Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal has said that the conviction of two accused responsible for "butchering" two Sikhs in South Delhi's Mahipalpur area during 1984 anti-Sikh riots has paved the way for similar convictions against Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.
Welcoming the conviction of the two accused, Naresh Sehrawat and Yashpal Singh, who killed two young Sikhs in 1984 in the aftermath of the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, the Union Minister said that this was a direct result of the affirmative action taken by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to bring the guilty to book.
Stating that the convictions would now pave the way for the sentencing of Tytler and Sajjan, Badal said, "Tytler had already boasted that he had killed 100 Sikhs during the 1984 massacres. Once Tytler and Sajjan came in the grip of the law the wider the Congress conspiracy in the cases would also be unearthed and the culprits who masterminded these massacres would also be brought to book."
"These convictions are a ray of hope for hundreds of Sikhs families who are still awaiting closure 34 years after the Congress leaders led mobs which destroyed their homes and businesses besides butchering them in their homes and on the roads of Delhi," she said.
She added that the guilty, however, started feeling the heat after the formation of the NDA government in 2014. "First the NDA government formed the SIT which started taking all eyewitness accounts into consideration and collating evidence against the guilty. The NDA government simultaneously created confidence in witnesses to depose fearlessly in the cases and final day to day hearings was held which has led to today's convictions."
Appealing to the witnesses to come forward in this and all other cases involving the mass murder of Sikhs, Badal said the Sikh community had to wait for nine years for registration of FIR in the 1984 cases. She said even this happened after the formation of eleven Commissions. "The Delhi Police was used as a tool by Congress governments and even out of the only 587 FIRs registered in this regard despite thousands being killed and injured, 241 were closed suo moto. The rest were also not investigated by the Delhi Police and the CBI under Congress rule".
The Union Minister said that right from raising the issue during her maiden speech in the Parliament, she had taken up all issues concerning the cause of justice as well as humanitarian help to the affected families with the NDA government.
She said it was a matter of record that the NDA government had extended Rs five lakh compensation to affected families. She further said that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) would continue to help affected families to get justice so that all FIRs could be taken to their logical conclusions.
The reaction came after a Delhi Court on November 14 held Naresh Sehrawat and Yashpal Singh guilty in connection with the murder of two Sikhs in South Delhi's Mahipalpur area during 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Both the accused were taken into custody immediately after the pronouncement of the court judgment.
Sehrawat and Singh were earlier booked on the charges of criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, rioting, weapon possession, attempt to murder and murder etc under Sections 452, 302, 307, 324, 395, 436 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to official records, about 2,800 Sikhs were killed across India, including 2,100 in Delhi, during the clashes which broke out after Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)