Punjab was the arena of one of the first major armed conflicts of post-colonial India. During its deadliest decade, as many as 250,000 people were killed. This book makes an urgent intervention in the history of the conflict, which to date has been characterized by a fixation on sensational violenceor ignored altogether. Mallika Kaur unearths the stories of three people who found themselves at the center of Punjab's human rights movement: Baljit Kaur, who armed herself with a video camera to record essential evidence of the conflict; Justice Ajit Singh Bains, who became a beloved people's judge; and Inderjit Singh Jaijee, who returned to Punjab to document abuses even as other elites were fleeing. Together, they are credited with saving countless lives. Braiding oral histories, personal snapshots, and primary documents recovered from at-risk archives, Kaur shows that when entire conflicts are marginalized, we miss essential stories: stories of faith, feminist action, and the power of citizen-activists.

Brings together personal narrative, oral history, and scholarly rigor to offer a new perspective on an understudied conflict Draws on a wide range of primary sources, including videos, legal forensics, and other materials from at-risk, near-extinct archives Appeals to scholars, students, and activists interested in South Asian studies, oral history, memory studies, gender and conflict, transitional justice, Sikh culture and history, and the history of postcolonial India

Autorentext

Mallika Kaur is a lawyer and writer who focuses on human rights, with a specialization in gender and minority issues. She received her Master in Public Policy from Harvard University, USA, and her Juris Doctorate from the UC Berkeley School of Law, USA, where she currently teaches.

Inhalt

1. Proem.- 2. Earth, Water, Pyre.- 3. Monu's Mummy.- 4. Jamuns.- 5. Next, Kill All the Lawyers.- 6. Holy of the Holy.- 7. Two Urns.- 8. Guavas and Gaslighting.- 9. Glasnost.- 10. Ten Thousand Pairs of Shoes.