As part of its goal to build a Virtual Site of Conscience, Ensaaf is creating a searchable, tagged video archive of 200 oral histories, exploring key human rights themes and survivor perspectives. We need your help to fully produce each video and get them ready for the Virtual Site of Conscience. Please help us complete the first set of videos!

Each family has trusted us with their story to make their voices reach the international community. The Virtual Site of Conscience will include an immersive sensory experience, data visualizations, documentary films and video testimonials, a portrait gallery, an advocacy interface, a human rights archive, and a resource center. The video testimonials present the unique oral history of each survivor’s story.

The two videos featured in this project focus on victims of unlawful killings. Here’s how your donation makes an impact: it costs $2500 to produce each video. Pre-production costs include field data collection, translation of free text, and writing the case summary. Production costs include travel and filming in Punjab. Post-production costs include transcription of the video, organizing the transcript and material, creating story point documents, editing, adding subtitles, reviewing the video, and incorporating feedback.

VIDEO ONE: JASBIR KAUR

On October 7, 1991, Punjab Police officials came to Jasbir Kaur’s house after several militants had entered and were eating lunch. The militants opened fire on the police officials, killed two of them, and then fled. The security forces returned to Kaur’s home later, rounded up her family, tortured them with hot tar, and skinned them with a metal grater from Kaur’s kitchen. Then, the security forces shot everyone, including an eighteen-month old baby. The baby survived but required serious medical care. Indian security officials unlawfully killed seven members of Kaur’s family that day, but claimed the victims died in an exchange of gunfire.

VIDEO TWO: SWARNJIT KAUR

On July 13, 1991, newly-married Swarnjit Kaur was traveling back from Hazoor Sahib with her husband Harminder Singh. Uttar Pradesh police from Pilibhit surrounded the bus in Baduan city and took 11 young men off the bus. The police tied all of the young men to police vehicles, dragged them, and then beat them. Swarnjit Kaur, pregnant at the time, was dropped off at a Gurdwara along with other passengers. The Pilibhit police then staged Harminder Singh’s encounter, along with the other men. He was 21 years old at the time of his killing.