06/09/2021
Today is the disappearance anniversary of Jaswant Singh Khalra, who uncovered records of the murder and secret mass cremation of up to 20,000 young Sikh men in Punjab at the hands of individuals in the Punjab police and Indian security forces.
I thought I would take some time today to reflect on the painting I created of Jaswant Singh Khalra and share some of my personal experiences while creating it. Without a doubt, this was the most difficult painting I have ever done in my life. It took me almost two years to complete because the subject was so harrowing that I kept having to put it aside for months at a time, just to clear my head.
Every face and broken body I painted belonged to a real person, taken from photographs of young Sikhs who were abducted, often tortured and then 'disappeared' (murdered) during the 1980s and early 1990s to quell political unrest.
The current online exhibition by reminded me of the feelings I was going through while I was painting. I would work with photographs of mutilated bodies all over my studio wall for weeks at a time.
Looking at images like these, even briefly, is difficult enough for the mind, and I think that's why many, including some Sikhs today want to 'move on' and bury all this. Staring at those photos day after day, with an eye to reproduce every savage detail, plagued my mind for weeks, maybe months afterwards. When you look at the painting, those images represent the reality of the time, which compelled Jaswant Singh Khalra into action, ultimately sacrificing his life so that an indisputable truth could be revealed to the world.
The photographs which fly about in the painting are all recreated from images like those in lapata-exhibition.com. They are the scattered memories of aged parents bravely holding on to them because they know that once they pass away, these sons and daughters of Punjab could truly be dead to this world. Let us instead keep their memories alive, though I know the mind often wants us to forget. Jaswant Singh Khalra faced down a dark reality and showed us what a true Khalsa and real panthic leadership looks like.
Art and caption Via