1984 riots: Chetan Chauhan and a train to Delhi

Rohit Mahajan

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17

Chetan Chauhan, who died on Sunday, was, at 37, the oldest man in the North Zone squad which boarded the train in Pune for what turned out to be a frightening journey to New Delhi. North Zone had beaten Central Zone in the semifinals of the Duleep Trophy, the match ending on October 30, 1984. The next day, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated.

It was a horrible situation, but I was not afraid. More than scary, it was sad. I asked God — ‘Why have you made human beings like this?’On the stations on the way, there was chaos, they wanted to find and kill Sikhs. I had short hair, and I didn’t look like a Sikh. Sidhu and Ghai needed to be protected. We hid them under the seats, placed kit bags around so that no one could figure out anyone was there — Yograj Singh

North Zone were scheduled to travel to Ahmedabad by bus for the final against South Zone. Instead, with the match cancelled as parts of India descended into lawlessness as mobs attacked Sikhs, the team boarded the train to New Delhi.

Ashok Malhotra, Arun Sharma, Chetan Chauhan, Yashpal Sharma… They would go out when the train stopped at a station, and they would try to make sure that no one came in — Rajinder Singh Ghai

It turned out to be a perilous journey, with mobs surrounding the train at stops on the way and looking for Sikh travellers.

North Zone had five Sikh players in the squad — Yograj Singh, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rajinder Singh Ghai, Maninder Singh and Gursharan Singh. Of them, Maninder had gone to Delhi by flight, with the captain, Kirti Azad, remembers Ghai. Yograj had short hair and did not wear a turban and did not need to be protected from the mobs — he was, in fact, one of the more aggressive protectors.

He (Chauhan) was the senior-most, and he remained very cool, and made sure that we all protected Sidhu and Ghai. …Everyone was scared, but we managed to remain very cool — Ashok Malhotra

Gursharan Singh says that he had boarded another train to Delhi with another Sikh player, Rajinder Singh Hans, who had played for Central Zone — luckily, they did not encounter any trouble during the journey.

This meant that Sidhu and Ghai — the former only 21 years old, and Ghai only 24 — were the two vulnerable players who needed to be saved from the mobs thirsting for blood.

Scary

“As we travelled, we learned about the riots and killings,” says Ghai, who now runs a business in the US. “Luckily, we were travelling in an AC compartment, which had tinted glasses, so people could not see inside.” But as the train stopped at stations on the way, goons did come in. “They would be looking for us… They would ask, ‘Where’s Sidhu, where’s Ghai…’ But our teammates hid the two of us under the seats, and told the goondas that Sidhu and Ghai were not there, that they had travelled separately.”

“Ashok Malhotra, Arun Sharma, Chetan Chauhan, Yashpal Sharma, Sarkar Talwar… They would go out when the train stopped at a station, and they would try to make sure that no one came in,” says Ghai.

Malhotra, one of the seniors, says Chauhan was the “akalmand” one. “He was the senior-most, and he remained very cool, and made sure that we all protected Sidhu and Ghai,” says Malhotra. “We were wearing hats, and one goonda asked Arun Sharma to take off his hat (to see if he was Sikh)… And Arun, obviously, had short hair. Everyone was scared, but we managed to remain very cool. Some of the boys were prepared to fight if needed… One of the boys said they had gathered soda water bottles! I said how many of the mob can we fight!”

Prepared

One of those who was determined to fight, if needed to protect his teammates, was Yograj. “It was a horrible situation, but I was not afraid,” says Yograj. “More than scary, it was sad. I asked God — ‘Why have you made human beings like this?’ On the stations on the way, there was chaos, they wanted to find and kill Sikhs. I had short hair, and I didn’t look like a Sikh. Sidhu and Ghai needed to be protected. We hid them under the seats, placed kit bags around so that no one could figure out anyone was there.”

Yograj has a poignant memory of Sidhu’s resoluteness. “At one point, I asked around for scissors, and found a pair. I proposed, for the sake of safety, that their hair be shorn,” says Yograj. “But Navjot, he was very firm. He said he’d die but not cut his hair. I’m very proud of him because of this.”

“I’m sure of one things — if we had been attacked, I would have fought back, and I would have died protecting them, but I would have taken a few of the goons with me!” adds Yograj.

Malhotra remembers that the journey, which usually took less than two days, lasted for “three-four” days because of the chaos and stops on the way. “There was a long stop at Agra,” he remembers.”

Lucky escape

Gursharan, who was only 21 at the time, says he was lucky to escape the mayhem. “I was with Hans paaji… And fortunately, our train was not attacked,” he says. Gursharan, however, landed in a Delhi that was burning. “I lived in GK-II then, and we could see columns of smoke from far,” he remembers. “It was scary. I left my hair open, like a girl, and managed to reach my home.”

“Delhi was burning,” says Yograj. “I could not believe this was my country in this modern era — that people had become worse than beasts.”

It’s worth remembering, too, that in the mayhem, some people did become heroes and did the right thing. As for Chauhan, Malhotra, Yograj, Yashpal, Talwar and others, standing up for their brother players was the least they could do.