Hardeep Kaur

Reminding us that the violence of 1984 was not contained to Punjab, Hardeep Kaur shares the threats and alienation her family faced in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

She also recalls the climate in Punjab University, Chandigarh, where she was a student in 1984: the contrast between some girl students from the villages of Punjab and the rest of the campus, receiving information from the the news on the radio. It was the beginning of her own journey “Who am I? Where do I belong?”

Her parents, government employees, who were from Punjab cadre but ended up in Himachal Pradesh when Punjab was trifurcated, would speak to her about the unfair treatment of Sikhs and Punjab. But her family had always lived in a close-knit mixed community in Himachal till 1984. Then, she recounts the dangerous rumors spread against her family. She also recalls how Sikhs were being pulled out from buses in Himachal and beaten up.

“This is the first time I am talking about it…” she tells the 1984 Living History Project as she shares her personal feelings and flashbacks.

“Shaheedian kade bekar naahin jandiyaan…oh kaum te baraa assar paa ke jandiyaan ne,” Hardeep Kaur concludes.