The 1984 Anti-Sikh Pogroms Remembered

The genocidal pogroms against the Sikh people in India in November 1984 left thousands dead. In many of the outer areas of the capital, New Delhi, whole neighbourhoods were wiped out. Women were raped in large numbers. Senior politicians of the Congress (I) party led mobs, assisted by the police and administration. Thirty years on no memorials exist to the dead and the perpetrators continue to enjoy complete impunity. But the silence is slowly breaking. Not just about the damage caused to the justice system, memory and language in India, but also about the individual and collective trauma that exists within Sikh communities across the world.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the November 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms, the Wiener Library is delighted to feature the work 1984: Jis tann lãgé soee jãné by photographer Gauri Gill. The images and texts from the artist's 1984 notebooks reflect upon the pogroms and their ongoing impact in India. The images are from the resettlement colonies of Trilokpuri, Tilak Vihar and Garhi - various sites across Delhi - as well as protest rallies in the city. The accompanying texts by leading artists, poets, filmmakers and writers from Delhi remark upon the event, via the images, in thoughtful ways.

The exhibition also contains photographs of the pogrom as it occurred in November 1984 itself, and are drawn from the work of Indian photographers, Ashok Vahie, Ram Rahman and Sondeep Shankar.

Contributors to this project include contemporary Indian artist Arpana Caur; Senior Advocate and Human Rights activist, Harvinder Singh Phoolka, academic Dr Navsharan Singh; eminent historian Dr Uma Chakravarti; prizewinning Canadian author Jaspreet Singh and Parvinder Singh of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).

The exhibition will be open between 29 October and 23 December 2014. A special weekend viewing will take place between 11am and 2pm on Sunday 2nd November. At 12pm there will also be a brief ceremony to mark the anniversary as well as a silence to remember the victims of the pogrom.

Admission to this event is free, but space is limited and places will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. To register your interest or for further information please contact [email protected].

Image right: Sikhs protesting against the Nanavati Commission report. New Delhi 2005. Copyright Gauri Gill.