Chandigarh, November 4
The Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party today opened its one-day conclave, ‘Zakhm 84 De’, at Hotel Parkview, Sector 24, with a photographic exhibition on the 1984 Sikh massacre. The exhibition was inaugurated by former union minister and Lok Sabha MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, Punjab BJP President Kewal Singh Dhillon and Punjab BJP In-charge Dr. Satish Poonia.
Mounted on large panels with Punjabi captions, the black-and-white archival photographs bring the events of 1984 before the younger generation. They show the burning of Sikh homes and jhuggis in Trilokpuri, Sikh shops set ablaze at Connaught Place, and the aftermath in Delhi’s lanes. Another panel depicts families uprooted from their homes, sitting with the belongings they managed to save, while another records Sikhs being dragged out of buses.
The exhibition presents incidents, evidence and the human suffering caused by the massacre, 42 years after the tragedy. The conclave runs from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Its sessions will bring together survivors, eyewitnesses, legal experts, former judges and community representatives to discuss the four-decade legal battle for justice and the rehabilitation of affected families.