Rights group to move SC; seek SIT on 1984 Sikh Genocide

Chandigarh, Punjab: Claiming that Congress men Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were “just two among hundreds who participated in the massacre of Sikhs after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, Lawyers for Human Rights International, today announced its decision to move the Supreme Court seeking the formation of a Special Investigating Team (SIT), as had been done in the Gujarat riots cases, to probe the Sikh genocide and “reopen cases buried by successive governments”.

Addressing a press conference here today, Navkiran Singh, general secretary of the group, produced data on the killings. He said the conviction rate had been negligible.

“Records show that at least 90 Sikhs were killed on Delhi’s platforms. Only seven cases were registered and all the cases were sent to court as untraced,” he said.

Navkiran Singh said of the total cases registered, more than 40 per cent had remained untraced because of improper investigations. Of the 1,492 cases registered, only 580 were sent for trial and 660 remained untraced. Of the total 580 cases sent for trial, conviction could be secured in only 40 cases.

He said: “We have decided to move the Supreme Court with the data and request it to constitute a SIT to ensure fair and free investigation”.

He said Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal in a riots case showed that he enjoyed political patronage. He claimed that the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra had not provided the group the data sought under the RTI.

He showed a Ministry of Home letter dated February 2008 which stated that 2,733 Sikhs had been killed in Delhi while information under the RTI put the figure at 1,605.

Source: The Tribune