Grave Truths

[gupt faujaan]

Ropar: Death is the great leveller, they say. But when I visited a few villages around Chamkaur Sahib in Ropar district of Punjab and met parents of young men who 'disappeared' during the days of terrorism, I wondered if the adage was true all the time.

THE LONG WAIT: People who lost their near ones during days of terrorism

Poor farmers narrated how their sons were picked up by the police, never to return. The authorities were not interested in finding out what happened to them. The hapless parents waited for long and then knocked all doors of justice but to no avail. Most of them sobbed unabashedly as they described their agony to me.

Some questions troubled me: how come only the sons of the poor were picked up and killed? And how come only they are facing difficulties in getting a proper death certificate?

A 70-year-old man whose son had 'disappeared' spoke as if he had read my thoughts. He said that the rich too had their share of disappearances. They were victims of police extortion, too. With a lot of wealth to pass on to the next generation, their need of the death certificate was greater than that of the poor. Yet they don't go to the court or talk to the press. They usually used their influence (and affluence) to deal with the matter quietly.

If at all there is anything common among them, it is the composition of the families: elderly grandparents who take care of grandchildren and wives of the 'disappeared' who have moved on in life.