G R O U N D   Z E R O

ground zero
Cry, my beloved country, till the guilty are punished
Successive governments, including the current one that is headed by a Sikh Prime Minister, have done precious little to atone for what happened in 1984. Two commissions of inquiry and eight committees have little to show in terms of bringing to book the guilty.
Raj Chengappa

Raj Chengappa

There was a sense of déjà vu when an Additional Sessions Judge in Delhi asked the CBI to reopen the investigation into allegations against former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler of his involvement in instigating anti-Sikh riots in 1984. When the riots took place in the wake of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, I was living in Bangalore, covering South India for the magazine I worked for. With only Doordarshan news to watch then, I never did get to see the full extent of the horror and brutality that was perpetrated against Sikhs, particularly in Delhi. When I was transferred to Delhi the next year, the National Capital resembled a garrisoned city — armed policemen everywhere, frequent security checks and the constant fear of terror attacks at theatres and public places.

In the years to follow, several commissions and committees were formed with mindless regularity to probe whether the 1984 riots were instigated and organised by a political party and its leaders, to identify and charge-sheet the criminals that killed Sikhs and destroyed their property and to nail those in the Delhi police and administration who had failed to put down the violence. It was obvious that successive governments indulged in foot-dragging and showed no spine to punish the guilty. The hurt among the Sikh community was palpable, but many of them kept the strife and their feelings bottled.

It was in 2005, 20 years after the riots, that a Sikh friend of mine expressed over dinner his deep resentment and anguish against the lack of justice. It was the peak years of India’s economic growth and we were discussing how vibrant the country had become when he told me, “What is this democracy that you are talking about which fails to deliver justice to its people and book the guilty? Close to 3,000 Sikhs were killed in Delhi alone and barring a score of people, those who perpetrated the violence have got away scot free, living their lives normally, even enjoying political power. The majority community can’t imagine the raw pain and humiliation we continue to feel.”

File photo of a Sikh viewing pictures of the 1984 riots at an exhibition. AFP

Stung and stirred, I decided that I had to understand the grief and angst of my friend. I called up HS Phoolka, the Delhi-based Supreme Court lawyer, who even then as now was tirelessly fighting for justice for the 1984-riot victims. He provided me with a random list of people who had suffered. I homed in on a dozen names and then visited each of the families. Their narratives made me hang my head in shame and weep — even now tears well up as I recall what they told me.

When I met Vibha Sethi, a retired school teacher, whose husband and son were brutally done to death while she watched helplessly, she told me, “What was the wrong we had committed? I have been asking these questions all these years after their death. All my life I believed in all religions. I made special sweets for the children during Holi and Diwali or other festivals, telling them these were important. My son’s dream was to join the NCC and to march down the Rajpath on Republic Day. I feel betrayed. I have lost faith in the country.”

Vibha Sethi said she was fed up of giving evidence to the various commissions formed to inquire into the riots, asking, “What do these commissions do other than reopen old wounds?” She then went on to add, “I wish only for peace for everybody. I don’t want my grandchildren to grow up with any animosity. I still instil in them love for our nation. My daughter’s mobile set has ‘Sare jahan se achcha, Hindustan hamara’ as its ringtone. Bringing them up as good citizens — that’s the least I can do.”

The others I interviewed spoke in a similar vein. Surinder Kaur, orphaned at four after a mob killed her parents and burnt their house down, aspires to be a schoolteacher but remains fearful. She told me, “This is a country of uncaring people where the guilty roam with impunity. What hope should I have in a nation like this? Only when the guilty are punished will my faith return. The government should also compensate us by helping us with a job to earn and live well.” (See the report at http://archives.digitaltoday.in/indiatoday/20050912/law.html)

Successive governments, including the BJP and the current one that is headed by a Sikh Prime Minister, have done precious little to atone for what happened in 1984. Two commissions of inquiry and eight committees have little to show in terms of bringing to book the guilty. Officially, 2,733 Sikhs were killed in Delhi during the 1984 riots. Phoolka now tells me that of these only 10 cases proceeded to conviction, with 25 people getting life imprisonment. Though 76 policemen were found guilty of dereliction of duty during the riots, barring four, no penal action has been taken against the rest.

The only action has been on the rehabilitation front, with the UPA government in 2006 announcing and disbursing Rs 770 crore compensation to families of victims of the anti-Sikh riots across the country. Manmohan Singh did make a public apology to the Sikh community in Parliament the previous year, stating, “On behalf of our government, on behalf of the entire people of this country, I bow my head in shame that such a thing took place… it is the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our Constitution.”

These words will remain meaningless unless the guilty, including the powerful leaders named by various commissions, are brought to justice without further delay. The BJP too shouldn’t make political capital of this, as it is trying to. Both the 1984 riots and the 2002 post-Godhra riots remain a blot on our nation’s collective conscience.

raj@tribunemail.com