Sikh. But the district administration and the law enforcement agencies felt powerless before a bloodthirsty crowd. I cannot ever forget what I had witnessed those days. Indira’s assassination was the fallout of resentment against Operation Bluestar ordered by her to flush out extremists from the Golden Temple.

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In the 1990s, we were again subject to nationwide communal violence—this time triggered by the demolition of Babri Masjid. More than 2,000 Indians died in the violence and once again property worth billions went up in smoke. Just like in 1984, people felt that the two largest communities in the country would never again live in harmony. However, the spirit of India once again won the day. We started coexisting peacefully once the dust settled on the communal frenzy.

Circumstances have undergone a sea change since. There was no social media then, and so the task of controlling hate was much less strenuous. Social media, meant to bring together diverse people worldwide, is ending up dividing them.

The dangerous trend is growing unabated. California University had published a shocking piece of research recently that said Twitter’s character witnessed a sea change since Elon Musk acquired the social media platform. Hate posts and reposts on X have grown by 50%. Musk is right now the adviser to the most powerful man in the world, US president Donald Trump.

Peacekeepers find the going tough when people in positions of power wittingly or unwittingly lean towards hate-mongering. Unfortunately, today, this is the trend panning out globally.

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.

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