kamal nath 1984

SIT to Reopen Seven 1984 Anti-Sikh Riot Cases

After the notification became public, Delhi MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa said senior Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath had allegedly given shelter to five people who were accused in one of the seven cases.

New Delhi: A Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by the Union Home Ministry, has decided to reopen seven anti-Sikh riot cases, where the accused were either acquitted or the trial closed, according to an official notification.

“Nath was never named in the FIR registered in New Delhi’s Parliament Street police station. Five persons named as accused in the case (FIR No. 601/84) were accommodated in Nath’s residence. All these accused were discharged due to lack of evidence.

“Since the SIT will reinvestigate this case also, two witnesses will appear before the SIT where they will tell about Kamal Nath’s role in the riots,” Sirsa told PTI.

The witnesses were Sanjay Suri, who now lives in England, and Mukhtiyar Singh, who is now in Patna, he said.

“I have spoken to both of the witnesses and they are ready to appear before the SIT to record their statements,” Sirsa said.

The case is related to a mob of rioters storming the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib here.

Nath had previously denied the charges.

According to the Home Ministry notification, the SIT has taken up the discharged cases for scrutiny or preliminary enquiry.

The seven anti-Sikh riot cases were registered in 1984 at police stations in Vasant Vihar, Sun Light Colony, Kalyanpuri, Parliament Street, Connaught Place, Patel Nagar and Shahdara.

The SIT has issued public notices asking individuals and organisations to provide information related to the seven cases.

“This is to inform to all individuals, groups of persons, associations, institutions and organisations that if they have any information in respect of any of the cases, they may contact the officer in-charge of SIT police station,” the SIT said.

Sirsa claimed that Kamal Nath’s name was never included in the FIR nor was he investigated by the police.

The SIT was set up on February 12, 2015 following a recommendation by the Home Ministry-appointed Justice (retd) G P Mathur committee.

The three-member SIT comprises two Inspector General-rank IPS officers and a judicial officer.

The SIT has so far re-opened around 80 out of the 650 cases registered in connection with anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Gandhi was shot dead by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.

A total of 3,325 people were killed in the riots in which Delhi alone accounted for 2,733 deaths, while the rest occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states.

The Delhi Police had closed 241 cases citing lack of evidence. Justice Nanavati Commission had recommended reopening of only four of them but the Modi government constituted the SIT for re-investigation of all cases which the probe team finds appropriate.

The CBI had reopened and re-investigated only four cases. In two of them, the probe agency had filed a charge sheet and in one, five persons, including a former MLA, were convicted.

Last year, Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life for his role in the anti-Sikh riots.

On December 10, 2014, the Narendra Modi government had announced an additional compensation of Rs five lakh to the kin of each of those killed in the 1984 riots.

In May, 2016, the Home Ministry had announced that 1,020 families, which had been hit by the riots and migrated to Punjab from different parts of the country, will be given Rs two lakh each as part of a centrally-sponsored rehabilitation scheme.

After Choosing Kamal Nath As CM, Congress Cannot Claim Moral High Ground

Kamal Nath was present at a site of violence against Sikhs in 1984. The Congress’s continued refusal to break the cycle of political violence is cause for worry.

By choosing Kamal Nath as its chief ministerial nominee in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has once again abandoned an opportunity to make a clean break with a sordid slice of its past. Served a notice by the Nanavati Commission investigating the killing of Sikhs in the aftermath of the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, the Congress leader escaped punishment because of lack of evidence.

The shadow of the 1984 killings nevertheless continues to hang over him. And that is not surprising, given the sluggish judicial system where delivering justice in such cases takes years and decades to materialise. That too, if and when justice is delivered at all. As time passes, producing watertight or clinching evidence become more and more difficult to find. Many witnesses turn hostile, many succumb to the passage of time.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi Could Be a Credible Alternative to Narendra Modi

Consider for instance the Maliana Hashimpura violence and the inordinate delay dogging court hearings. After more than 30 years, the Delhi high court this November convicted 16 former Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel, indicting them for the murder of 42 Muslims in Meerut’s Hashimpura village. Many who lost their loved ones in the killings have in the meanwhile died.

Justice delayed so long loses the very purpose it is meant to serve – the purpose of healing and redeeming the injustice committed against the victims.

Besides, let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is just one among many massacres of religious and ethnic minorities since India gained independence. Here are just a smattering of such episodes: the 1970 Bhiwandi riots that killed 250 people, 1980 Moradabad riots took a toll of at least 400 people, 1983 Nellie massacre killed nearly 2,000 migrants, 1989 Bhagalpur violence left almost a 1,000 dead. Both 1984 and 2002 riots killed more than 3,000. The list is depressingly long. Atonement by political parties stoking such riots is rare.

The Congress’s former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did apologise in parliament for the 1984 violence. In his apology on August 12, 2005, Singh said:

I have no hesitation in apologizing to the Sikh community. I apologize not only to the Sikh community, but to the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our Constitution.

More than four years into his prime ministership, we are yet to hear the present incumbent Narendra Modi apologise for the 2002 violence that played out on his watch as then Gujarat chief minister.

The Congress’s former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did apologise in parliament for the 1984 violence. Credit: PTI

Vexed question of political ethics and morality

But at the heart of Kamal Nath’s appointment lies the vexed question of political ethics and morality. That question is no doubt a question political parties in the game of winning elections find difficult to deal with. Yet that is the question that begs an answer – now with more urgency than before.

Recall in this context, the former BJP minister Maya Kodnani’s acquittal in April this year. The only minister to have been indicted for a charge of inciting riots, Kodnani was accused of leading a mob in Gujarat’s Naroda Patiya village in 2002. The violence killed 97 Muslim men, women and children. The Gujarat high court, however, acquitted Kodnani on the grounds that none of the witnesses against her were reliable.

Kamal Nath, then an emerging Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh, was seen at the site of Rakab Ganj Gurudwara, under siege in 1984, for over two hours. “The attack on Rakab Ganj Gurudwara was also remarkable for the fact that it was probably the first, and so far, the only instance in the history of mass violence in India, where a political leader admitted to being on the spot. And such an instance ironically occurred in the immediate vicinity of India’s parliament,” wrote Manoj Mitta and H.S. Phoolka in the book When a Tree Shook Delhi.

Just two years ago, the Congress high command, facing a backlash from the Sikh community, was forced to withdraw Kamal Nath as party general secretary in charge of Punjab. Yet, now the party has appointed him as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, even though it had the option of choosing Jyotiraditya Scindia for the top post.

Maya Kodnani (centre). File photo. Credit: Reuters

Coming up short on two counts

The Congress has come up short on two counts: in tactics and in taking the moral high ground over its principal adversary, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Let’s first consider the question of tactics: Nath’s appointment as chief minister has given the ruling party in Punjab, and its ally Akali Dal, a chance to turn the screws on the Congress.

At a time when the 2002 killings of Muslims in Gujarat continues to be part of the discourse of political party-sponsored violence, Kamal Nath’s selection for a position as important as Madhya Pradesh chief minister is legitimate reason for concern. The Congress’s continued refusal to look the problem in the face and break the cycle of political violence that has legitimised such massacres in the past, does indeed give cause for worry.

Also Read: MP Saw a Close Contest, but the BJP’s Waning Popularity Is Apparent

Predictably, Manjinder Singh, a leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal, on Thursday lashed out at the Congress, accusing the party of protecting the guilty in the 1984 killings. “Whenever the Gandhi family comes to power, it protects the perpetrators of the 1984 riots,” Sirsa said. “Now, Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family are rewarding Kamal Nath as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi wants to give a message that those involved in the killings of Sikhs in 1984 now need not worry… that they are behind them and will reward them instead.”

The rhetoric of whataboutery aside, Kamal Nath’s installation as chief minister by a party that claims to provide an alternative to the ideology and politics of violence casts a shadow on the seriousness of that claim.

Rahul Gandhi Could Be a Credible Alternative to Narendra Modi

The Congress defeated the BJP in straight contests in three Hindi-belt states. Much of the credit goes to Rahul Gandhi, who may have revived the ailing party.

In the last four years or so, Narendra Modi’s supporters – especially the new ones – have moved from exuberance (finally, the corrupt Congress is out and India has the leader it needs) to hope (it is early days, but he will change India), to resigned patience (it’s not an easy job) to reluctant disappointment (this government has wasted its goodwill).

If there is disgust at rising communalism, it is well-hidden. Communalism, even violence against minorities, isn’t a worry for those newly infatuated – that is, not the Sangh parivar hardcore, but the neo-bhakts.

Also Read: How Rahul Gandhi Steered Congress to Victory in Chhattisgarh

Modi’s base grew beyond the usual core of the BJP or right-wingers firmly rooted in the Sangh tradition. He had the support of an entirely new cohort that was always uncomfortable with the Congress, for reasons ranging from its welfarism to its perceived ‘secularism’, which they believed was skewed towards Muslims.

They also claimed to find the idea of ‘dynasty’ antithetical to the idea of ‘merit’. The privileged have always lived with the myth that their success is due to their own talent and hard work – not networked parentage and class and caste privilege.

So Rahul Gandhi was anathema to them, while the ‘self-made’, rooted and authentic Narendra Modi was a breath of fresh air. Even when the halo began to fade, they couldn’t bring themselves to acknowledge Rahul Gandhi. The campaign to ridicule him – Pappu, Duffer, Entitled – scored big with them. The refrain then became, “Yes, but who else is out there? Rahul Gandhi? Never.”

Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. Credit: Reuters

Modi’s glaring weaknesses

That has now changed. Modi’s glaring weaknesses – as a leader, as a prime minister, and even a vote-catcher – are too obvious to ignore. His abusive campaign style, filled with innuendo like shehzada and vidhwa, looked uncouth. Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, came across as decent, educated and gracious.That contrast alone wins him points in an era of optics.

But it is not the imagery that eventually matters. A political leader has to keep his or her flock together and lead from the front. Their party has to win elections. Losing, or even an average electoral performance, can wear down the troops and make them wonder if their leader is up to the task.

Also Read: After the Assembly Polls, Will an Alternative Politics Gain Momentum?

Here, Rahul Gandhi has succeeded, but only after a long slog. This has, in the end, worked in his favour. After many false starts, the Congress has done what looked unthinkable in 2014, after it was reduced to a rump in parliament: it has defeated the BJP in straight contests in three Hindi belt states.

Gujarat showed a Congress on the upswing and in Karnataka, despite losing, it nimbly tied up a coalition with the JD(S) to keep the BJP out. In earlier polls, such as in Goa, the Congress was left flat-footed. Now, in MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, it has won. It was a spectacular feat, given how powerful and well-funded the BJP is today.

Bringing together warring rivals

Here, credit has to go to Rahul Gandhi. He has managed not just to reach out to voters with a strong, focused message, but more important – especially in the Congress scheme of things – to bring together warring rivals in the party, to bury their animosities and run a joint campaign.

A trio like Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia working in tandem was unprecedented and paid off. Ditto in Rajasthan, where Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot presented a united face to the electorate. The message to the party is clear: old war horses will be given due respect, and younger leaders will be allowed to build their profiles, even if they must wait a bit for leadership roles.

The old jibes of yesterday have given way to admiration and the constant vilification by the BJP is sounding churlish and bitter.

The combination of his personality and his success as the leader who has revived a hobbled, ailing party has won him new supporters, even among those who were convinced that he was a reluctant politician at best and a dilettante at worst.

The old jibes of yesterday have given way to admiration and the constant vilification by the BJP is sounding churlish and bitter. The party’s spokespersons, who by habit start attacking Rahul Gandhi no matter the subject under discussion, now look foolish and outdated. Its time they came up with a new theme.

Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia working in tandem was unprecedented and paid off handsomely. Credit: PTI

The road to success in 2019

Will this help him in 2019? To a point, but it will not be easy to defeat Modi in the general elections. The formidable BJP machine will work doubly hard to undermine the Congress. The strong oppositions in MP and Rajasthan will try and trip the new state governments at every step. The Modi government will come up with schemes to win over the public. Skepticism about Rahul Gandhi has not vanished. He still has to prove that he is a viable alternative to Modi.

Rahul Gandhi’s task will now be to face up to these challenges and create coalitions and partnerships. The Congress is in pole position, and other parties that want to fight the BJP will coalesce around it, but that does not automatically translate into tie-ups. The road to success in 2019 is long, but Rahul Gandhi is off to a good start.