31, Oct 2009

October  31, 2009

CJP Sabrang Commemorate Years of Sikh Massacre, Demand Justice for the
Victims

Twenty-five years ago Delhi, IndiaÂ’s capital, burned and no Sikh was
safe. Eminent writer Khushwant Singh sought shelter at the Swedish
embassy in Delhi, Justice SS Chadha of the Delhi high court had to
move to the high court complex. His residence was not safe. Even
General JS Arora, the hero of the Bangladesh war, had to flee for
safety.

It is a shocking tale of impunity and non-deliverance of justice that
there has been no punishment of the guilty. When the Indian Parliament
met in 1985, it condemned the tragic and condemnable assassination of
the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But alas it has to pass a
resolution condemning the massacre.

Though the official death toll in Delhi was 2,733, victimsÂ’ lawyers
submitted a list to the officially appointed Ranganath Misra
Commission recording that 3,870 Sikh persons had been killed. Of the
26 persons arrested on November 1 and 2 by the police, all were
Sikhs!! Only nine cases have led to convictions so far. In all, 20 of
the accused have been convicted in 25 years, a conviction rate of less
than one per cent.

The culture of impunity against politicians of the ruling party and
policemen displayed during the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre has perpetrated
a culture of impunity that was evident in the post-Babri Masjid
violence in Bombay and again in Gujarat in 2002.

Teesta Setalvad
Javed Anand
M.K. Raina
Rajan Prasad
Ram Rehman
N.K. Sharma
P.K. Shukla