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ਜਿਗਰੀ ਜੱਟ

6 Jun, 16 tweets, 5 min read

The Indian Govt hired an international PR agency, with a multi-million dollar retainer, long before the events of June 1984. By the 2nd week of June, the agency began to mail a series of unsolicited videotapes to individuals, public opinion leaders & institutions in the Diaspora.

These tapes contained hurriedly orchestrated intewiews, speeches, rallies, panel-discussions & so-called
information sessions, created to disseminate misinformation about the event in India, with a simple goal in mind:

To distract & divert public attention from the crimes committed by the govt against it's own citizens.

The propaganda succeeded in polarising the communities of India. The great divide that tore the social fabric of the Nation and pitted the communities of India against each other, at home & abroad, stems in part from the seeds originally sown by these 1984 Propaganda Tapes.

The camera remains focused on a fixed scene & carefully avoids showing the bombed-out shells of buildings which are ablaze as this very footage is being shot.

Here again the camera strategically avoids facing the Akal Takht & is kept at a distance to avoid showing the bullet holes on the Darbar Sahib

A state narrative is read over footage showing selected areas of the complex.

When Sikh intellectuals and leaders refused to echo the Govt line that the assault & massacres were necessary to maintain law & order, fringe groups were recruited to become apologists for the Govt crimes.

Large crowds of the peasantry were trucked in from rural areas to create a semblance of support for hastily-organized rallies.

This Baba Santa Singh was excommunicated for helping the Indian congress rebuild the Akal Takht in 1984

Indira refused to withdraw the army until the repairs were complete. She said she could not trust the Sikhs to repair their shrines because of the suggestion by some eminent Sikhs that the Akal Takht should be left in ruins as a permanent reminder of its desecration.