Exhibit reveals pain from Punjab disappearances
BBC photojournalist hopes images show the ‘grace, resilience, grief and despair’ of Sikh families left behind by violence in the 1980s
Decades have passed since thousands of Sikh families lost loved ones to disappearances and extrajudicial killings in India’s Punjab region. But for many the pain remains raw.
A new international photo exhibit, launched last week in Vancouver, seeks to remind people that those families are still grieving and yearning for answers and justice.
Abhishek Madhukar’s haunting Lapata. And the Left
Behind documents, in black and white, some of their stories. It runs at the The Space, An Art Gallery in Yaletown until Tuesday.
In 1995, human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra uncovered how thousands of Sikh women, children and men had been abducted or executed by Punjab police since violence erupted against Sikhs after the 1984 assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Khalra himself disappeared in 1995 — human rights groups say he was abducted, tortured and murdered by police — but various organizations continue his work.
One of them is Khalsa Aid International, which provides aid in disaster areas and civil conflict zones around the globe, and commissioned Lapata. Vancouver was chosen for its debut because of the large Sikh population in the metro area.
Madhukar, 43, is a journalist with the BBC based in Delhi. The self-taught photographer took the dozens of the images for Lapata during several trips to the Punjab between 2016 and 2018.
He would travel to remote areas and villages to meet the families and interview them at their homes, where they would show him photos of their long-lost loved ones, and share stories of trauma and heartache.
“It was quite intense just meeting the mothers and relatives of the people, and speaking with them and photographing them,” Madhukar said in an email. “The stories and lives were right before me, wide open, and I was familiar with it, and it was important that I did not forget or made an effort to remind others of what happened with us, and who we are or what we become by our acts and deeds.”
Madhukar said he hopes
So we are reminded and avoid repeating such situations at all costs.” Abhishek Madhukar
the exhibit will teach people about the disappearances, but also serve as a reminder of widespread violations of human rights against people such as the Yazidis, Rohingya, Tibetans, Tamils and Kashmiris.
“There are those who want to gain or maintain power, those who resist and the many others who are caught in the crossfire and have no control over any of the factors at play,” he said.
“These images tell the story of this last group — their grace, resilience, grief and despair. So we are reminded and avoid repeating such situations at all costs.”
He wants visitors to the exhibit from all backgrounds to connect with and see the humanity of the subjects in his photos, and have sympathy for their suffering and stories.
Jatinder Singh, director of Khalsa Aid Canada, said the exhibit is meant to help expose a largely unknown tragedy in India.
Singh said at least 5,000 cases of disappearances and executions have been documented by Ensaaf, a nonprofit seeking justice for crimes against humanity that is focused on the Punjab.
“There is this continuing lack of closure and justice for all of these families who you will see here today.”
The free public exhibit is open to May 4 to 7 at 1063 Hamilton St. Details are at lapata-exhibition.com.