A group of 1984 riot victims organised a protest rally in the Sector-17 Plaza demanding compensation from the Chandigarh Administration. They said they were promised money so that they could rebuild their lives but they had not received the money till date.

“I have not been able to sleep properly in the past 25 years. Every time I close my eyes, the horror of the past haunts me. Hundreds of people were burnt alive in front of me,” said Sita Singh, while recounting the fateful day.

Sita, who was a truck driver, relocated to Chandigarh from Delhi after the riots.

“Near Gurgaon, a barricade had been set up. Around 20 trucks were stopped and I was driving the second one in the lane. Suddenly, children started torching trucks. Some of the drivers managed to run away. The owner of my truck was sleeping. He along with the cleaner of the truck was burnt alive by the mob. Some of the drivers who were running for their lives were caught and set on fire,” he recalls.

“I managed to escape but we were found by another group of rioters. They took us to a house, assaulted us and cut our hair. The next day, the Army rescued us. My family which was in Jammu thought I had been killed. They had also performed my last rites. I somehow managed to reach my brother who was living here, in Chandigarh.”

Another victim Harminder Singh also shared his trauma. “The riots in Delhi spread to Rohtak. My shoe shop was torched. I barely managed to save my life. We shifted to Chandigarh and started from a scratch. Help from the authorities was not forthcoming.”