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Film on Sikh massacre
plays out at Harper
WSN Network
 Harper College this week was the focus of many in the local Sikh
community as the Palatine campus hosted the Chicago-area premiere of
"The Widow Colony," an award-winning human rights documentary
chronicling the stories of Sikh women dealing with the deaths of
their husbands, brothers and sons after the 1984 massacre in India
following the assassination of Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. In apparent
retaliation, the riots led to the massacre of thousands of Sikhs in
a span of 48 hours.
Ruby Kular of Arlington Heights helped arrange the Harper showing of
the documentary after hearing the movie was being shown across the
country. Kular, a Sikh, wants to raise awareness about massacre.
"I
felt it was important for it to (be shown) here," he said. Though
evidence suggests the Indian government ordered some of the riots,
no one has ever been prosecuted. A formal apology for the bloodshed
was made in 2005 by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, though it
didn't explicitly acknowledge government involvement. Many Sikhs
rejected the apology, as many believe some of those thought
responsible continue to serve in government posts.
Rajinder Mago of
Wayne has lived in the Chicago area nearly 40 years. He helped found
the Palatinebased Sikh Religious Society of Chicago. Though there
are many reminders of massacres like the Jewish Holocaust, Mago says
the Indian government has effectively covered up the Sikh massacre.
"If the government in
India is truly a democracy, they should take some action and put
this in the past forever," Mago said.
There about 25 million Sikhs worldwide, with about 210,000 in the
U.S. It's the world's fifth-largest religion, found predominantly in
the northern Indian province of Punjab. "The Widow Colony" producer
Manmeet Singh, who is Sikh, finished the film in 2006 with his wife,
Harpreet Kaur, directing. Singh wasn't in Palatine for the
screenings and is currently in
India.
The film shows how the surviving women live their lives together in
a
Delhi
neighborhood. "The first reaction when you watch the movie is these
women keep repeating they want to have justice," Singh said. "And
that's something that hasn't been delivered." Many of these women
are destitute, he also said.
Singh said showing the film to Western audiences could place
pressure on the Indian government to take action and give the
victims closure and justice. There were two showings at Harper's J
Theatre, at
2:15 p.m.
and
5:15 p.m.
27
February 2008
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