Delhi High Court, it seems, has decided to follow the dictum of ‘better late than never.’ In a major breakthrough, the Delhi High Court has upheld up to 88 convictions in the 1984 anti Sikh riots that had notoriously occurred after the then PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards.
Large scale riots had broken out, which saw the brutal murder of more than 4000 Sikhs throughout India, half of the dead coming from Delhi alone. Most riots were instigated by Congress leaders, the worst cases coming from Trilokpuri, for which this decision has been taken.
In Trilokpuri, instigated by crafty Congress leaders, a murderous mob went on a rampage, killing Sikhs at the drop of a hat. According to the local FIRs, 95 people had been murdered, while over 100 houses had been set ablaze by the rioters. God only knows what the actual casualties would’ve been.
Following local investigations, the case was one of the few that were taken up on trial. 88 people were convicted by the trial court in 1996, against which the accused appealed in the High Court.
This is not only a major victory for millions of Sikhs, but it is also a signal to those who rose to power on the basis of these riots, that their days are numbered. Even senior advocate and head of AAP party in Punjab, HS Phoolka, praised the verdict. To quote him, ‘This is a landmark judgment. The court has criticized the fact that despite the recovery of 95 bodies, none of the accused were charged with murder.
With this judgment, another feather has also been added to the cap of the current NDA government, led by PM Narendra Modi. Having addressed the issue himself, even as Gujarat CM, PM Modi gave his assent to the constitution of an SIT panel in 2015. As of now, more than 220 cases are under intense scrutiny and investigation, with sentences pronounced upon at least 5 convicts, apart from the current judgement in favor of the victims of the riots at Trilokpuri.
This panel would preside over more than 220 cases, that are not only connected with the horrifying anti-Sikh riots in 1984, but were also mysteriously suppressed, probably due to the irrefutable evidence against the top brass of the Congress party, including some of the current leaders like Kamal Nath, Sajjan Kumar etc. Even Home Minister Rajnath Singh has minced no words, labeling the riots as a genocide.
After the opening of the Kartarpur corridor, the conviction of the rioters is another major instance, for which both the judiciary, as well as the Central Government must be appreciated. We hope that the justice is delivered and nobody, who oversaw one of the most brutal massacres in independent India, has the last laugh, even if he / she is a powerful member of the Lutyens’ brigade.
