In November 1984, when the entire police machinery either became mute spectators or sided with the political and bureaucratic leadership in Delhi and other parts, few men stood tall and did not bother to toe the line. One such police officer was Maxwell Pereira who was instrumental in saving historic Gurdwara Sisgang Sahib from being torched by lumpens. WSN pays a tribute to the bravery and integrity of Maxwell Pereira.

Whenever a Sikh passes through the Daryaganj police station, the police posts at Sultanpuri, Mongolpuri and Nangloi, his blood boils recalling how the police personnel disarmed the very few Sikhs who had licensed weapons or had 3 feet long Kirpans and other traditional weaponry. We cannot help but recall that the police told lies after lies to cheat the Sikhs and then in cahoots with the lumpens allowed Sikh homes to be looted and burnt, Sikh men to be killed and Sikh women to be assaulted.

It is not that they did not know their duty. They were following a holier than thou attitude. They were following unwritten orders from “the top”. But one man stood up. He showed that it was eminently possible to save the Sikhs’ live and property.

The situation was explosive by the time Maxwell Pereira, the number two police officer of the north Delhi district, reached Sis Ganj Gurdwara on the morning of 1 November 1984.

He found that about 200 Sikhs had descended on the road, and displaying naked swords and spears in the famous Chandni Chowk market. The provocation obviously was the mobs closing in on the Gurdwara from both directions, shouting aggressive slogans.

“ When Pereira saw that his warning to the crowd to disperse had little effect, he took the next logical step. Pereira ordered firing. He got his men to open fire on the miscreants who were looting a shoe shop owned by Sikhs.”

Unlike his counterparts in other parts of Delhi, Pereira did not disarm the Sikhs and leave them at the mercy of the mobs. Instead, he persuaded them to go inside the Gurdwara by promising to provide them security. He kept his word and dealt with the mob sternly despite having a meagre force at his command.

To be sure, it took a lot of courage and ingenuity to do so. Once he got the Sikhs to go indoors, the mobs from both directions were emboldened to pelt stones with greater vigour. All that Pereira and his men could do in return was threaten to fire with their revolvers. In a gritty display of policing, they managed to keep the crowd at a safe distance from the Gurdwara till a small reinforcement came along with tear smoke ammunition.

The tear gas firing that ensued helped the police chase the crowd away from the Gurdwara on the Chandni Chowk road in both directions. The team that had chased the crowd right up to Town Hall reported to Pareira on the wireless that some of the miscreants, having been prevented from attacking Sis Ganj Gurdwara, had turned their attention to shops owned by Sikhs. The mob indulged in looting and arson.

“This resolute and firm stand of Shri Pereira had an instant impact and the mob dispersed. Thereafter, there was no serious incident (in that area) during the entire period of riots. This incident proves beyond doubt that where the police officers showed the strength and the determination to check the riots, they could be really effective with little force too.”

Kusum Lata Mittal, bureaucrat, in her departmental enquiry report.

On rushing to the fresh flashpoint, Pereira saw that a Sikh-owned shop, Amrit Watch Company, had already been set on fire. He warned the crowd to disperse. It had little effect. That is when Pereira took the next logical step to enforce law and order, something that no other officer did anywhere in Delhi on 1 November, the first and worst day of the carnage.

Pereira ordered firing. He got his men to open fire on the miscreants who were looting a shoe shop owned by Sikhs. Constable Shiv Prashan of Kotwali police station opened fire on his order. Shiv Prashan fired three rounds, shooting one of the looters dead in full view of the rioters. Driving home the rule of law, Pereira announced then and there, a reward of Rs 200 to the constable, making sure the reward was heard by everyone as he announced it on a loud-hailer. The firing and the reward had the desired and expected effect. Sis Ganj Gurdwara was saved as the mobs melted away.

An administrative inquiry conducted by retired bureaucrat, Kusum Lata Mittal, rightly concluded, “This resolute and firm stand of Shri Pereira had an instant impact and the mob dispersed. Thereafter, there was no serious incident (in that area) during the entire period of riots. This incident proves beyond doubt that where the police officers showed the strength and the determination to check the riots, they could be really effective with little force too.”

There was unfortunately no such resolute and firm action in the face of a similar threat to Rakab Ganj Gurdwara, the other holy shrine for Sikhs in Delhi, around the same time. Police Commissioner Subhash Tandon, and Additional Commissioner Gautam Kaul, despite being superior in rank, showed none of Pereira’s will to check the breakdown of law and order. They did not even cane the mob, let alone resorting to tear gas or firing.

Emboldened by the police’s obvious reluctance to take any action against miscreants, the mob at Rakab Ganj Gurdwara laid siege to it for at least five hours, indulging in various forms of violence. It pelted stones at the Sikhs inside the Gurdwara. It flung burning rags doused with petrol. Jumping over the compound wall, it transgressed into the Gurdwara again and again. On one occasion, it tried to break the Gurdwara’s main door and when that proved too strong to break, it set the door on fire. On another occasion, the mob attacked an employee’s house inside the complex and set it on fire. In what was the worst of all its crimes on the spot, the mob killed two Sikhs.

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There are plenty of stories of police complicity in the carnage of November 1984. Those of police saving Sikhs are few and far between. Therefore, thank you officer and gentleman Maxwell Pereira.