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Cautious optimism on new probe into anti-Sikh riots

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Sikh intellectuals and the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots have welcomed the decision of the National Democratic Alliance government to set up a new commission to go into the circumstances under which the riots broke out in Delhi and elsewhere in the country.

More then three thousands Sikhs were killed in Delhi following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her two bodyguards Beant Singh and Satwant Singh. The victims of the riots blamed the Congress party for instigating the riots.

Though many commissions and sub-committees have gone into the issue very little has been done about bringing the guilty to the book. Only six persons have been convicted so far. Four political leaders have been chargesheeted. While H K L Bhagat and Sajjan Kumar are facing trail in various courts, Jagdish Tytler, has been given a clean chit by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

"I welcome the move made by the Vajpayee government. But I hope the new commission does not prove to be another eyewash like the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission which absolved the Congress party of its role in the anti-Sikh riots. The Congress leaders had allegedly played a major role in these riots. I hope that the new commission would do justice to the victims of the '84 riots. It is ironical that Justice Mishra is now a part of the same Congress party," noted journalist Khushwant Singh told rediff.com.

Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, minister in the Deve Gowda government and former member of the Minorities Commission, said that the offer of the Home Minister L K Advani to set up a new commission was laudable. But he hoped that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress party would not join hands to give a clean chit to all those who were involved in the riots through this commission. "I think there is a collusion between the Congress and the BJP on this matter. May be they want to bury this once and for all," alleged Ramoowalia.

The former chief minister of Delhi Madan Lal Khurana, claimed that he along with Justice R S Narula, Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora and others had recently met the home minister and impressed upon him the need to set up a new commission.

"We had set up a committee of eminent Sikhs under the chairmanship of Justice R S Narula to advise us what to do in the anti-Sikh riots cases registered against those involved in it. We acted on the advice of the committee and set in motion criminal proceedings against some of the leading political figures of the Congress party whose names had figured time and again for their alleged role in the anti-Sikh riots," he explained.

Jagdish Tytler, whose name figured prominently during the initial stages of the investigations, also welcomed the move. "I say this is a good move. But I would like to know from Madan Lal Khurana and others as to what happened about the recommendations of Justice Narula who had been appointed by the BJP. Have they lost faith in him," he asked.

The victims of the '84 riots are not very excited by the prospect of a new commission. "How does it make a difference whether a new commission is set up or not. After all they are going to give the same kind of report. Fifteen years after the riots how many people have been convicted? What happened to the politicians who were leading the murderous mobs and identifying the Sikhs to be burnt alive? What happened to those who raped the Sikh women at will? As far as I am concerned it is pointless to expect too much from the new commission. What hope can you have from a government which asks the Congress party for its permission to set up a commission," said an agitated widow of the 1984 riots.

So far nine commissions or committees have gone into the circumstances leading to the 1984 riots.

"The government is serious about setting up the new commission. When Advaniji says something, he is serious about it. So is the prime minister. Once the Parliament session is over the process of setting up the commission would be expedited. It would not take much of time," the BJP's Venkaiah Naidu assured rediff.com. According to him the government took note of the comments made by members of Rajya Sabha and noted journalist Kuldeep Nayar that there is a need to have a new commission of inquiry as the earlier commissions/committees lacked credibility. But J P Mathur of the BJP thinks that it would take sometime before the name of the new chairman is announced.

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