Congress leader Sajjan Kumar engaged in a criminal conspiracy, promoted enmity, and acted against communal harmony in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and has been sentenced to life by the Delhi High Court. The conviction of a senior politician marks a watershed in the quest for justice for the victims of the 1984 violence, even as it vindicates the stand of those who pursued justice relentlessly for 34 years to bring the guilty to book. The high court took the evidence of two eyewitnesses, and based on their testimony, reversed the earlier trial court verdict acquitting Sajjan Kumar, even as it upheld the conviction of the others accused in the case and enhanced their sentence.
The tide seems to have turned in favour of those seeking justice for the carnage that followed the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. There was a conviction last month too. The sentencing of Sajjan Kumar — who was a Member of Parliament in 1984 and remained politically active for long thereafter — will surely send a chilling message to politicians who feel a sense of impunity even as they tear apart the country’s social fabric by instigating various groups of people against one another. Riot after riot has roiled India, often with the ‘blessing’ of the party in power at the time, with little consequence for the individuals who perpetuated the violence.
The latest conviction has been widely welcomed among Punjabis, including Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar. However, it has obviously provided fodder to the BJP’s propaganda machine, more so since the verdict coincides with the swearing-in of Congress leader Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minster. Nath, too, has been under a cloud for his role in the ’84 riots, but nothing has stuck so far. There will, no doubt, be fresh calls for justice by victims energised 34 years after the killings. The nation owes it to itself to let justice take its course, and demonstrate that those who had conviction in the system were not wrong.
For first time I feel this is my own country: Jagdish Kaur
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 17
Partially relieved by the conviction of Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Kaur, the prime complainant in the case against the Congress leader, today said her fight for justice was far from over and she would struggle till the last breath of her life.
“I want Sajjan Kumar to hang. I have seen my son burn to death in front of my eyes. And this was done at the behest of Sajjan Kumar. I will go to the Supreme Court but I must say for the first time today I feel this is my own country. Till now I felt Indian laws were not for the 1984 riot survivors,” said Jagdish Kaur, flanked by cousin Jagsher Singh, both witnesses in the case the HC decided today.
She still remembers the afternoon of November 1, 1984, when “communally charged mobs incited by Sajjan Kumar” attacked her house in Delhi Cantonment’s Raj Nagar from all sides. “They had sariyas, other lethal weapons and pounced upon my son Gurpreet. My husband was dragged and his head crushed till he dropped dead. Gurpreet ran some distance before he was set on fire,” remembers Jagdish Kaur, wiping her tears.
She said after shifting her son’s body back into the house, she went to the police post to get help for cremation. “I still remember what the ASI said. He said ‘bhag yahan se, abhi to aur marenge,” recalls Kaur, who used furniture in the house to perform the last rites.
Even today Jagdish Kaur thanks her stars for sending her three small daughters and a son to a Hindu neighbour’s house for shelter.
“Not all Hindus wanted to kill Sikhs. These were only a few politically motivated crowds that wanted to earn brownie points in the eyes of their masters. I was saved by a Hindu, so were my cousin Jagdish Kaur’s four children,” remembers Jagsher, who lost three brothers to the carnage on November 2, 1984.
“It was November 2, a day after Jagdish Kaur lost her husband and 18-year-old son Gurpreet, a gold medallist in BSc. I had gone out of the house to park my bike when the crowds attacked. I ran and hid in a Hindu neighbour’s house. My brothers — Narinderpal Singh, Raghuvinder Singh and Kuldip Singh — were killed. The fight for justice has taken unbelievably long and it’s not yet over,” Jagsher Singh, now based in Gurdaspur, said.
For her part, Jagdish Kaur, who moved to Amritsar after riots, withstood threats and inducements to see this day. She slammed the Congress for appointing Kamal Nath, allegedly involved in the riots, as CM of Madhya Pradesh, saying, “I am not surprised. Sajjan Kumar also got top positions. This is their character. They have no value for human lives.”
Court on survivors’ courage
- The accused have been brought to justice primarily on account of the courage and perseverance of three eyewitnesses — Jagdish Kaur, whose husband, son and three cousins were among the five killed; Jagsher Singh, another cousin of Jagdish Kaur, and Nirpreet Kaur, who saw the Raj Nagar Gurdwara being burnt down and her father being burnt alive by the raging mobs… the witnesses were fearless and truthful.
‘84 riots: HC blasts Delhi Police for ‘active connivance’ in carnage
New Delhi, December 17
The killing of over 2,700 Sikhs in the national capital during the 1984 riots was a “carnage of unbelievable proportions” and the way the Delhi Police acted at that time established their “apathy” and “active connivance” in the brutal murders, the Delhi High Court Monday said in stringent observations.
The high court, which convicted and sentenced senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar to life term for “remainder of his natural life” in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, blasted the Delhi Police for its “abject failure” in probing the violence following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
It said that police had “indeed turned a blind eye and blatantly abetted the crimes committed by the rioting mob” and the probe conducted by them in these cases was a farce.
A Bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel noted it was “extraordinary” that despite there being as many as 341 deaths in the Delhi Cantonment area alone over the span of four days beginning November 1, 1984, only 21 FIRs were lodged, of which only 15 pertained to deaths or murders.
“Ultimately, only five bodies were recovered and that too was because of the intervention of Army,” the high court said, adding, it is “trite” that for each incident involving offence of murder, a separate FIR had to be registered.
In its judgement, the Bench said, “What happened in the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi was indeed carnage of unbelievable proportions in which over 2,700 Sikhs were murdered in Delhi alone”.
Referring to the case on killing of five Sikhs, the Bench said, “The law and order machinery had clearly broken down and it was literally a free for all situation which persisted”. It said there was no question of clubbing many complaints pertaining to several deaths in one FIR and it was strange that despite the widespread killing and bedlam in the area, no mention of this was found in the daily diary register (DDR) maintained by the police.
“It is clear, therefore, that in those chaotic conditions, the local police force was inadequate for the task at hand,” the Bench said, adding the DDR was completely silent about the commission of any cognizable offence although as many as 30 murders had occurred in Raj Nagar area itself.
“These circumstances establish the apathy of the Delhi Police and their active connivance in the brutal murders being perpetrated,” the Bench said.
The case relates to killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar part-I area in Palam Colony in South West Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 and burning down of a Gurdwara in Raj Nagar part II.
The high court said aftershocks of atrocities against the Sikhs were still being felt and the need for proper probe in these cases was also acknowledged by the apex court which had in January this year constituted a special investigating team to investigate as many as 186 cases.
“As pointed out by the trial court, the state machinery came to a complete standstill in those two or three days when the rioting mobs took to the streets and indulged in acts of violence and killings, and setting properties on fire,” it said.
The court noted that the “mayhem, destruction, and murders” that rocked Raj Nagar area ensured exodus of Sikhs and many of the males were either killed or were put in such a fear that they were scared to be seen in long hair and beards.
“There was a two-pronged strategy adopted by the attackers. The first was to liquidate all Sikh males and the other was to destroy their residential houses leaving the women and children utterly destitute. The attack on the Raj Nagar Gurdwara was clearly a part of the communal agenda of the perpetrators,” it said.
The high court directed 73-year-old Kumar and other five convicts to surrender by December 31, 2018, and not to leave Delhi.
Six accused, including Sajjan Kumar, who was a Member of Parliament at that time, were sent for trial in 2010 and three years later, the lower court had convicted five of the accused but acquitted the Congress leader of all the charges.
The high court convicted Sajjan Kumar for criminal conspiracy and abetment in commission of crimes of murder, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of communal harmony and defiling and destruction of a Gurdwara.
The Bench also upheld the conviction and varying sentences awarded by the trial court to former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and former MLAs Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar. PTI