Road to Khalistan

Road to Khalistan is a blog not for people with weak heart and guts. It also has links to various other blogs from Sikh community across the world. All of them still carry fresh wounds from inhuman, brutal assault meted out to them and their loved ones on the evening of November 30th. Their only crime was they were Sikh by appearance and they happened to be in the vicinity of barbaric people.

I learnt about the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi at noon in BHEL colony at Bhopal. I was at the home of one prospective doctor customer , watching India Pakistan one day cricket match. I had almost finished my work in Bhopal and was to go back to Indore to carry on with my business trip. Everything seems fine at Bhopal Bus depot but not so when bus arrived at Indore bus terminus. Black billowing clouds were ballooning the city from the burning of Tyres . From the balcony of my hotel adjoining the railway lines, I could see crowds of people dragging their loot from the shops to their home. They were carrying furniture, shoes, toys and everything their hands could clutch. I struck a conversation with another fellow salesman who was also from Mumbai. We decided to go back to Mumbai the very same day. There was a passenger train that takes us to Ratlam by midnight well ahead of Frontier mail that would come from New Delhi.

Ratlam station was quiet at this early hour and it so remained even after train arrived. There were no tea vendors selling tea nor hustle bustle of porters. We had no confirmed reservation. We decided to get into the second class compartment with a hope to secure some seats under Ratlam quota. But people inside the compartment had locked the doors and would not let us come in. We had to plead them and seeing just two of us must have led them to open the door and bring us in. We had no idea why they behaved in such a manner. It was unusual that everyone was awake even at this time. Hushed silence prevailed as some people squeezed along the bench and let us have seat. As the train left the station, people around us explained the reason for not opening the compartment door.

Frontier mail starts from Amritsar and arrive in Delhi by evening. By the time passengers left Amristar, everything was normal.they News of the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi reach them in Delhi but they had no inkling what awaited them at Mathura station. Here the crowd with iron rods entered the station and picked up every Sikh that was in the compartment. They assaulted them will full fury, took all their jewellery and valuable belongings. As my eyes moved to the window seat, there was a old couple reclining along the window - his yellow turban had streaks of crimson red dried blood, her ear lobes torn by pulling away her ear rings. their body was covered with blankets. Their standstill posture gave me shivers about their physical condition. There were other Sikh families too faced similar mob fury. Most passengers expressed their helplessness with the situation as it happened within few minutes. Everyone did their best in offering their money so that they can carry on their journey. Ticket conductor too dropped in every now and then assuring them he would ensure railway police are there to take care of them at Bombay Central station.

When I read this blog, the horrible memories of my Frontier Mail journey on that fateful night came to my mind. Those days, I had colleague from New Delhi -Amarjeet Singh - who stayed in Jankapuri - an area that took brunt of the heinous crimes. In one of my business trips to Shimla, he recounted some of the horrors. He also promised to give me a book that compiled the events that led to Operation Blue Star and subsequent tragedy. I never got a chance to read that book - which he claimed was banned in India but I could imagine the contents of this book as I went through this blog of Road to Khalistan