Those Who Stood Guard: Remembering 1984’s quiet protectors

On the evening of 31 October 1984, as word of Indira Gandhi’s assassination spread, Sikh families across northern and eastern India shut their doors and waited. In city after city, including New Delhi, mobs moved from street to street. Shops were set on fire. Men were dragged out of their homes. Survivors say the same thing again and again: the police who were meant to protect them stood by and watched.