When silence speaks more than words

May 01, 2013 10:53 am | Updated June 08, 2016 02:43 am IST - NEW DELHI:

A woman displaying a banner outside the Karkardooma Court Complex in the Capital on Tuesday. Photo: S. Subramanium

A woman displaying a banner outside the Karkardooma Court Complex in the Capital on Tuesday. Photo: S. Subramanium

She silently stood holding a placard which read: “A government and a judiciary that punish the innocent and reward the guilty have no democratic standing”. In front of her, 54-year-old Harwinder Singh Kohli, was talking about how he witnessed his father and brother-in-law being set ablaze by a frenzied mob.

“I strongly feel for the community. Justice should be done,” she said, merely identifying herself as an independent activist. “I started reading about this issue last year and I was left devastated. This is my way of showing my support.”

With a dupatta over her head to protect her from the heat, she enquired if she could enter the court complex but decided instead to join the gathering outside. “It is not just about Sajjan Kumar but there were so many people behind the scenes such as the police and the intelligence who were also responsible for the riots,” she said. “It was a Sikh genocide and it has been completely trivialised.”

An hour or so later, when the verdict was revealed, she stood behind the protesters who had managed to enter the court complex. This time her placard read – “How can anyone in India be safe if man eaters are free to kill again and again.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.