Guarding our families and land

This photograph is from the late 1990 at my paternal village near Sri Muktsar Sahib, a south west city in Punjab. I am not sure who took it, but it would have been developed in Muktsar. Here I am as a little boy in the arms of my uncle Jaswant. Ours was an agricultural family, who like many others or decades, if not centuries, had owned and tilled lands for grain. However, since the 1970s the Insurgent militancy in Punjab had begun to disturb the peace of the villages and towns, and by 1990 it was at its peak even though between 1987 and 1991, Punjab had been placed under the President's rule.

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The father, son and their gun

The father, son and their gun
My father, Syed Mohammed Abbas Rizvi and grandfather, Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi. Rourkela, Orissa. 1960

My father, Syed Mohammed Abbas Rizvi and grandfather, Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi. Rourkela, Orissa. Circa 1960 Image and Narrative contributed by Rizvi Amir Abbas Syed. This picture was taken in the 1960s at "Friends Studio" in sector 5 market, Rourkela. My father (left) worked for Hindustan Steel Limited which later became SAIL, Steel Authority of India Limited. My grand Father (right) was an Officer in Excise department when Bihar, Bengal & Orissa were in one state called Old Bengal. My grand father always carried a gun (C.G BONEHILL 12 BORE BRITISH SXS HAMMER GUN). And like some others, he too had a license to carry it anywhere in India, even though licenses were and are given for a particular city/district. He had a stupendous collection of guns, all inherited from his father. All our guns, however were later taken away by the Jharkhand Police, as licensed guns are by law to be observed under police custody. Having said that,  one can always find people roaming around freely with illegal weapons in Palamau District.

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