The Hindu : Front Page : Entire Congress cannot be blamed for anti-Sikh riots: Commission

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Friday, Jan 28, 2005

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Entire Congress cannot be blamed for anti-Sikh riots: Commission

NEW DELHI, JAN. 27. A Commission of Inquiry, which probed the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the capital, is understood to have recommended re-investigation of cases against some Congress leaders, including Sajjan Kumar, while not blaming the entire party or the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, for the incidents.

In a report to be submitted to the Government on January 31, the Justice Nanavati Commission is believed to have said that though the violence that followed the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was ``organised and systematic'' in several areas, the entire Congress apparatus could not be held responsible for the acts of individual politicians, hooligans, depraved people and local gangs.

More than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in the violence that gripped Delhi from the night of October 31, 1984 for three to four days.

How could a Prime Minister be held responsible for each and every action in a police station or a particular district in Delhi, NDTV said quoting from the Commission report.

But the role of the then Home Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, came under the commission's scrutiny. It felt he did not act quickly and decisively to control the situation, the TV channel said.

The Commission also felt that evidence against the Union Ministers, Kamal Nath and Jagdish Tytler, about their alleged involvement was ``weak.''

The report recommended re-investigation of cases against the sitting MP, Sajjan Kumar, the former Union Minister, H.K.L. Bhagat, and the former MP, Dharam Das Shastri. Sajjan Kumar has, however, been acquitted by a court.

The Commission also said that the entire police could not be blamed for the failure of individual officers and suggested reinvestigation of cases which have been filed as ``untraced'' but where witnesses have come forward.

PTI

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