On the 25^th death anniversary of Indira Gandhi I heard a report on BBC Hindi ,presented by Rehan Fazal, about the anti -Sikh riots of 1984 in which more than 4000 thousand Sikhs were massacred(according to official estimates though unofficial estimates put the toll much higher, over 7000) all over India. Listening to the victims heart wrenching accounts as to how their near and dear ones were killed and raped in the most brutal manner , their houses and businesses burnt by the rampaging crowds led by Congress leaders shook me to the core and I wept not only for the victims but also for the perpetrators of those horrendous acts, more so for the latter because in their momentary madness they descended to the level of the beast ,losing their right to be humans forever. I know I am being very emotional but I can’t help it.

In the anti sikh riots the role of the police was shameful. In most cases they remained mute spectators and did nothing to protect the Sikh community from the attackers (the same police inaction was witnessed during 2002 Gujarat riots)and in some cases actively supported the rioters.But the most painful thing in this whole episode is that no stringent action has been taken against any of the erring police personnel even after 25 years.

Jagdish Tytler,Sajjan Kumar,Ajay Makan and R K Anand, allegedly involved in the Delhi massacre of the
Sikhs were rewarded by the Congress by being given Lok Sabha tickets.The four were indicted by ndependent commissions of inquiry, including the People's Union for Civil Liberties, the People's Union for Democratic Rights and the Citizens' Justice Committee,and once they got elected they were made ministers im different congress goverments.In 2009 Congress decided to drop Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan kumar,from the electoral fray after Jarnail Singh’s shoe throwing incident only because it feared it could end up losing seats in Punjab where it was expecting good results.Congress should not have given tickets to them in the first place but they were because of their loyalty to Gandhi Nehru family.

Meanwhile, the sikh community’s quest for justice continues despite the fact that the conviction rate is very poor, not more than 2 % and the police are solely responsible for this . Initially they were reluctant in filing FIR’s, later most of the cases that were registered never reached the court. Very few cases reached the court with most of them resulting in the acquittal of the accused because the police did not make any serious attempt to collect evidence. How shameful it is. Police were toeing the line of their political masters.The result is that the people responsible for carrying out such heinous crimes are free and leading normal lives while the victims continue to suffer.