38 years of Sikh carnage: BJP seeks Truth Commission, declassification of documents

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 31

The BJP on Monday demanded the establishment of a Truth Commission to unravel the reality of the 1984 Sikh massacre and the role of "high and mighty" in the same and called for immediate declassification of documents pertaining to the period leading up to the 1984 Operation Blue Star and the Sikh pogrom later that year.

In a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday, BJP spokesperson RP Singh referred to the Justice Dhingra Commission report that flags an "invisible hand that orchestrated the massacre" and said only declassification of documents and a Truth Commission can unravel the whole truth.

The letter, written to coincide with the 38th anniversary of the anti Sikh riots, states, "Request to Home Minister to declassify all documents relating to 1984 Pogrom and Operation Blue Star and form a 'Truth Commission' to expose the conspiracy and nail the real culprits."

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.

"The declassification will aid in unlocking and bringing to the fore the invisible hand which finds a mention in the Justice Dhingra report, behind the conspiracies. One of the notes written by RN Kao, then security adviser to Indira Gandhi, is in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and pertains to Gandhi's assassination. This also needs to be declassified," the letter says.

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. Even the police officers of that time Gautam Kaul, Nikhil Kumar and Maxwell Pereira should be brought under the ambit of this Commission as should journalists like Sanjay Suri and others. Tarlochan Singh, OSD to then President Giani Zail Singh should be asked to share details of what transpired between the president and then government, home minister in specific," said RP Singh.

The BJP leader said 38 years had elapsed since the 1984 carnage and some justice was received after a key conspirator and Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced and sent behind bars.

"However, full justice has not been fully delivered. Many more like Jagdish Tytler and Kamal Nath still roam free. As was known earlier and now has further been authenticated by GBS Sidhu, former R and AW officer 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," alleged Singh in his letter to Shah.

He said no Congressman and other government functionaries of the time had challenged or denied this claim so far.

"It is important that conspirators and killers of the 1984 Delhi pogrom be punished but it is more important to know who all were involved in hatching the conspiracies. The massacre of Sikhs was condoned by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who sent the message of a job well done to party workers and executors of the conspiracies. This clearly indicates that he was leading the team which was monitoring and executing the programme," Singh added.

He said that over 38 years, four enquiry commissions, nine committees and two special investigation teams have been formed and still they have failed to dig deep and reveal the real conspiracies.

"It is a 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 then home minister Narsimha Rao expressed 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. 

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