The Ghosts Of '84

April 17, 2004, Indian Express

By fielding those seen to have spearheaded the Sikh killings, Congress has damaged itself.

As a prominent spokesperson for his party, Kapil Sibal is often required to display a high degree of pugnacity. But his defence of his party’s decision to field Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, two individuals directly accused of spearheading the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984, and another, R.K. Anand, who defended the killers in numerous cases, could only be termed as a bravura performance. Sibal made an unprincipled and indefensible move appear as the very apogee of fair play and justice. His argument went something like this: Nothing has been found against both Kumar and Tytler despite a long judicial process. The incidents themselves happened 20 years ago and the candidates in question had been kept out of elections by the party all this while and it’s time now to move on.

Rhetoric, however, is no substitute for reality. Sibal must surely have heard — and indeed used — the phrase “justice must be done and seen to be done”. Well, let’s just put it like this. There is no way anybody can claim that justice has been done in the Sikh riots, and seen to be done. The judicial process Sibal talked about was an elaborate whitewash job. When the attacks by murderous mobs — which claimed 2,733 lives — were taking place, the police did not move a muscle. It took over six months for the Rajiv Gandhi government to even set up a commission to inquire into the killings. The judge who presided over the first inquiry process was perceived to be biased toward the Congress, as his family connections and statements revealed, therefore it was not surprising that no one was indicted as a result of his exertions. Even though Kumar and Tytler were named by several witnesses, and murder cases registered against them, they have always got away thanks to the formidable protection they received from those in power. As of now, the Justice Nanavati Commission has issued Section 8B notices against both Kumar and Tytler. So to imply they are innocent, and have a “right” to stand for elections, is a joke.

The Congress must know that the gravity of crimes like these do not diminish with the passing of the years. The party has evidently decided to adopt an adjustable standard of morality for the election season. This was evident when it recently welcomed a tainted Sukh Ram — who, until the other day, was their favourite whipping boy and a means to embarrass the BJP with — back into the party fold. Now it is the turn of Messrs Kumar, Tytler and Anand to receive party absolution. But in its desperate search to round up “winnable” candidates, the Congress has ended up damaging considerably its own credibility and claim to being committed to justice.