School recalls ’84 horror

One of the few places to be attacked in South Delhi during the ’84 riots,this primarily Sikh school was closed after Indira Gandhi’s assassination and students rushed home.

It were the staff members staying on campus who came face-to-face with a 50-strong mob. School caretaker Sharanjeet Singh,the only member of the present staff to have witnessed the 1984 attack,remembers how they managed to ward off the crowd and lock the gates. The trouble,however,was far from over.

Around 11 am,two buses followed by a crowd broke open the gate and burnt three school buses. The crowd had swelled to thousands by then.

The mob then reportedly set the basement on fire and began to strip the building of whatever they could lay their hands on — fans,tubelights,even taps.

“Two policemen sent to the school told physics teacher,Mr Hashmi,“Khada khada kya kar raha hai? Loot le” (Take whatever you can). It was Nandita Haksar (daughter of P N Haksar,Personal Secretary to Indira Gandhi) who came with a group of JNU students and shifted all 44 staff members. They were made to stay in Munirka overnight and then shifted to JNU. The school was opened 25 days later,after the DDA rebuilt it.

“We got a call from the DPS R K Puram Principal on the day of the assassination asking us to shift our buses to their campus. Our school chairman Sardar Tejwant Singh was very close to Indira Gandhi. ‘Hamein kya chinta hai?’ Principal H S Singha,had said,” Sharanjeet Singh told The Indian Express.

But not everyone has come to terms with the sense of betrayal. Sukhdeep Singh,the school’s sports instructor at the time,had kept the mob at bay. “I have nothing to say,” he said. His wife Lakhwinder said he hid in the nearby Priya Park for two days after he helped everyone to safety. Even the Rs 1,000 cheque that was given to them as compensation later bounced.