The day: October 31, 1984 (40 years ago). The place: New Delhi, India. The scene: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two of her security guards right in the precincts of the PM house in broad daylight by spraying bullets into her. Later in the day, the death of Indira Gandhi in AIIMS Hospital is officially announced. A motley mob of lumpen elements gathers around the hospital complex and starts pelting stones towards Sikhs, also attacking them with clubs. President Zail Singh arrives at the hospital. The rampaging crowd also attacks his car. The police are conspicuous by their absence.
Day next—November 1, 1984. A pogrom of Sikhs is witnessed in the city of Delhi in which members of the Sikh community are attacked with lathis, clubs or iron rods. Many Sikhs are brutally killed. Many others are torched to death. The police are again conspicuous by their absence or inaction. This genocidal action is witnessed in 40 other cities.
Over the week following October 31, about 3000 Sikhs were killed in Delhi, and in the 40 cities across India, an estimated 15000 members of the Sikh community were done to death by the lynch men.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi responded famously by remarking: “When a big tree falls, the earth shakes”.
It would be in the fitness of things to cite the account of the dreadful incident in Wikipedia. The writer of this article is not a fan of Wikipedia, but some information given in it is more accurate than we believe. The following are two paragraphs extracted from Wikipedia.
At least 50,000 Sikhs were displaced. Sultanpuri, Mangolpuri, Trilokpuri and other trans-Yamuna areas of Delhi were the worst affected. Perpetrators carried iron rods, knives, clubs, and combustible material (including kerosene and petrol). They entered Sikh neighbourhoods, killing Sikhs indiscriminately and destroying shops and houses. Armed mobs stopped buses and trains in and near Delhi, pulling off Sikh passengers for lynching; some were burnt alive. Others were dragged from their homes and hacked to death, and Sikh women were reportedly gang-raped and Sikhs also had acid thrown on them.
Such wide-scale violence cannot take place without police help. Delhi Police, whose paramount duty was to upkeep law and order situation and protect innocent lives, gave full help to rioters working under the able guidance of sycophant leaders….. It is a known fact that many jails, sub-jails and lock-ups were opened for three days and prisoners, for the most part, hardened criminals, were provided with the fullest provisions, means and instruction to “teach the Sikhs a lesson”. But it would be wrong to say that Delhi Police did nothing, for it took full and keen action against Sikhs who tried to defend themselves. The Sikhs who opened fire to save their lives and property had to spend months dragging heels in courts afterwards.
— Jagmohan Singh Khurmi, The Tribune
The above genocide of Sikh community persons was, understandably, a naked, unabashed act of rank criminality with the surrender of the state police force. It was also amply clear that the police inaction was at the behest of its political masters.
The Congress Party in power takes the blame squarely for this genocide as its local politicians were prima facie found to be involved in the willful planning and execution of this dastardly act. After this sad incident, there is the sadder story of dilly-dallying and delaying judicial proceedings to bring criminals to justice.
The story of the genocide of Sikhs right under the nose of the state police and delayed and denied justice for the victims’ families is an eloquent commentary on our abysmal judicial system, woefully unsuitable police system and outdated bureaucracy of the colonial times as also our own people’s apathy and short memory. Most importantly, it paints us as a so-called democratic nation in a very poor light when we observe that the Congress party, which aided and abetted the genocide, is still enjoying the vote and support of 22.34 per cent of our electorate.
We need to learn much as a civilized society before we can become a developed nation with a vibrant and progressive democracy. We have to rise above communal politics and transform our society more humanely. Democracy will remain a sham in a state with ineffective and inadequate justice and an archaic, antiquated governance system of the colonial era. It is time we got our act together and, rising above the false differences of caste, community or religion, reset and reboot our polity.
