Punjab needs an initiative for reconciliation

The acrimony that Punjab has witnessed in recent months amid an attempt to revive the militant movement is reminiscent of the strife that the state experienced four decades ago. Its fallout is too familiar: it has reinforced fear and distrust among communities.

I was a young witness to the unforgettable year of 1984. Cataclysmic events happened that year Operation Blue Star, the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the anti-Sikh riots. I have closely watched the developments in Punjab thereafter. Charhda (rising) Punjab is slipping away from our hands. I will not dwell here on when or who sowed the seeds of distrust. But distrust has eroded Punjab’s prosperity, spurred migration and stolen Punjabis’ cheerfulness.

This begs the question: Should we continue to live with this corrosive phenomenon? The answer, of course, is a big no. Reconciliation is the way out.

Only reconciliation has the ability to erase communal divisions, make communities and individuals compatible and prosperous. Reconciliation involves repentance, forgiveness and forgetting; hence, large-heartedness and broad-mindedness. And this will not be the first time to embrace these virtues. Human society has over the millennia evolved through noble actions of statesmen and other well-meaning individuals.

There is an urgent need for reparation to heal Punjab’s fractured society. In June 2016, during my term as a Lok Sabha MP, I had mooted a proposal for setting up the ‘Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission’ in the state. It was broadly on the lines of the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa, but with the addition of ‘justice’ and some provisions necessary for Punjab.

The TRC was established by the South African government through a legislation in 1995 to bring about a reconciliation among the country’s people by uncovering the truth about human rights violations that had occurred between 1960 and 1994. Its aim was to gather evidence regarding brutalities and invoke collective national shame, besides identifying victims with a view to paying reparation.

The commission, chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, took the testimony of around 21,000 victims; 2,000 of them appeared at public hearings.

The commission avoided the course of ‘justice’ and instead followed the path of ‘amnesty’ for those who ‘fully disclosed’ their involvement in politically motivated human rights violations. The TRC made a recommendation for a reparation programme, including financial, symbolic and community reparation. It also recommended that South Africa’s society and political system should be reformed to include communities, businesses, the judiciary, prisons, the armed forces, the health sector, the media and educational institutions in a reconciliation process. Despite the obvious antipathy of the top echelons of the South African army and the government, besides members of the liberation movement, the commission made a substantial contribution. Desmond Tutu had rightly observed: “We have been privileged to help heal wounded people…When we look around us at some of the conflict areas of the world, it becomes increasingly clear that there is not much of a future for them without forgiveness, without reconciliation.”

As the 2016 proposal for the ‘Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission’, to be born out of political and legislative action by Parliament, has not found many takers, I have realised in hindsight that the idea mooted then was mainly a legal recourse to reconciliation.

The point is that there can be no reconciliation without a political initiative. The initiative of the ‘Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission’ now needs to be taken up by the real stakeholders the fraternities of Punjab itself. I believe that only thus can the demons of the past be exorcised to let peace prevail.

There is a need for a political initiative to be taken by the wise members of all Punjabi fraternities. Consultations must immediately start to form an open, representative and transparent forum, bringing all aspects of ‘truth’ and ‘justice’ to the table and forging reconciliation in the best interests of Punjab. Dialogue should be the norm and communication lines must be opened.

In the case of Punjab, ‘justice’ is, of course, a highly disputed matter. However, it must be included in the commission’s ambit. Over the past four decades, barring a few exceptions, justice has been denied or aborted not only by the wall of secrecy built around the whole saga of terror and bloodshed but also by the complete failure of law-enforcement agencies. Hindu commuters on buses or trains never knew for what fault they were being killed. Families across communities were eliminated, with women suffering the most raped or killed or both.

The need to move on individually or collectively makes it imperative to give a proper closure to the dark chapter, just as we perform rites for the peace of the departed soul. After an inordinate delay, we may be able to ensure justice for some of those who were killed, maimed or victimised. Only thus can their souls rest in peace.

I reiterate that communication and discourse are great instruments for bringing down the walls of hatred and promoting fraternity and brotherhood. In the same measure, these instruments are the bedrock of democracy. Guru Nanak said it so well: “Jab lag duniya rahiye, Nanak kuch suniye kuch kahiye.”

Let us shun distrust and fear; let democracy thrive; let fraternity and brotherhood prevail in Punjab, the famed land of saints, soldiers and farmers; let the spirit of humanity reign supreme.