Sikh Man Helps Rescue Muslims Caught In Delhi Riot

Brut India

During the carnage of 1984, this Sikh man and his family were protected by his neighbours. In 2020, when North East Delhi was swept by a wave of communal violence, he went out of his way to return the favour. Meet the brave Mohinder Singh of Gokulpuri.

Transcript

00:00There was a lot of pain, but we were able to hold on to the young girls.

00:07Now, the pain has not affected us too much.

00:30We were looking at our business at the shop at 5 in the evening on 26th.

00:37Suddenly, a group of people gathered in a large group,

00:42and by chanting some religious slogans,

00:46they crossed in front of our shop and gathered at the main entrance.

00:52Because of that, the atmosphere in our area was very peaceful.

00:58After a while, the tension subsided.

01:01Near my shop, there are some Muslim families,

01:05some shopkeepers, whom we call Muslim people.

01:10There is also a mosque behind me.

01:15Because of the prayer time, a lot of Muslim people gathered there.

01:22Because of the tension, there was a sense of anxiety in everyone.

01:28So, they got together and in order to keep themselves safe,

01:36they decided to leave the area.

01:40I am the head of the market association here.

01:44I had a feeling that some people in the mosque wanted to leave.

01:50So, we decided to leave the area.

01:53We tried to explain to the people of our area,

01:57that this is an isolated area,

02:01and you should not go anywhere.

02:04We will protect you, so don't worry.

02:08But the atmosphere was very tense.

02:12They requested us to make arrangements to leave the area.

02:19My wife, my daughters, and the ladies there,

02:24were reassured by my wife.

02:26They brought us home, fed us, made tea for us.

02:29They were reassured that we should stay at home.

02:32How many people came to your house?

02:35There were about 10-12 women, children, and girls.

02:40My wife took care of them.

02:43We stayed at home for about an hour.

02:47After that, we also felt that the atmosphere was getting worse.

02:53I was alone, but there was no one else in the neighborhood.

02:58I called my son Inderjit,

03:01and told him that we will have to make arrangements to leave the area.

03:04He told me to come back as soon as possible.

03:08My son Inderjit Singh came to me with his bike.

03:13He gave me a bullet and I gave him a scooter.

03:16We started with our daughters.

03:18There were 2-3 people sitting on the bike and scooter.

03:22We were about 1.5 km from our area.

03:25The whole area was Muslim.

03:27Our Muslim brothers and their relatives live there.

03:32They told us to stay there.

03:35I saw the atmosphere of the area.

03:37On the streets, I saw a lot of religious people chanting slogans.

03:44Seeing that, we started with our daughters.

03:49We took care of the young people.

03:54In about 1.5 hours, we were able to help 50-60 people.

03:59What was the atmosphere like on the road you were taking?

04:07There were a lot of trees.

04:10We were able to help the young people.

04:15We didn't have to worry about the trees.

04:19We didn't have any problems on the road.

04:22Some Muslims had different views.

04:28They told us that we can understand their views.

04:31We were able to help them.

05:03As Guru Sahib has taught us, Surahs are 100 signs of religion.

05:08I have seen the events of 1984.

05:14My brother was also there.

05:16I was 16-17 years old.

05:19At that time, Hindu society took care of our family.

05:22We had to pay social debt.

05:25I took this opportunity to help the society.

05:32This was Guru Sahib's guidance.

05:34This is the result of our humanity.

05:38I want to say that Sardarji supported the Muslims.

05:42But we didn't have a separate community.

05:47We only saw the people who were suffering.

05:54We didn't do this with any particular community.

05:57Guru Sahib taught us about Hinduism.

06:00We didn't do this with any particular community.

06:04This was our duty.

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