NEW DELHI: On October 31, 1984, after the unfortunate assassination Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh. What followed over the next five days, from November 1 to 5, remains one of the darkest and most tragic episodes in India’s post-Independence history. Thousands of innocent Sikhs were hunted, lynched, and burnt alive on the streets of Delhi, while the administration looked the all this silently.
Amid this state-sponsored violence, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its swayamsevaks emerged as saviours, protecting Sikh families and providing shelter to them.
The Orchestrated Carnage
After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, local politicians belonging to the ruling Congress party met to decide how “to teach the Sikhs a lesson they would never forget.” Party cadres were mobilised, and contacts were made with lumpen elements living in shantytowns and neighbouring villages. Sikh homes and shops were marked. Trucks were commandeered, iron rods, and cans of kerosene oil and petrol acquired.
At the break of dawn on November 1, the anti-Sikh pogrom began. Truck-loads of hoodlums armed with steel rods, jerry cans full of kerosene and petrol went around the city setting fire to gurdwaras. When the mob attempted to get inside Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, one person inside the Gurudwara, who had a licensed gun, fired shots in the air to scare them away. The mob grew larger, and Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Vasant Sathe were seen among them.
At break of dawn on November 1, the anti-Sikh pogrom got going in right earnest. Local politicians belonging to the ruling Congress party met to decide how “to teach the Sikhs a lesson they would never forget.” Party cadres were mobilised. Contacts were made with lumpen elements living in the shantytowns and neighbouring villages. Sikh homes and shops were marked. Trucks were commandeered, iron rods and cans of kerosene oil and petrol acquired. Truck-loads of hoodlums armed with steel rods, jerry cans full of kerosene oil and patrol went round the city setting fire to gurdwaras.
The reply filed by Kamal Nath was vague. Kamal Nath, in his affidavit, stated that in the afternoon of November 1, on receiving information that some violence was taking place in and around Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, he, as a senior and responsible leader of the Congress Party, went there but didn’t state at what time he went there and how long he remained there. The situation at the Gurudwara remained grave from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Evidence showed Kamal Nath was in the mob around 2 p.m., while the Police Commissioner reached at 3:30 p.m., indicating Kamalnath’s prolonged presence at the site.
RSS Swayamsevaks provided shelter to Sikh families
RSS helped to protect Sikhs during the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots. Sikh intellectual and author of ‘A History of the Sikhs’, Khushwant Singh, credits members of the RSS with helping and protecting Sikhs who were being targeted by members of the Congress (I) political party during the 1984 riots.
“RSS has played an honourable role in maintaining Hindu-Sikh unity before and after the murder of Indira Gandhi in Delhi and in other places. It was the Congress (I) leaders who instigated mobs in 1984 and got more than 3000 people killed. I must give due credit to RSS and the BJP for showing courage and protecting helpless Sikhs during those difficult days. No less a person than Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself intervened at a couple of places to help poor taxi drivers”: Khushwant Singh.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently acknowledged the role of RSS swayamsevaks who risked their lives to save Sikh families in Delhi and other cities during those horrific days, maintaining Hindu-Sikh brotherhood.
Rajiv Gandhi’s Shocking Justification
In his infamous speech on November 19, 1984, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said, “Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed India had been shaken. But when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little.”
These words, far from condemning the violence, almost justified the massacre that had claimed thousands of innocent Sikh lives.
Congress-led meetings and distribution of weapons
On the morning of November 1, Congress MP Sajjan Kumar was identified in several Delhi localities Palam Colony around 6:30–7 a.m., Kiran Gardens around 8–8:30 a.m., and Sultanpuri around 8:30–9 a.m.
A Hindu eyewitness, Raj Kumar of Palam Colony, recalled that when he reached the Palam Railway main road, he saw Sajjan Kumar in a jeep, followed by mobs on scooters and motorcycles. The mob shouted slogans incited by Sajjan Kumar’s speech, “Sardaroon ko maar do!” (Kill the Sikhs!), “Indira Gandhi hamari maa hai — aur inhi ne ussey maara hai!” (Indira Gandhi is our mother, and these people have killed her!) This reveals how deeply Congress leadership was involved in directing mobs against Sikhs.
Journalist’s Eyewitness Account
Journalist Sudip Mazumdar recounted a shocking incident on November 5, 1984: “November 5, 1984, at 5 p.m. The police commissioner, Mr SC Tandon, was talking to a group of journalists about the situation in the city. In response to a question from a reporter that Congress MPs and other senior party leaders were trying to pressurise the police to release the gangsters arrested in connection with the anti-Sikh violence, Mr Tandon firmly denied the allegation. Prodded to give a clear answer, Mr Tandon stated that no member of Congress or any other party was putting pressure on the police. He had barely finished saying this when Jagdish Tytler, Congress MP from Delhi’s Sadar seat, walked into the room along with three other people. “Tandon saab, kya ho raha hai, aap nee mera kaam abhi tak nahin kiya (Mr Tandon, what are you up to? Why have you not done what I asked you to?).”
The Commissioner was embarrassed. The journalists started laughing. Mr Tytler went on shouting at Mr Tandon, at which a reporter asked him to tell Mr Tytler not to disturb the press conference. Mr Tytler snapped at him, “this is more important.” Then the reporter invited Mr Tytler to attend the press conference and face some questions regarding his involvement in the carnage. Mr Tytler went red in the face but sat there all the same, “you are obstructing the relief work (for the survivors) by keeping my men in custody”, Mr Tytler told the Commissioner. This incident silenced the Commissioner effectively against any further questions about the Congress party’s involvement in the violence.”
Justice After Decades
After the Modi Government came to power, long-delayed justice began to move forward. The courts reopened cases against Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler.
A Delhi Court on February 25, 2025, awarded life sentence to the accused Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case related to killing the father-son duo in the Saraswati Vihar area during the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre.
Jagdish Tytler was formally charged by the CBI in 2023. These moves finally gave hope to victims’ families after decades of political protection extended to the accused.
It is to be noted that, Advocate HS Phoolka, Supreme Court Lawyer & Sikh rights activist once revealed that, 1984 riots was a Congress-led massacre of Sikhs. He said, even Muslim supporters of Congress were involved, while common Hindus risked their lives to save Sikhs.
The 1984 Sikh Genocide remains one of the darkest chapters in independent India’s history not just for the brutality unleashed but for the political patronage that enabled it. Amid the state-sponsored horror, it was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its swayamsevaks who stood firmly to protect Sikh lives, proving the selflessness and humanity of the organisation in the times of crisis.
