Balbir Singh

Seas of migrations of Sikhs from across India to Punjab took place at this time, three decades ago. On this day in 1984, November 25, Balbir Singh was 10 years old and remembers fleeing from his hometown of Ranchi, Jharkhand, for New Delhi. There, at Palam Airport, he recalls sleeping on the floor in the airport and seeing thousands and thousands of people. “1947 [Partition] came alive in 1984.”

His home in Ranchi had earlier in November been refuge to 50-55 Sikhs during the attacks. He remembers the commotion and deep fear as well as the threat of violence against his sisters and the reaction of his father.

After November 25, he traveled in a convoy through the roads of Haryana on his way to Punjab and witnessed burnt gurudwaras still smoldering, and corpses strewn around on both sides of the highway. Upon reaching Punjab he was faced with a population that was accommodating but was not able to grasp the intensity of the experiences of the refugees flowing in. In his new school, his class was called the “refugee class.”

Balbir Singh explains 1984 is the reason he is a proud and practicing Sikh today.