Amarjeet Singh turned 20 this April. And the resident of Tilak Nagar, a resettlement colony of 1984 riot victims, voted for the first time. He was not born when his parents and grandparents were rendered homeless in the riots following Indira Gandhi’s assassination and grew up hearing stories of the massacre. “I will vote for someone who I think will work for the area but at the back of my mind, I have the horror stories of 1984. They will definitely influence my decision,” he said.

Fellow first-time voter Jagtar Singh said: “Even if I don’t want to discuss or hear stories about the riots, my parents force me to. Whenever we discuss the riots at home, I can see the anger on their faces. I can understand what they must have gone through.” Jaspinder Singh, 22, said, “I am happy with development work in our area but I cannot overlook the past. I fear what happened with Sikhs in the past can happen again in future,” said . Jaspinder’s mother, Jasmeet Kaur, wants her son to know the suffering she and her family had undergone.

“The sufferings of the 1984 riots will live with us all our lives. We cannot forget and will never let the memories fade from the minds of the coming generations,” she adds.

The youth at the rehabilitation colony is clear about its decision, but the elders do not want to comment.

“All that is history now. We have had a very long wait. Now we want development in the area. We want water and power. I want to vote for somebody who can now provide us with the basic facilities,” said Harbhajan Singh.

... contd.