1984 : A Love Story by Gurkaran Singh

Episode 5



Father’s dirty politics



Divya on hearing the news of Rajwinder got anxious and wanted to see him as quickly as possible. Divya was about to leave when she saw her father coming from a distance and asked him to go with her to meet Rajwinder. Divya’s father relaxed her down saying that he had got the news and that Rajwinder was fine and he will be discharged soon so there is no need to get worried. Divya believed the words of her father and decided to meet Rajwinder in a couple of days at his home only.




But, Divya’s father had other plans. He called up the meeting of his supporters at his party office to discuss about the future strategy as the elections were around the corner. He in his mind had made up a strategy that marrying his daughter to a Sikh at that moment would be quite dangerous for his political ambitions. The mood of the majority which was the Hindus was against the minorities which was the Sikhs. He was a greedy politician whose sole motto was to contest and win the elections and he was leaving no stone unturned to achieve his goal. It was not like that all the Hindus were against the Sikhs but politics is a perception based game and the common perception was against the Sikhs. He loved his daughter but he loved his post more and personal greed got better of him. But he had to find a way to control Divya also as he knew that Divya loved Rajwinder and feared that she might take a step that would humiliate him even more and was quite worried about that.

Next day he called the meeting of party workers and told them about his dilemma and asked for their advice. Everyone according to their brains and experience gave him their respective advices but no one was actually able to solve his problem. Some gave him the advice to kill that Sikh and pretend that he died because of an accident. Others advised him that he should go ahead with the marriage as happiness of his daughter was more important and he could get the ticket the other time around. He wanted a solution as they say in hindi, “Saamp (Snake) bhi mar jaye aur lathi bhi na tute”.



His personal secretary then came into the scene and in a mocking way said to him,”Sir aap lok sabha ka chunaav ladna chahte ho aur aapko beech ka rasta bhi nahin nikal na aata sir aise thodi na kaam chalte hain ki hamesha aar ya paar ki ladai ladi jaye kabhi kabhi time bhi kharid lena chaiye phir dekho ki aage kya hota hain”. “Please directly come to the point Sharma, I am already confused tum baton ko gol gol mat ghumao seedhi seedhi baat karo”. Then the secretary laid down his master plan to postpone the ring ceremony and asked him to go to Rajwinder’s house the next day and advice their family to postpone the ring ceremony as things are expected to get worse in the coming days. Advise them to go to Punjab for some months and return only when things get normal. Divya would be told that Rajwinder’s family fearing the situations have decided to leave Delhi and he tried to stop them but they refused because Rajwinder was losing his cool and they have decided to call off the ring ceremony and decided to shift to Punjab and be there with their people. He tried his best but they overlooked his constant plead and are soon looking to shift to Punjab. Her father was really happy after hearing the advice of his secretary and decided to act accordingly.




The next day he decided to go to Rajwinder’s house and act according to the plan of his secretary. He reached there early in the morning before Divya woke up as he feared that Divya would also force to go with him. Divya’s father found that all the three people were sitting in their living room and were a bit tensed. Suddenly they saw Divya’s father was standing in front of them and Rajwinder’s father quickly bought him a chair to sit. Divya’s father first asked Rajwinder about his well being and if the pain had gone down. Rajwinder replied that “The mental pain was more than the physical pain jism pe diye zakam to bhar jayenge par jo zakm dimag main ho gaye hain use bharne main to waqt lagega. agar humari kom ke kuch bando ne mara hain logon ko to iski saza puri kom ko thodi nahin milni chaiye. agar phir log mithaiyaan baant rahe the jab sri harminder sahib pe attack ho gaya koi bhi sardar yeh thodi na seh sakta hain. Sir, kal koi muslim government kashi pe attack kar de kyunki wahan kuch hindu Aatankwaadi chupe the aur upar se aapke muslim dost mithaiyaan baante toh aapko kaisa lagega” those were the words of Rajwinder which were actually the true feelings of a Sikh at that point of time. Saying this Rajwinder went into his room and shut his door so that he could not hear the conversation between his and Divya’s father. This conversation actually changed their lives forever. Divya’s father then called Rajwinder’s father and in a very friendly tone asked him that things are only getting worse in Delhi and it is a friendly advice for them that they should leave Delhi for some time and should only return when the things get normal. Rajwinder’s father was also having same plans and told Divya’s father that he had already applied for a job in Punjab and that both he and his wife would be leaving for Punjab after some days maybe after the ring ceremony and after marriage both Rajwinder and Divya would also settle with them in the near future. Divya’s father now spoke in a very harsh tone to Rajwinder’s father, ”Sardar ji aapka dimag to theek hain main apni beti ka haath ek sardar ke hath main nahin de sakta abhi mujhe bhi apne logo ka khyal rakhna hota hain mujhe bhi lok sabha ka ticket chaiye national party se”. Rajwinder’s father now lost all his temper and said, “Bhai saab jab tak operation blue star nahin hua tha tab tak sab theek tha ab aapko lagta hain sentiments sardaro ke khilaf jayenge to rishta todne ki baat karte ho main bhi hindu bahu nahin lana chahta tha ghar par bacho ki khushi ke liye karna padta hain sir. aap bhi is baat ko samjho aur rajneeti se upar bado janab, bacho ki khushi ke agey kuch nahin hota is zindagi mein”. Divya’s father then with all his anger said “Mere liye is samey MP ki ticket lena sab se zyada zaroori hain uske liye main kuch bhi kar sakta hoon” saying that he left the room in anger.




Rajwinder at Divya’s house




After Divya’s father left Rajwinder’s house, Rajwinder’s father called Rajwinder into his room and told him the entire situation. Rajwinder’s father loved his son a lot and could have done anything for him. He knew the fact that both the kids, Rajwinder and Divya loved each other a lot and to separate them would spoil their lives but what else could have been done now. Rajwinder decided to go to Divya’s house and talk to her father. Rajwinder’s father agreed and Rajwinder was going to Divya’s house.




Divya’s father returned to his house full of anger and called up Divya. Divya asked about the well being of Rajwinder and he got angry “Rajwinder aur tera rishta aaj se khatam Rajwinder mar gaya hai tere liye aaj se bhul ja usey yeh hi tere liye theek hoga aur uske liye bhi”. Divya was unable to understand what all was happening and what had suddenly happened to her father. She tried to calm down her father and asked him that what was the reason behind his change of behavior but he was in no mood to listen and again scolded her. Divya then asked her mother what was the reason of the change in attitude of her father. Then her mother told her the entire story that how he had first agreed to the marriage proposal because of his dirty politics and now why he is taking his steps back. She got angry and went straight to his father’s room and in voice full of anger and pain said to him, ”Papa yeh kya tareeka hain aapki beti kya aapke ke liye koi vote bank hain kya? jab dekha ki vote bank masboot karna hain to haan kar do uski shadi ke liye aur phir jab man kiya to uski shadi tod do aap ek baat samajh lo ki main uske bina nahin reh sakti, vo meri zindagi hain” Her father had expected this kind of a scene from Divya and was very well prepared to face this situation and in a voice full of rage said to her, ”Abhi tak tuney apne baap ka pyar wala hi roop dekha hai agar tuney usko na choda to main mata ji ki kasam, us sardar ke tukde tukde kar dunga; agar usey zinda dekhna chahti hain to bhul ja use, isi main tum dono ka faida hain. main teri shadi kisi bade ghar ke hindu se kara dunga jo mujhe election main bhi faida karwa sakega samjhi divya. agar usko zinda dekhna chahti hain to bhul ja use varna main sach main us sardar ko maar dunga”.





Divya now was facing the biggest dilemma of her life. If she didn’t agree to her father’s advice then he would surely kill Rajwinder as there was a mad rage in him. Suddenly he saw Rajwinder had arrived in her house. She took a quick decision that instead of seeing Rajwinder dead she prefers to live without him. Rajwinder was not allowed to meet Divya and her father said that she was not at home and even threatened to him the he would break his legs if he dared to come again to his house. Rajwinder tried his best to persuade Divya’s father but to no avail. Rajwinder was finally thrown out of Divya’s house by her father’s assistants. Divya was seeing all this from the window of her room and was sobbing but was helpless.

To Be Continued....... Stay Tuned

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