Kids Corner

1984

Sins of Commission

HARTOSH SINGH BAL

 

 

 



On Wednesday, 31 October 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her guards, both Sikh. In the ensuing violence, which lasted roughly three days, 2,733 innocent Sikhs were killed at random in Delhi.

Sikhs were also attacked in several other Indian cities, including Kanpur, Bokaro, Jabalpur and Rourkela.

It remains one of the bloodiest and most brutal episodes of communal violence in independent India.

Over the next two decades, nine commissions of inquiry were instituted. Seven of these investigated specific aspects of the tragedy, such as the death count, which was officially established by the Ahuja Committee in 1987. Two of the panels -- the Ranganath Misra Commission, constituted in 1985, and the Justice GT Nanavati Commission, whose final report was published in 2005 -- were required to look at the violence in its entirety.

The reports of those two commissions still make for startling reading.

Each recorded testimonies from numerous victims and witnesses, and took depositions from some of those accused, including police officers who had been on duty in badly affected areas. Yet there is not just a complete mismatch between the testimonies recorded and the conclusions reached -- the commissions’ own observations contradict their findings.

For thirty years, it has been persistently claimed -- partly on the basis of these findings -- that the violence following Indira Gandhi’s death was an unplanned outpouring of grief. But the records of these commissions clearly establish one thing that damns such conclusions: the condemnable but largely spontaneous violence of 31 October transformed into an orchestrated massacre that continued from the 1st to the 3rd of November.

For many years, survivors, witnesses and observers have suspected that the violence was orchestrated by the highest echelons of the Congress party. Cases have been brought against some Congress leaders -- notably Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler -- but so far no senior politician or police officer has been sentenced.

Fresh evidence that figures in this piece suggests the orders for the violence came from the Member of Parliament Arun Nehru, a cousin and confidante of Indira Gandhi’s son and successor Rajiv.

While this evidence is indirect testimony, it is strengthened by a considerable amount of circumstantial evidence available in the Misra and Nanavati reports. It also suggests that the conspiracy that led to the organised violence and the disjuncture between the commissions’ records and their findings are not two separate aspects of the tragedy -- one followed from the other.


[Courtesy: Caravan. Edited for sikhchic.com]
October 2, 2014
 

Conversation about this article

1: Kaala Singh (Punjab), October 02, 2014, 2:55 PM.

While it may never be legally established in the corrupt Indian courts, Rajiv Gandhi and his cousin Arun Nehru were the chief architects of this genocide. Their henchmen who were infamously referred to as "Rajiv's shouting brigade" included HKL Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, Arjun Dass, Lalit Maken, et al who organized the mass murders in various parts of Delhi. Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood superstar who owed his film career to Rajiv Gandhi, could be seen inciting mobs. Kamal Nath who was a small time politician from Madhya Pradesh in those days led mobs which massacred Sikhs near India's Parliament. All these scoundrels owe their success in politics to the mass murders of Sikhs. PV Narasimha Rao, the former PM of India who was the Home Minister at that time, allowed the massacre to go on until the news of this genocide leaked out to the international community. Foreign missions started relaying the news to their home countries and the US satellites picked up live footage that was shown on US TV. It is then that the carnage was stopped. The mobs were being remote-controlled and they just disappeared as soon as they got the orders from their handlers. Had the news of this carnage not leaked out to the outside world the entire Sikh population in Delhi and other areas outside Punjab would have been wiped out. While the world today is horrified at the atrocities committed by the "Islamic State", few people know that the fiendish brutality of the "Hindu State" would put even the Islamic state to shame.

2: Harvinder Singh (London, United Kingdom), October 02, 2014, 3:29 PM.

Apathy on the anti-Sikh pogrom by the elected Hindu parliamentarians is because it was a Hindu grandfather, father, uncle, brother and son who perpetrated these most savage crimes against the Sikhs as their grandmother, mother, aunt and sister rots in oblivion. The lack of sincere remorse by the broader Hindu community, let alone justice for the generous and patriotic Sikh nation, is a smear on these people for eternity. They are gradually beginning to reap the seeds of their destiny; Delhi is already the gang rape capital of the world, racial violence on their metro is captured daily on camera, rampant corruption, endemic alcohol and substance abuse. However, the optimistic observers amongst us hope that these Hindus can mend their nefarious ways so that a just and fair multinational state can be established ... when pigs will fly!?

3: Sarvjit Singh (Massachusetts, USA), October 02, 2014, 3:42 PM.

What I fail to understand is why our leadership (politicians and intellectuals) have not approached the present Modi Government with any of our issues, especially around 1984 ... with one exception: Sardar Harvinder Singh Phoolka. BJP claims to be neither pro not anti Sikh, even the RSS used to have Guru Gobind Singh Ji's images in their shakhas during British times. The ruling Akalis (who won on Sikh votes) in Punjab are partners with the BJP. So there is a logical inference that Sikhs should bring to Modi's attention their grievances and ask for a resolution, officially and publicly. At least bringing the corrupt, criminal Congress politicians to justice would be in the BJP Govt's interest. And this would go a long way in the government's image building interest if they prosecute those responsible for the 1984 genocide. There are precedents in our own history of approaching the rulers with just demands -- during the period of the Gurus and the and Misl and Sikh Raj era. If we keep on isolating ourselves, how will we ever gain public support? I wish someone who matters in India's political circles reads this comment and pays heed.

4: Gurinder Singh (Stockton, California, U.S.A.), October 02, 2014, 9:06 PM.

Our leadership in Punjab is playing politics. The Aam Aadmi Party formed the government in Delhi and announced formation of SIT (Special Investigation Team) to identify and prosecute the guilty in a timely manner (with almost three decades already wasted!! The 'leaders' in Punjab opposed it. It seems such people want to keep this alive for political advantage. Shame on such people. BJP is not a friend of Sikhs. Look at Modi's treatment of the Sikh-Gujrati farmers.

5: R Singh  (Canada), October 05, 2014, 2:56 PM.

Ref #3: It is a myth that the RSS and others, the organization that Modi belongs to, were not involved in Delhi in 1984. It was the courtesy of Mrs Gandhi that the ban on the organization was lifted. Before her, the BJP government of Vajpayee did nothing either. Narsimha Rao was the home minster during the time of the Babri Masjid outrage, and he let it all happen on his watch. They were, in short, hand in glove. We need to understand the saffron brigade's cohorts are already labelling Sikhs as Hindus, without any censure from the leaders. If AAP leaders could set up a special investigative team in 29 days, if there was an intent it would have been done. Instead, Congress defectors are a large part of Modi's contingent and Mr Bachchan is a ambassador for the promotion of Gujarat.

6: Kaala Singh (Punjab), October 06, 2014, 5:35 AM.

A lot of Sikhs don't understand that the Congress, BJP, Communists, or for that matter any other political party in India, are now essentially Hindu parties dedicated to protecting Hindu interests and supremacy. They all have the same attitude as far as the Sikhs and other minorities are concerned. Have we seen any political party doing anything to secure justice for Sikhs? The BJP did some lip-service to attract votes at election time, but did nothing when it came to power. Sadly, the Sikhs are alone and will have to fend for themselves.

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