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BJP leader requests Amit Shah to declassify docs to expose 1984 riots conspiracy
In a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP spokesperson RP Singh also demanded setting up of a Truth Commission to unravel the whole truth behind the 1984 anti-Sikh riots
On the 38th anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson RP Singh on Monday wrote a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah requesting for the establishment of a Truth Commission and declassification of documents to expose the “conspiracy” behind the pogrom.
Around 3,000 Sikhs were killed in Delhi soon after former prime minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her two Sikh security guards on October 31, 1984.
Singh expressed gratitude to Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing “some justice” to the Sikhs by sentencing one of the key conspirators and putting a Congress leader Sajjan Kumar behind bars. He referred to the Justice Dhingra Commission report that flags an “invisible hand that orchestrated the massacre” and said that only a Truth Commission can unravel the whole truth. He requested for immediate declassification of documents pertaining to the period leading up to the 1984 Operation Blue Star and the Sikh pogrom later that year.
“....Justice has not been fully delivered. Many more like Jagdish Tytler and Kamal Nath still roam free. It has been known earlier and now has further been authenticated by former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) officer, GBS Sidhu in his book “The Khalistan Conspiracy”, conspiracies behind Operation Blue Star and the Sikh carnage in Delhi were hatched much before the time of its execution and both were planned keeping in mind the 1985 general elections,” Singh claimed in his letter to Shah.
He further claimed that no Congressman or other government functionaries of the time had challenged or denied this claim so far, hence it is important that killers and conspirators of the 1984 Delhi pogrom be punished. Singh added that it is even more important to know who all were involved in this conspiracy and understand how and why the most patriotic minority of the country was painted as anti-national, solely with the intention to garner the majority vote for political gains.
Singh said in his letter that there were a lot of classified documents which would provide details of how the then home minister overlooked the carnage. “One of the notes written by RN Kao, then security advisor to Indira Gandhi, is in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and pertains to Gandhi’s assasiation. This also needs to be declassified,” the letter said.
Singh noted that a lot needs to come into public domain regarding 1984 for which the formation of a Truth Commission was needed “so that members of 1, Akbar Road team, who conceived and executed the 1984 operation Blue Star and the anti-Sikh pogrom of November 1984 in Delhi and other cities for electoral gains should be exposed. The list includes leaders like Arun Singh and Kamal Nath who worked under the instructions of Sanjay Gandhi and later Rajiv Gandhi,” alleged Singh.
“The massacre of Sikhs was condoned by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who sent the message of a ‘job well done’ to his party workers and executors of the conspiracy in which the Sikhs were killed. This clearly indicates that he (Rajiv Gandhi) was leading the team which was monitoring and executing the programme,” Singh added. The letter further said that over the last 38 years, four inquiry commissions, nine committees and two Special Investigation Teams (SITs) were formed but they still failed to dig deeper and reveal the real conspiracy.
“It is well-known fact that there was a separate team functioning and monitoring from 1, Akbar Road, which was above the government and this fact was proven true during the first week of November as the carnage unfolded and the then Home Minister Narasimha Rao expressed his helplessness and inability to IK Gujral when the latter met him and urged him to call the army to bring the situation under control,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, Delhi high court lawyer HS Phoolka also made a similar demand.
Phoolka wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday requesting that the official record of the Intelligence Agency from July to November 1984 pertaining to this issue should be made public. He said there would be many officers, who were in powerful positions at the incumbent time, who would have information on the subject or were involved, thus also demanding for the establishment of a Truth Commission to unravel the truth.
In the letter, Phoolka further claimed that official record would reveal the evidence to show that the genocide of the Sikhs was planned during the lifetime of Indira Gandhi and probably under her instructions or in the least with her knowledge.
“In the event it is found that Indira Gandhi had indeed planned the killing of the Sikhs herself during her lifetime, then all the honours, decorations and awards given to her including Bharat Ratna should be withdrawn. Sharing equal responsibility, Bharat Ratna awarded to the next Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi who executed the already prepared plan should also be withdrawn,” Phoolka said. He requested the Prime Minister to take immediate steps in this regard and provide justice and closure to the victims.
