This painting titled ‘Nineteen Eighty - Four,’ by renowned Contemporary British Sikh artists and twin sisters Amrit and Rabindra Singh, depicts the Indian Army attack on the holiest centre of the Sikh Faith at Amritsar, The Golden Temple, in 1984. It is a remarkable documentation of one of the most tragic and horrific atrocities perpetrated against the global Sikh community.

The image is based on an actual event in 1984 code named ‘Operation Bluestar’, when at the behest of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, the Indian Army invaded the sanctity of the Golden Temple to allegedly flush out Sikh terrorists who were hiding in the temple. However, it incorporates a ‘mixed bag’ of imagery and symbols relating to more distant past historical events which seeks to explain how the global Sikh community responded to the attack and why they felt so aggrieved and betrayed by the Indian Government’s action. As such the painting evokes a range of emotions - anger, disbelief, frustration and a sense of injury, injustice as well as solidarity and helplessness.

Above all, it illustrates the universal nature of politics as a game that is played out on the global arena by leaders who are driven by personal gain with no regard for the suffering they cause to innocent by standers. In this respect the artists focus on what largely remained the untold story of the 1984 attack, giving voice to the thousands of pilgrims who were injured or killed in the crossfire of the Army assault.

The Singh Twins create a zoom-in-zoom-out effect in the composition that points to the different ways NRI Sikhs related to the attack. The long distance birds eye view of the holy shrine symbolizes the geographical detachment of the Diaspora Sikh community from the events that were unfolding in India in 1984. Whilst, the detailed, up close depiction of the atrocities being carried out by the Indian Army on the hapless crowd represents the genuine emotional response of the NRI Sikh community to what was happening to the community in Punjab and their deep empathy for the fate
of the victims.

Horror and panic reign supreme in the painting. The pilgrims are shown scattered and scrambling for cover from the barrage of Army bullets and tanks. Their sense of claustrophobia and of being ‘trapped’ in the temple is superbly highlighted by the diagonal line-up of soldiers and the disturbing angle of the square temple structure, which pins them in on all sides.

‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ is a painting that has anger and a sense of injustice as its boldest stroke. The artists direct their first salvo at the media, the so-called Fourth Estate whose duty it is to be the voice of the people at all times. But in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, reporters are shown blindfolded, standing alongside the Army as ‘partners in crime’. They are portrayed as ineffective puppets that simply copy and carry out the dictates of those in power and print them as facts. The artists show how true accounts of the actual mayhem and innocent bloodshed as told by the surviving victims were manipulated and ignored in the global media so that Mrs Gandhi might emerge as the moral victor who rescued the Golden Temple from the ‘jaws of terrorists’.

Indira Gandhi’s inclusion in the composition is the loudest indication of the artists’ belief that she carried ultimate responsibility for painting the ‘Golden’ Temple ‘red’. The bag of gold coins, which she clutches, symbolically places the motive for this bloodshed squarely in her thirst for personal gain within a context where her decision to attack the Sikh shrine
was regarded by many as being a calculated strategy for enhancing her popularity at the voting polls.

As a government, which was also widely believed to have perpetrated State propaganda that cast aspersions on and questioned the National loyalty of the Sikh community, Gandhi is shown tossing aside the sacrifices made by past Sikh freedom fighters and martyrs to the cause of human rights such as Bhagat Singh and the ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur. At the same time the artists reaffirm the respected status and good character of the Sikhs through other details in the painting, which remind viewers of the Sikhs’ outstanding contribution throughout Indian’s historical struggles for freedom from foreign and oppressive rule. These include the Jallianwalla Bagh Monument and legendary 17th century Sikh hero, Baba Dip Singh.

In the final touches, the artist gives a universal meaning to the mayhem that plagues the world at large by depicting Indira Gandhi as a multi-headed political demon whose head is fused with those of Clinton, Thatcher and Churchill. This represents the collective chaos that politicians, who abuse power to fill their own coffers, bring upon the masses.

The artist’s work truly compels us to change this derisive world order where those who wield the weapon kill so many innocent people for their personal gratification. It is a rare masterpiece that’s not just a fine piece of art, but a great piece of wisdom too.

Disclaimer: The above text was written by The Singh Twins.  This does not express views or opinions of EthnicIsland.com.