How the historical discourse of Punjab unrest is being changed

History has a way of being waylaid sometimes, hijacked by vested interests.

This became more evident to me during my recent visit to Amritsar, the city of the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh. Incidentally, the day I landed there (Saturday, January 24), was the birth anniversary of one of the Sikh martyrs, Baba Deep Singh. The Golden Temple organised a procession in his memory and to mark his contribution to the strength and thought of Sikhism. The residents of the city and people from the Gurudwara participated. It was an occasion I relished every moment of.

Suddenly, my eye caught sight of a huge hoarding right in the front of the procession that had the image of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, surprisingly sharing space with one of the most revered Sikhs of our times. My thoughts travelled back to the man and the kind of impact he had among separatist voices in Punjab in the '70s and '80s. I was surprised to see his image in a procession organised by the city and his positioning next to the most pious souls in the history of Punjab.

I tried to shoot more pictures but was shoved and pushed by people who took offence at my photography. It stumped me why a city was allowing history to be hijacked by including names of separatist voice into a traditional commemorative procession that was lauding the faith and its proponents.

I wonder, if by staying silent we are, over time, changing the historical discourse of the Punjab unrest.