THIS ABOVE ALL
Commissions of injustice
Khushwant Singh

Justice delayed is justice denied. This is a well-known adage. We Indians have evolved ingenuous ways of delaying justice. The commonest is to appoint commissions to go into crimes of magnitude, and report back to the government. Another way is to have lawyers who specialise in getting adjournments and long dates. Commissions take their own sweet time to submit reports. Some like the Liberhan commission appointed on the destruction of the Babri Masjid took 17 years to tell us that which we already knew.

Perhaps the most scandalous delay occurred in bringing to justice the killers of over 3,000 innocent Sikhs following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Their houses were looted and property destroyed. Half a dozen commissions were appointed to go into the details of the crimes committed. Nothing came out of them, and the accused continued to roam free.

Finally, the Nanavati commission suggested that some cases needed fresh investigation. HKL Bhagat and Jagdish Tytler, who were even included in the Central Cabinet, and Sajjan Kumar were among those who were named. But for the dogged attempts to get justice made by some Sikh organisations led by lawyer HS Phoolka, nothing would have come out, and the entire tragic episode would have been swept into the carpet of oblivion.

But at long last a Delhi court summoned Sajjan Kumar, ex- MP, to face trial for his role in the sordid affair. He did what many politicians generally do — go underground. For a while, he evaded the cops till warrants of arrest were issued against him. Finally, when he appeared to ask for bail, he had a huge crowd of supporters raising slogans to overawe the court. This has also become an established practice resorted to by our politicians, when they are in trouble.

Sajjan Kumar has dodged justice for 18 years. Some witnesses are dead, others have fled abroad, or are reluctant to risk their lives. No better example of delaying justice can be found in our recent history.

Then we had pogroms of Muslims in Gujarat, following the burning of a rail coach along with passengers at the Godhra railway station in 2002. Over 2,000 innocent Muslims, including a former MP, were killed. There is plenty of recorded evidence made through a sting operation by Tehalka that Modi himself gave the green signal to vandals to do what they liked to Muslims for three days, and teach them a lesson without bothering about the police. Goondas took the law into their own hands and went on a killing spree.

No action was taken against Modi, who had a stout protector in LK Advani because Advani depended on Modi to return him to Parliament. Instead, Modi was praised for his good administration and as a promoter of industry. Ratan Tata shifted his Nano-manufacturing plant from West Bengal to Gujarat. Other industrialists lauded him for containing trade unions.

Gujarat, undoubtedly, made good progress in industry but its Chief Minister’s clear role in depriving thousands of people of their lives was conveniently forgotten. Now he is again up to flexing his muscles to defy attempts to nail him for crimes committed at his instance. No one has the right to condone crimes except the judiciary.

No time

A couple was celebrating 50 years together. Their three kids, all very successful, agreed to a Sunday dinner in their honour. “Happy anniversary, mom and dad,” gushed son number one. “Sorry, I am running late. I had an emergency at the hospital with a patient. You know how it is, and I did not the have time to get you a gift.” “Not to worry,” said the father. “The important thing is that we are all together today.”

Son number two arrived and announced: “You and mom look great, dad. I just flew in from Los Angeles between depositions and did not have the time to shop for you.” “No problem,” said the father. “We are glad you were able to come.”

Just then the daughter arrived. “Hello, and happy anniversary. I am sorry but my boss is sending me out of town, and I was really busy packing. So I did not have the time to get you anything.”

After they had finished dessert, the father said: “There is something your mother and I have wanted to tell you for a long time. You see, we were very poor. Despite this, we were able to send each of you to college. Throughout the years, your mother and I knew that we loved each other very much, but we just never found the time to get married.”

The three children gasped, and all said: “You mean we are bastards?” “Yep,” said the father, “and cheap ones, too.”

Alphabetical explanation

You must have heard of ABCD… American Bred Confused Desi. But how about ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ? American Bred Confused Desi Emigrated From Gujarat, Housed in Jersey, Keeping Lots of Motels, Named Omkarnath Patel, Quickly Reached Success Through Underhand Vicious Ways, Xenophobic Yet Zestful.

(Contributed by Vipin Buckshey, Delhi)