Within days of Jagdish Tytler getting a clean chit from a court, the issue of 1984 anti-Sikh riots again erupted in Parliament on Thursday with uproar in both the Houses amid charges and counter-charges.
The Akali Dal, backed by a combined opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, accused the government of doing "precious little" to bring the culprits to book. The government hit back charging the Akalis with seeking to whip up communal passions for political gains. “Aap rajnitik rotiyan senk rahe hain” (Your are trying to take political mileage out of this), said a furious Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, as Leader of Opposition Pranab Mukherjee egged him on.
In the Rajya Sabha, the opposition stormed the well and forced an adjournment.
Harsimrat Kaur in Lok Sabha and S S Dhindsa in the Upper House raised the issue during Zero Hour, leading to turmoil as Congress members strongly protested the accusations that the subsequent Congress governments had only indulged in "cosmetic actions" against the perpetrators of the "genocide".
Kaur said Tytler has recently got acquittal and alleged that a case is not being pursued in a proper court against another accused Sajjan Kumar. She recalled the harrowing experiences of leaders like I K Gujral and war heroes like Lt Gen J S Aurora in 1984.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal objected to Kaur's "full-scale accusations" and regretted that she did not say a word about the assassination of a Prime Minister and a Chief Minister besides the assertion of another Prime Minister that "this madness must stop".
Dismissing the opposition charge, Bansal in a spirited intervention, accused the Akali Dal of "lacking courage" when Punjab was hit by terrorism and made certain remarks against BJP which infuriated the main opposition.
"We should not try to bake our political cake on the funeral pyre of victims. It will be a bad day....What followed those dark days was 10 years of terrorism in Punjab," Bansal said.
In the Rajya Sabha, a united opposition cornered the government accusing it of cosmetic action into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and forced adjournment of the House 30 minutes ahead of lunch break.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (Akali Dal) said so many commissions and committees were set up to go into the riots but none gave justice to the victims. He said more than 7,000 Sikhs including 3,000 in Delhi were killed.
He alleged that two of the three Congress leaders named by Nanavati Commission - Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler - are gradually being let off from the case and wondered "why it is being done".
A Delhi court two days back accepted CBI's clean chit to Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The court said no further investigations are required and there is no need to send the accused for trial.
BJP members including S S Ahluwalia said there is only cosmetic action by the government into the issue and alleged that witnesses were threatened.
Members from Left, AIADMK and BSP also joined Dhindhsa to register their protest against inaction. Akali Dal members supported by BJP trooped into the well shouting slogan "we want justice".
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanasamy said members can raise the issue when the House takes up discussion on the working of the ministry of Home Affairs.
Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan asked the members to give notice for a full scale discussion on the issue. But Ahluwalia said enough discussions had taken place but justice was not done.
Sensing the mood of the members, the Chair adjourned the House ahead of the recess. PTI
