'84 Massacre Website
DSGMC Posts Records on Internet
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee released www.carnage84.com
in July 2002. This website presents a comprehensive account of the 1984 carnage.
It includes area-wise details of the violence linked to a map of Delhi, 1000
affidavits of victims and witnesses, an image library, over 2
500
names and addresses of victims, all official and human rights inquiry reports,
statements of eminent persons, developments to date, and a FAQ (frequently asked
questions) section.
Seventeen years ago, for three full days, armed mobs had a free run of India's
Capital hunting down Sikhs, one of the more prosperous minority communities
of the country, killing their men by burning them alive, looting and destroying
their properties, molesting their women and assaulting their children, all with
the patronage of the then ruling Congress party and its leaders.
This website was created to give a historical record of the carnage, the biggest-ever
massacre anywhere in India, of how 4,000 Sikhs were
massacred in Delhi alone in the three days of November, 1984, and the covert
but very determined efforts made by the state machinery to shield the culprits
and deny justice to the victims.
According to a July 12th Indian Express article, www.carnage84.com has logged
a significantly large number of hits in the short time since its release, more
from overseas visitors than domestic visitors. The site is hosted by Economicalhost.com.
The paper also reports that the website was the brainchild of Senior Advocate
H. S. Phoolka who conceived the idea after the Gujarat massacre of February
2002. Phoolka said that he had been the caretaker of all information on the
'84 riots and wanted to put it on the internet for all to know about this part
of Indian history. "Only when people are informed of such incidents that
the victims will get justice and it is because the '84 riots went unpunished
that history repeated itself in the form of Gujarat." Phoolka, himself,
was caught up in but escaped the '84 massacre. The Indian Express article can
be found on the carnage84 website.
While the DSGMC's www.carnage84.com focuses on the November '84 massacre in Delhi, the UK based website www.burningpunjab.com covers events from Operation Blue Star to human rights violations in Punjab from the mid 1980's to the mid 1990's. Burningpunjab.com was created in 1997 by the late Sukhbir Singh Osan who died of a heart attack earlier this year at the age of 31. Burningpunjab.com also contains a large number of images, reports, and testimonials. The two websites compliment each other and offer a wealth of information.