The conviction of former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar for the murder of two people during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots has come as a consolatory balm not only for the victims but the community as a whole.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots are a blot on India’s secularism when an entire community was hounded in the national capital in the aftermath of the assassination of Prime Minister Ms Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards. The only “crime” of the victims was that they shared the religion of the assassins.
The anti-Sikh riots were well organised and well orchestrated by Congress leaders like Sajjan Kumar, HKL Bhagat, Dharam Dass Shastri, Lalit Maken and others.
Rioters ran amuck with the ‘State’ remaining and watching as a mute spectator. Everyone in Delhi knew who the perpetrators were and who
instigated the mobs against the innocent and helpless Sikhs, most of whom had settled in Delhi after escaping another pogrom in 1947 during the partition. It was a repeat of history within 37 years.
While delayed justice is a normal routine in India, the particular case related to Sajjan Kumar had other reasons also, as he happened to belong to the political party that remained in power for a long time after his crimes.
Moreover, he had orchestrated the crimes in vengeance against innocent people and expected the party to protect him, which it did. After the riots, he along with HKL Bhagat were elected as MPs, not just once but multiple times. Bhagat also became the minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government. Not only did the perpetrators go scot-free, they were rewarded with parliamentary tickets and ministries.
Now that one of the very few survivors among the perpetrators has been brought to book, it may come as a small consolation for the victims who have been awaiting justice for a long time. While the incumbent regime headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party may try to claim credit for Kumar’s conviction, the matter should be viewed beyond partisan lines.
It was not only a case of delayed justice, but denied justice as well, the way culprits like Bhagat and Kumar were roaming scot-free and enjoying power.
Various Sikh organisations, including the SGPC and the victims’ families, have sought exemplary punishment for Kumar. The crime he has been convicted for isthe most heinous and indeed falls among the “rarest of the rare” category.
Innocent people were slaughtered just for belonging to a particular religion and just because two of their co-religionists had assassinated the Prime Minister.
Sajjan’s lawyers will pray for some leniency given his age as he is already past 79 years. That should not be any reason to let off someone who orchestrated a pogrom and later enjoyed power, possibly as a reward. He was an MP between 1991 and 1996, while there was a Congress government at the centre. Then he again became an MP in 2004 winning by a record margin of about 8.5 lakh votes.
There is no doubt that if there was no regime change at the centre, Kumar might well have gone completely scot-free. Even for the current regime, it took eleven long years to get him convicted for his crimes.
People like Sajjan Kumar and those involved in other similar crimes including those convicted for the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano during Gujarat riots, deserve no mercy. They are a blot on the entire society and must be treated as such. Such crimes should pinch and pain the collective conscience of the nation as a whole.
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