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Government is 'very serious' about anti-Sikh riots probe

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani has said that soon after the current session of Parliament ends, the Union Cabinet will consider the proposal to set up a new commission of inquiry into the November 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

"Yes, we have decided that the government must set up a new commission of inquiry to go into the 1984 riots because many of the victims have not been satisfied with the earlier inquiries. Once the Parliament session gets over, the Union Cabinet will discuss this matter and take a decision," Advani told rediff.com. But he refused to elaborate on the nature of the commission or its head. "Why don't you see me after the session," he suggested.

But home ministry sources said a serving or retired judge of the Supreme Court would head the commission. The names of Justice Kuldeep Singh and some other prominent judges are being mentioned in this connection.

Commenting on the move, senior Akali politician and former Union chemicals and fertilisers minister Surjeet Singh Barnala said his party would welcome any move for a fresh probe into the riots. "So many commissions have been set up so far, but the Sikh community still feels that justice has not been done. The culprits have not been punished so far though 15 years have passed. The previous probes have not been very effective and to restore the credibility of the government, the National Democratic Alliance must go through the exercise once more and ensure that the guilty are punished," he said.

According to Barnala, most of the politicians involved in the riots have gone unpunished. "Some of the senior ranking officers of the Delhi police who played a major role in the riots have not been punished at all. On the contrary they hold positions of power in the police even today. These officers ought to have been dismissed from service," he said.

Barnala hoped a Sikh judge would be appointed to head the inquiry as that would lend it greater credibility. "But if that is not possible, there are any number of serving and retired judges of proven integrity who could head the commission," he added.

He hoped the new commission would have wider powers and cover other areas where the riots had taken place in 1984. But he also expressed the fear that the new inquiry, more than 15 years after the incident, would not serve much purpose and many of the complainants and witnesses may have lost interest.

Former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana also welcomed the government's decision to set up a new inquiry. "I have always maintained that those who had sullied their hands with the blood of innocent Sikhs, particularly the politicians, have gone unpunished. I met the Union home minister a few days ago and pressed for the need to have a new commission of inquiry with wider powers to restore the government's credibility," Khurana told rediff.com

Asked why the Union home minister needed to get clearance from senior Congress politician Manmohan Singh when the names of senior Congress leaders figure in the list of alleged culprits, a senior Akali leader said Advani probably wanted a consensus. "But some Akali leaders feel that this may be an attempt to bury the riots once and for all," he added.

But Bharatiya Janata Party office-bearers are not willing to buy this theory. "The government is very serious on this matter and will brook no laxity," a senior party official said.

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