Congress Liability: Sajjan Kumar and Beyond

— Atal Behari Vajpayee, during the Debate on the White Paper on the Punjab Agitation, Monsoon Session of Parliament, 1984, July 23 to August 29, 1984

After a long delay of 34 years, the Delhi High Court convicted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar of criminal conspiracy. The charges also include murder, desecration of place of worship and instigating enmity on the grounds of religion. The judgement reveals the acts of inhuman lynching, frightful trauma and eventful cover-up.

The conviction of Sajjan Kumar and his associates is just a second conviction in the 186 cases, but still, this is a major victory for the victims who have been fighting for justice since the 1984 massacre of Sikhs in the aftermath of the assassination of the then PM Indira Gandhi. There should have been a unanimous welcome of the decision and more questioning of the role of Congress leaders in executing the targeted violence against Sikh community. Instead, we find strange responses from the eminent people that said things like ‘Congress has already apologised’, ‘What about the post-Godhra riots’ and ‘it was basically a Hindu-Sikh issue’.

Yes, Dr Manmohan Singh had given statement saying ‘no hesitation in apologising to the Sikh community’, and Sonia Gandhi also expressed her grief over Operation Blue-star. Why then the Court observation that ‘the worst genocide had the political backing’? Why did Sajjan Kumar get a chance to test his political fortune in the electoral fray? The stoic silence maintained by the recently ‘grown up’ party leadership on the issue and appointing Kamal Nath facing allegations of instigating the mob in an incident of burning Sikhs in Delhi as  CM of Madhya Pradesh further expose the hollowness of apology claims.

Whataboutery on post-Godhra riots is not new. Firstly, there can be no justification for any act of violence on any ground in democracy. But forgetting the fact that the persons who have masterminded the burning of 59 Karsevaks at Godhra were Congressmen and that was the triggering point of the violence. Every one accused faced the legal consequences and even the then top leadership of the State faced the SIT. Therefore, there should not be any comparison or justification of violence on any ground.

There have been records of ‘how the massacre was pre-planned and executed with the connivance of the police’ by Congressmen in various commissions. If courageous witnesses like Jagdish Kaur and Jagsher Singh had not stood by their testimonies about what had happened, on November 1 and November 2, 1984, despite tremendous political pressures and ups and downs in the legal battle, the bigshots like Sajjan Kumar would not have been nailed. There are similar testimonies to tell that many Hindus who came forward and saved the Sikh brethren from the frenzied mobs. So giving the massacre a communal colour is the worst way to respond to the historic verdict, particularly when the enemy across the border is looking for a chance to revive the Khalistan movement.

As Justice Nanavati Commission states, “these anti-Sikh riots not only hurt the feelings of Sikhs but also shocked the conscience of all right-minded persons throughout the country”. As former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee questioned after the Blue-Star operation unless we address the root cause of the problem we cannot find longlasting solutions. The Congress strategy of fostering divisive tendencies for petty political gains led to the emergence of many regional and violent movements, which, in turn, led to the decline of Congress Party. Unfortunately, the Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi is feeding off the same tendencies that would weaken the national integration either on regional identity or ideology of violence. Can Congress own up responsibility beyond the resignation of Sajjan Kumar and emerge as a true ‘national’ party? Or is it too much to expect from the dynastic party?