Jagdish Tytler’s presence at a congress party event sparks controversy

The Congress party came under fire because of the presence of 1984 anti-Sikh riots accused Jagdish Tytler at an event where former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit officially took charge of her new responsibility as Delhi Congress chief on Wednesday. The Nanavati Commission appointed to look into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots stated in its report, “there is credible evidence against Shri Jagdish Tytler to the effect that very probably he had a hand in organizing attacks on Sikhs.”

The Akali Dal leader and Union Minister, Harsimrat Kaur Badal attaked the Congress party over the presence of Tytler at such an important event. She said, “Congress has been saving him for 34 years. Today when he is sitting at Sheila Dikshit’s event, it proves that Congress is against Sikhs and what his grandmother and father did, Rahul Gandhi is doing the same thing. I am not shocked that Rahul Gandhi is proving that they don’t have any respect for the Sikh community. The Gandhi family has been responsible for harming the Sikh community and Punjab. There have been many proves that political patronage was given to Sajjan Kumar, now when he has been given life imprisonment, on the same day Rahul Gandhi is rewarding another accused (Kamal Nath). There have been eye-witnesses calling out the three Congress leaders but at the event likes of Jagdish Tytler are sitting on the stage and they are encouraging them.”

Manoj Mitta and HS Phoolka had made similar observations in the book titled When a Tree Shook Delhi: “…the political career[] of … Tytler, far from suffering on account of ‘the taint of 1984’ blossomed as if  [he] had been rewarded for engineering the violence. Having won the 1984 election under the shadow of the carnage, Rajiv Gandhi immediately…inducted Tytler into the government for the first time as minister of state…[He] remained in the Rajiv Gandhi government till the end of its tenure in 1989…”

In a series of tweets, another Shiromani Akali Dal leader, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, also slammed the Congress party for giving so much importance to a person accused in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. 

The Congress giving such importance to leaders who have been accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case is not something new. In 2012, Tytler was the Congress general secretary in charge of Orissa. Once, Sheila Dixit had defended Sajjan Kumar and said, “Though he hasn’t been given ticket now for two-times, but he is a good Congress leader.”

https://youtu.be/0PpXD4s1bI8

In December last year, the Delhi High Court had awarded life imprisonment to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The Delhi High Court, while reading the judgment against Sajjan Kumar, rightly observed, “In the summer of 1947, during partition, several people were massacred. 37 years later Delhi was the witness of a similar tragedy. The accused enjoyed political patronage and escaped trial.” The Delhi High Court also said that there were ‘large-scale efforts’ to protect Kumar.

Despite strong allegations regarding Sajjan Kumar’s involvement in organized violence against the Sikh community in 1984, his political career flourished in the Congress party. He was elected three times from the Outer Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. He was given a ticket in the Lok Sabha elections repeatedly by the Congress party.

In the 2004 general elections, Sajjan Kumar defeated former Delhi CM and the late Delhi BJP stalwart, Sahib Singh Verma, from the Outer Delhi constituency. Sajjan Kumar got more than 8.50 lakh votes.
During the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party withdrew Sajjan Kumar’s nomination ahead of polls, after a Sikh journalist hurled a shoe at the then Home Minister, P Chidambaram, at the party’s media briefing following the CBI’s decision to give a ‘clean chit’ to Jagdish Tytler who is accused of playing a large role in the 1984 Sikh massacre. In August 2017, ahead of the Bawana Assembly constituency by-election had convened meetings in the constituency. In September 2018, Sajjan Kumar had participated in the ‘Lalkar’ rally at Bawana industrial area organized by the Congress against the ‘illegal sealing’ of industries. Sajjan Kumar had also addressed a rally there.

For more details: he brazen lies of Kapil Sibal on Sajjan Kumar

In August last year, the Congress President Rahul Gandhi completely denied the congress Party’s involvement in the 1984 Sikh pogroms. Responding to a question on Congress’ involvement in the infamous violence against Sikhs, Gandhi had said, “I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don’t agree. Certainly there was violence, there was tragedy.” All this when his father Rajiv Gandhi went to the extent of justifying violence against Sikhs. When asked about the riots, Rajiv Gandhi had said “When a big tree falls, the earth shakes”.