The original sin of November 1984 - Editorial The Hindu (1 Nov 2012)

Source: The Hindu, November 1, 2012


Twenty-eight years ago in New Delhi, Kanpur and Bokaro, a murderous attack was launched against Indians of the Sikh faith by mobs organised and instigated by Congress politicians bent upon using the tragic assassination of Indira Gandhi as an occasion for political manipulation and gain.

Twenty-eight years ago in New Delhi, Kanpur and Bokaro, a murderous attack was launched against Indians of the Sikh faith by mobs organised and instigated by Congress politicians bent upon using the tragic assassination of Indira Gandhi as an occasion for political manipulation and gain. In the capital, the police stood mute witness to the killing of 2,733 Sikhs. That inaction and the failure to register cases or properly investigate those that were eventually filed are testimony to the official patronage the killings enjoyed. Rajiv Gandhi, who was Prime Minister at the time, made light of the pogrom, describing them as a reaction — “the earth always trembles when a big tree falls” — to the killing of his mother. Senior Congress leaders like H.K.L. Bhagat who were identified by survivors and eyewitnesses as instigators of the violence were rewarded with ministerial berths. A Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Ranganath Mishra concluded, astonishingly, that the organised massacre was a spontaneous and “involuntary reaction” by ordinary citizens stricken by grief at Mrs Gandhi’s assassination. Subsequent commissions indicted the police for acts of commission and omission but the bitter reality is that the victims of the massacre are no closer to justice today than they were in 1984.

The issue at stake is not simply a moral one. The fact that the politicians and police officers responsible for 1984 not only escaped indictment but actually prospered had grave implications for minorities elsewhere in India. The riot system perfected by the Congress on the streets of Delhi was unveiled again in Bombay in 1993 and, finally, by the Bharatiya Janata Party government of Gujarat in 2002. The parallels between 1984 and 2002 are striking. Like Rajiv Gandhi’s ‘Newtonian’ logic, Chief Minister Narendra Modi described the killing of innocent Muslims in his State as a spontaneous reaction to the burning of Hindu train passengers at Godhra. BJP and sangh parivar activists led the mobs in various places and were rewarded, like Maya Kodnani, with plum jobs. The Gujarat police used the same tactics as their Delhi counterparts to ensure the criminal investigation of major riot cases went nowhere. The big difference between now and then, of course, is the vigilance of the Supreme Court, which intervened when it became apparent that Mr. Modi’s government was not going to provide justice. Difficult though it seems, therefore, judicial intervention is needed even at this late stage to punish the guilty. In the absence of justice, the least the country can do is build a fitting monument in Delhi to honour the memory of the victims. The government may frown on such an act of remembrance but future generations of Indians must never forget there was a time the state looked away while innocent citizens were killed in the very Capital of the Republic simply because of their religion.

VHP thugs ransack Bokaro Post office for selling valentines day cards

The Telegraph

VHP V-Day rage singes post office

by Shashank Shekhar

The ransacked head post office in Bokaro. Picture by Pankaj Singh

Bokaro, Feb. 12: More than a dozen activists of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) went on the rampage at the recently upgraded head post office of Bokaro steel city in Sector II today in protest against the sale of Valentine’s Day cards.

Hurling a volley of abuses, the protesters damaged property worth thousand of rupees, injuring an employee in the process.

The employees immediately informed the police, who rushed to the spot and managed to arrest three VHP leaders while the rest fled. The arrested have been identified as Vinod Ojha, Virendra Kumar Singh and Arjun Singh.

Sources said that around 12.30pm, a group of VHP workers suddenly barged into the post office. “They demanded to know why Valentine’s Day cards were being sold at counter number IX instead of revenue stamps. Shouting slogans, they went on the rampage, shattering the counter glasses and forcing the customers and employees to run for cover,” said an eye witness.

Shashi Das, who was sitting at counter number IX, tried to ward off the youths when a huge chunk of glass hit him on his head. He was rushed to a nursing home. His condition was stated to be stable.

Hearing the commotion, acting postmaster Laldeo Singh rushed in to pacify the youths. He said that they were only following government rules. But the youths did not pay any heed to Singh’s pleas. They continued with the rampage till the police arrived.

Later, the employees of the post office lodged an FIR against the activists at City police station for causing obstruction in government job and attacking government employees. The post office was modernised and reopened on January 23 this year

Singh told TheTelegraph that there was nothing abnormal in selling Valentine’s Day cards. “The VHP workers attacked the office for reasons best known to them,” he said.

Officer in-charge of City police station Ratan Deo Singh said: “We have arrested three persons for ransacking the post office, forcefully stopping work there and injuring an employee. We have decided to depute a police team at the post office to avert such incidents in the future.”