NEW DELHI, 23 May 2004 — In an enclave dubbed “Widows Colony,” 82-year-old Satori Kaur is hoping India’s first Sikh prime minister, Manmohan Singh, will help her community still struggling to find its feet after thousands of Sikhs were massacred two decades ago.

“With him at the helm, I see a glimmer of hope,” Satori said outside her humble home in Tilak Vihar, a colony specially set up in New Delhi for relatives of those who perished in anti-Sikh riots in 1984.

“First, he’s a Sikh and may decide to give us some money as promised to us by his (Congress) party. Secondly, I know he’s an honest man,” she said.

She is among more than 1,000 Sikh widows living in Tilak Vihar whose family members were slain by vengeful mobs after then Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards.

“My husband and four children died in the riots,” said Satori, her head draped by a scarf in traditional Sikh fashion.

Indira, mother-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, was assassinated in 1984 after she ordered a military assault on the Golden Temple, Sikhdom’s holiest site, to flush out Sikh separatists.

Her assassination resulted in one of India’s worst bouts of communal violence and nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed in a Hindu backlash. A government commission said there were some 2,273 victims in New Delhi alone.

Indira’s son, Rajiv Gandhi, took over as prime minister following her murder. Authorities at the time were widely criticized for failing to act swiftly to halt the frenzied bloodletting.

Manmohan, who will be India’s first minority prime minister in mainly Hindu India, pledged Thursday his government would never allow a repetition of the Sikh riots or of the killings in western Gujarat state two years ago that claimed the lives of at least 2,000 people, mainly Muslims.

Sikhs make up two percent of India’s billion-plus population and live mainly in the northern state of Punjab.

After the 1984 riots, the Congress government promised the next-of-kin of the victims would get government jobs, houses and other facilities. But many of their promises failed to materialize.

Now Tilak Vihar is a ramshackle community where more than 2,000 Sikh families eke out a living, including by selling garments and furniture made from bamboo, and as automobile mechanics. Some are laborers; others own tea stalls.

Mansha Singh, head of the Tilak Vihar Colony Association, said Sikh families affected by the violence were given some compensation money but it was not enough.

“That money for most went just to build homes,” said Mansha, whose wife, child and brother were slain in the violence.

“The young unemployed fellows have taken up drinking,” he said, adding many residents did not even have enough money even to pay for electricity and water.

Gopi Kaur, who lost her husband during the carnage, has three children — all unemployed.

“At times, they earn some money driving three-wheelers or taxis,” Gopi said. “They tried to own a three-wheeler but the government refused them a permit. Unemployment is our biggest curse.”

Joblessness is a major problem in India. Officially India’s unemployment rate is around eight percent, but many economists say the figure is much higher and many people are “underemployed.”

Joginder Singh was 12 when the violence erupted. Today he scrapes by, making bamboo furniture. But the money he earns is not enough to pay for his children’s education. “Everyone wants to educate their children. I don’t have the money to pay their fees,” Joginder Singh said. “Most of the kids around here roam the streets. I hope our new prime minister does something to help our cause.”

Colony head Mansha appealed to the new prime minister for help. “The main priority is employment. Our children should not have to pay for the past. They need to be given a future,” he said.