Anti-Sikh Riots in 1984 : Who did it and How they did it.

Contrary to perception the anti-Sikh pogrom was not confined to Delhi alone but had taken place across the country. To a question asked by Smt. Geeta Mukherjee, CPI, Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal (Panskura) the then MoS Home Smt. Ramdulari Sinha provided the figures below in a statement in the Lok Sabha on January 23rd 1985.

Interesting to see how widespread the riots were – (compared to Gujarat)

[Apart from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, J &K, Tripura, and West Bengal, the rest of the states had Congress governments in place.]

Statement

Congress party decision: Teach the Sikhs a lesson

That night, [after the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi] local politicians belonging to the ruling Congress party met to decide how “to teach the Sikhs a lesson they would never forget.” Party cadres were mobilised. Contacts were made with lumpen elements living in the shanty towns and neighbouring villages. Sikh homes and shops were marked. Trucks were commandeered; iron rods and cans of kerosene oil and patrol acquired…… At break of dawn on 1st November, the anti-Sikh pogrom got going in right earnest. Truck-loads of hoodlums armed with steel rods, jerry cans full of kerosene oil and patrol went round the city setting fire to gurdwaras. (My Bleeding Punjab by Khushwant Singh: UBS Publishers’ Distributors Ltd., 1992, p. 91)

Incapability of Authorities

1. In Delhi, it took the authorities over 24 hours to realise that the police and the Para-Military forces were unwilling (not incapable but unwilling) to put down the rioters. Curfew was announced but never imposed; shoot at sight authorised, but never executed; extensive patrolling was more heard over All-India Radio and Doordarshan than seen with the eyes. The killing assumed the proportion of genocide of the Sikh community. (My Bleeding Punjab by Khushwant Singh: UBS Publishers’ Distributors Ltd., 1992, p. 95)

Rajiv Gandhi’s Anti-Sikh Campaign for the Election

Rajiv Gandhi called the election a month before they were due. A massive propaganda campaign was launched over the radio network (the largest in the world reaching over 90 percent of the population), television (183 relay stations), and the press and through posters…… Day after day, all papers in India’s 15 languages carried full page advertisements showing barbed-wire entanglements and text asking: “Will the country’s border finally be moved to your doorsteps?” And “Why should you feel uncomfortable riding in a taxi driven by a taxi-driver who belongs to a different state?” Huge hoardings showed two Sikhs in uniform shooting at blood-stained Mrs. Gandhi against the back-drop of a map of India, or Mrs. Gandhi’s body lying in state with the Congress party candidate’s picture doing homage to her. (My Bleeding Punjab by Khushwant Singh: UBS Publishers’ Distributors Ltd., 1992, p. 101)

Eye Witness

• Moti Singh witnessed Sajjan Kumar’s meeting at a park in Sultanpuri. Having served in the Congress (I) party for 15 to 20 years, Moti Singh recognised many of the attendees, such as Kumar’s personal assistant Jai Chand Jamadar. From the rooftop of his house, Moti Singh heard Sajjan Kumar say: Whoever kills the sons of the snakes, I will reward them. Whoever kills Roshan Singh [son of Moti Singh] and Bagh Singh will get 5000 rupees each and 1000 rupees each for killing any other Sikhs. You can collect these prizes on November 3 from my personal assistant Jai Chand Jamadar. (Twenty Years of Impunity; the November 1984 Pogroms of Sikhs in India by Jaskaran Kaur: A Report by Ensaaf, 2006, p. 28)

• Santokh Singh described how a mob of 5000 to 6000 people, led by prominent Congress (I) leader Panna Lal Pradhan, attacked the Sikhs in Hari Nagar Ashram, New Delhi on the morning of November 1. The DCP, SHO Ishwar Singh, Ved Prakash, Head Constable Mohinder Singh and 50 other constables reached the scene. Using loudspeakers, they instructed the mob to kill every Sikh and burn their properties. The senior officers then instructed the policemen to participate. When the curfew order was announced at 6:45 p.m. the police declared they would not enforce it against non-Sikhs. They also repeated the rumour regarding dead Hindu bodies arriving in trains from Punjab and fired rounds at the Sikhs, although no one was hit. The military eventually rescued Santokh Singh and his family. (Twenty Years of Impunity; the November 1984 Pogroms of Sikhs in India by Jaskaran Kaur: A Report by Ensaaf, 2006, p. 49-50)

Slogans to Kill Sikhs

The murderous words and constant refrains chanted by the mobs, on television, throughout neighbourhoods, demonstrated a desire to kill Sikhs as a people. “Khoon ka Badla Khoon,” or “Blood for Blood” began at AIIMS, and reverberated across India through the state-owned TV service Doordarshan. Ranjit Singh Narula, retired Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, watched local television on the morning of November 1, amazed at how the crowd outside Teen Murti, where Mrs. Gandhi’s body lay, chanted “Khoon Ka Badla Khoon” and “Sardar Qaum Ke Ghaddar,” or “Sardars are the Nation’s Traitors” while the large number of government officials observed without taking any action to stop the inflammatory slogans. This continued on TV the whole day. Even the new Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi did not stop the chanting mobs…… Almost every affidavit spoke of mobs shouting slogans to kill Sikhs. Other slogans often heard were: “Maar Deo Salon Ko,” or “Kill the Bastards”, “Sikhon ko mar do aur loot lo,” or “Kill the Sikhs and rob them”; and “Sardar Koi Bhi Nahin Bachne Pai,” or “Don’t let any Sardar escape.” (Twenty Years of Impunity; the November 1984 Pogroms of Sikhs in India by Jaskaran Kaur: A Report by Ensaaf, 2006, p. 31-32)

Some relevant extract from the Nanavati Commission Report, the Commission submitted its final report in February 2005

Attacks on Sikhs Organised by the Congressmen

Considering the manner in which the violent attacks were made, it was felt that probably the attacks on Sikhs were organised by the Congressmen or their supporters or by some other organisations or associations. (Nanavati Commission Report, p. 1)

Role of Kamal Nath and Vasant Sathe

1. When the mob again attempted to get inside the Gurudwara (Rakab Ganj Sahib), one person who was inside the Gurudwara and had a licensed gun fired some shots in air so as to frighten the mob. Thereafter the mob became bigger and at that time Congress leaders Shri Kamal Nath and Shri Vasant Sathe were seen in the mob. (Nanavati Commission Report, p. 21)

• Reply filed by Shri Kamal Nath is vague. (Shri Kamal Nath, in his affidavit, has stated that in the afternoon of 1-11-84, on receiving information that some violence was taking place in and around Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, he as a senior and responsible leader of the Congress Party decided to go there) He has not clearly stated at what time he went there and how long he remained there. The situation at the Gurudwara had become very grave at about 11.30 a.m. and continued to remain grave till about 3.30 p.m. The evidence discloses that Shri Kamal Nath was seen in the mob at about 2 p.m. The Police Commissioner had reached that place at about 3.30 p.m. So he was there for quite a long time. (Nanavati Commission Report, p. 141)

Affidavits

1. Shri Inder Mohan in his affidavit filed before Justice Mishra Commission has stated that on 1-11-84 at about 12.00 noon he saw a mob near the crossing of Bangla Sahib and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg. It was stopping buses, cars and other vehicles and pulling out Sikhs. The mob beat some Sikhs also. He, therefore, contacted the police and within few minutes the police arrived and dispersed the mob. He has further stated that on 2-11-84 at about 3 p.m. a mob collected near Bangla Sweet House. It was led by youths belonging to Congress (I) whom he knew by faces but whose names he did not know. The mob started looting a restaurant opposite Bangla Sweet House as it belonged to a Sikh. The mob thereafter broke open a shop belonging to another Sikh and tried to set it on fire. (Nanavati Commission Report, p. 24)

• Shri Daljinder Singh S/o Avtar Singh (Witness No.9) appeared before this Commission (Nanavati) and gave evidence with respect to this incident. He has stated that on 31-10-84 at about 10.30 p.m. he had seen Shri Dharam Dass Shastri who was a Congress MP going to the houses of Shri Tek Chand and Shri Rajinder Pal Sharma and heard him asking those persons how many Sikhs they were going to kill. (Nanavati Commission Report, p. 24)

1. The affidavits of persons residing in Blocks A and B (Sultanpuri) disclose that in the morning of 1-11-84 between 8 and 9 am, a mob of about 500 – 600 persons gathered near B-2 Park and it was addressed by local Congress (I) M.P. Shri Sajjan Kumar who instigated them by telling that “Sardarro ne hamari Indira Gandhi mari hai, ab sardoro ko maro, looto aur aag laga do”. (Nanavati Commission Report, p. 110)

Political Organisers

1. Well-dressed young men coming in Matador vans or cars or buses later identified as important functionaries of Congress-I or elected leaders belonging to Congress-I have been responsible for mobilizing and directing the mob towards Sikh houses, shops, factories and Gurudwaras. Refugees from Patparganj, Khichripur, Kalyanpuri in Pandav Nagar Gurudwara separately interviewed mentioned that a cream coloured Matador (xxx) owned by one xxxx drove up to Ganesh Nagar (Pandav Nagar Complex) carrying 12 men, one of whom was xxxx, a Congress-I Councillor; they distributed to the crowd assembled there lathis, revolvers and rifles – which they had brought with them – and were heard telling them before leaving ‘Use these on Sardars’.

1. In Mangolpuri, a white Ambassador was seen driving up near the flyover from Mangolpuri. Sitting inside was xxxx, a prominent Congress –I man who had masked his face as not to be recognized (but he was recognized all the same). He called the crowd to his car and gave them some advice and then left; soon after that the Gurudwara went up in flames in the morning of November, 1.

Slogans

1. Thus frenzied cries of:-

• ‘Indira Gandhi Zindabad’,

Indira Gandhi Amar Rahe’ and

• Jab tak sooraj-chand rahega

Indira tera naam rahega’,

1. Were followed by:-

• ‘Khoon ka badla khoon se Lenge’

• ‘Sardaron ko jala do, ‘loot lo’, ‘Sardaron ko mar do’ and

• ‘Hindu-bhai, Muslim-bhai, Sardaron ki kare safai’

Rajiv Gandhi Statement

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s on November 19, 1984 in his speech said that “Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed India had been shaken. But when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little.” (http://www.niticentral.com/2012/11/04/recalling-the-pogrom-of-1984-why-are-the-guilty-still-free-17675.html)

Role of Media

Throughout the carnage, the official TV station Doordarshan continued to focus on Teen Murti and the chanting crowds, showing no coverage of the massacre of Sikhs. Television viewers abroad watched in horror, but tight controls within India prevented any coverage.

Despite repeatedly showing footage of slogan shouting mobs, the Union of India told the Misra Commission in its reply to interrogatories that: “Doordarshan did not take shots of persons shouting slogans like ‘Khoon Ka Badla Khoon’ and ‘Sikh Kaum Ke Gaddar.’ It was a live telecast and TV cameras focus sometimes covered shots of huge crowds lined up to pay homage to the late Prime Minister.

Congress-Led Meetings and Distribution of Weapons: Identification of MP Sajjan Kumar

On the morning of November 1, Congress (I) MP Sajjan Kumar was identified near at least the following Delhi areas: Palam Colony around 6:30 to7 a.m., Kiran Gardens around 8 to 8:30 a.m., and Sultanpuri around 8:30 to 9 a.m. Raj Kumar of Palam Colony, a Hindu, was returning from the market after deciding not to open his shop on November 1.When he reached the Palam Railway main road, he saw a jeep coming towards him, followed by people on scooters, motorcycles and foot.

MP Sajjan Kumar, whom he recognized from Kumar’s visits to Palam Colony, sat in the passenger seat. The people following the jeep told him they were going t o a meeting at Mangolpuri. By the time Raj Kumar reached the meeting, Sajjan Kumar had started speaking. Although Raj Kumar could not hear Sajjan Kumar, he heard the mob’s deadly answers to Sajjan Kumar’s calls: “Sardaroo Ko Mar Do,” [Kill the Sardars] “Indira Gandhi Hamari Ma Hai– Aur Inihoo Ne Ushey Mara Hai” [Indira Gandhi is our Mother, and These People Have Killed Her].

Role of HKL Bhagat

Sarup Singh lived across from eminent Congress (I) leader Shyam Singh Tyagi in Shakarpur. On the evening of October 31, he saw MP and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting HKL Bhagat standing in front of Tyagi’s house talking to four or five people. They went inside Tyagi’s house, while Tyagi left to gather more people. Sukhan Singh Saini, a Hindu, witnessed the same meeting and recognized Shyam’s brother Boop Singh Tyagi, as well as 13 other people. He also saw Bhagat distribute money to Boop Tyagi, ordering “Keep these two thousand rupees for liquor and do as I have told you….You need not worry at all. I will look after everything.” (Twenty Years of Impunity, the November 1984 Pogroms of Sikhs in India by Jaskaran Kaur (2004)

Jagdish Tytler dictates Delhi Police Commissioner

Sudip Mazumdar, Journalist (eye witness): “November 5, 1984, 5 p.m. The police commissioner Mr. S.C. Tandon was talking to a group of journalists about the situation in the city. In response to a question from a reporter that Congress (I) MPs and other senior party leaders were trying to pressurise the police to release the gangsters arrested in connection with the anti-Sikh violence, Mr. Tandon firmly denied the allegation. Prodded to give a clear answer, Mr. Tandon stated that no member of the Congress or any other party was putting pressure on the police. He had barely finished saying this when Jagdish Tytler, Congress MP from Delhi’s Sadar seat, walked into the room along with three other people. “Tandon saab, kya ho raha hai, aap nee mera kaam abhi tak nahin kiya (Mr. Tandon, what are you upto, why have you not done what I asked you to?)”

The Commissioner was embarrassed. The journalists started laughing. Mr. Tytler went on shouting at Mr. Tandon at which a reporter asked him to tell Mr. Tytler not to disturb the press conference. Mr. Tytler snapped at him, “this is more important.” Then the reporter invited Mr. Tytler to attend the press conference and face some questions regarding his involvement in the carnage. Mr. Tytler went red in the face but sat there all the same, “you are obstructing the relief work (for the survivors) by keeping my men in custody”, Mr. Tytler told the Commissioner. This incident silenced the Commissioner effectively against any further questions about the Congress party’s involvement in the violence.” (Gurcharan Singh Babbar, edited, Government-Organised Carnage: November, 1984, New Delhi: Babbar Publications, pp.124-125)

Rajiv Gandhi’s Strange Reaction when told of Congress workers involvement in the Riots

“When a delegation led by the former prime minister, Mr. Charan Singh met Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and drew his attention to the reports in the Indian Express about the Congress MPs trying to get their supporters released from custody, Mr. Gandhi’s answer was, “just as National Herald daily belongs to the Congress party, the Express is the Opposition’s newspaper” implying, thereby, that the report need not be taken seriously.” (Gurcharan Singh Babbar, edited, Government-Organised Carnage: November, 1984, New Delhi: Babbar Publications, pp.124-125)

Manmohan Singh’s statement in Parliament

In 2005, Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, in an astonishing admission, following on from the latest judicial inquiry into the events, said the following in the Lok Sabha, the Indian Parliament: “What happened in 1984 was a grim national tragedy and it brought us all to shame. Both the assassinate on of Shrimati Indira Gandhi and subsequent events leading to anti-Sikh riots and all those ghastly happenings should have never happened. They are blots on our national conscience. On this, there is no difference of opinion on any side. But the question arises: “Where do we go from here?”

Twenty-one years have passed; more than one political party has been in power; and yet the feeling persists that somehow the truth has not come out and justice has not prevailed. Therefore, it is our collective responsibility to find ways and means where we could accelerate the processes which would give our people a feeling that they do appreciate justice in this massive State of India. I wish the debate had taken that tone. But the debate has been on narrow, partisan lines and I respectfully say to the House that does not serve its purpose. …say once again, was a national shame, a national and a great human tragedy. (http://pmindia.nic.in/august speech.pdf)