ABSTRACT
In this chapter I discuss Shonali Bose’s film and novel Amu (2004) to analyze issues of healing and forgiveness for the survivors of the 1984 Massacre. For survivors to work through individual and communal suffering, dialogue is imperative. For genuine healing leading to forgiveness, reconciliation, and restorative justice, both victims and perpetrators must share testimonies of violence. Otherwise, citizens lack the equal rights they are promised, and violence can reoccur in various forms, such as communalism, inter-ethnic violence, or gender violence. Bose attempts to provide narrative space about the Sikh Massacre, so that dialogue and healing may occur for the traumatized Sikh subjects. However, after viewing the film, I am left with the following questions: Why is it that the trauma of violence is fictionalized by non-Sikhs (Bose is from the majority Hindu community) in a manner that shows them becoming surrogate victims? Could narrative witnessing lead to healing, or would such narratives simply retraumatize them? I argue that the stories of pain and massacres must be told and acknowledged in a public space, apologies and forgiveness must be given in a public space, and reconciliation, retribution, and transformation must be also worked out also in a public arena.
