41st ANNIVERSARY OF FORGETTING
1984 SIKH GENOCIDE: KILLERS-RAPISTS YET TO BE IDENTIFIED!
Inssan
abhee tak
zindaa
hae,
Zindaa
hone per sharminda hae!
Human beings are still alive/
They are ashamed to be alive!
[Renowned cultural-political-human rights
activist of Pakistan, Shahid Nadeem's Urdu couplet on the silence of the civil
society on attacks on minorities in Pakistan. He received forty lashes for
writing and singing these lines by the Zia regime in Pakistan. It is no
different in present day India ruled by RSS-BJP.]
For almost last 3 decades now, on every
anniversary of the 1984 genocide of Sikhs in India, this author has been
reminding the Nation how Indian State and judiciary did not bother to identify
and punish the perpetrators of this horrendous mass killing of the innocents of
the second largest religious minority of our country. On every anniversary the
author hoped that now justice would be done, and he would not have to write the
painful story once again as a reminder. It has not happened in the year 2024 also;
the saga of the criminal betrayal by the Indian Republic has no end and families
of the victims continues to cry before a deaf and dumb Indian State. Shockingly, on the 41st anniversary
of the genocide of Sikhs, the Indian State even stopped to claim that it was working
for getting justice to the victims, like in the past!
What is the status on the eve of 41st
anniversary of getting justice for 2,800 Sikhs genocided in Delhi and 3,350
nationwide (official figures) while independent sources estimate the number of
deaths at about 8,000–17,000] was made clear by Shekhar Singh in The Tribune,
“Forty-one years ago, Delhi burned, not from a
foreign enemy, but from within. Between October 31 and November 7, 1984, mobs
roamed the streets hunting down Sikh men, torching homes, and setting gurdwaras
ablaze. Officially, 2,733 Sikhs were killed in the capital even as survivors
say the toll was over 3,000. Over four decades later, most of the ‘guilty’
still walk free.
“Of the 650 cases registered, chargesheets were
filed in 362, but only 39 ended in conviction. Nearly 300 cases collapsed for
want of evidence, witnesses or police will. Now, barely 20 cases remain alive,
dragging on in Delhi’s trial courts or pending appeal in the high court. The
rest have been swallowed by the system’s silence.
“The numbers tell a story of a democracy that
forgot its dead. This week, as the city marks the anniversary of Indira
Gandhi’s assassination and the violence that followed, the courts are still
sifting through yellowing files and fading memories -- a justice process that
has moved slower than time itself.”
[‘Only
39 convictions in 650 cases, justice eludes 1984 riot victims’, The Tribune,
Chandigarh, October 31, 2025. Link:
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/only-39-convictions-in-650-cases-justice-eludes-1984-riot-victims/]
TWO
KINDS OF JUSTICE
Whenever the country witnesses large-scale
violence against minorities and Dalits, the search for perpetrators continues
endlessly and the criminals are rarely identified or punished. Major incidents
of violence against minorities like Nellie massacre (1983), Sikh genocide
(1984), Hashimpura custodial massacre of Muslim youth (1987), pre/post- Ayodhya
mosque demolition violence against Muslims (1990-92), Gujarat carnage (2002)
and Kandhmal cleansing of Christians (2008) and continuing blood-bath of Kuki
Tribals (who are mostly Christians) in Manipur are testimony to this reality.
But when the victims are Dalits or minorities
no such urgency is shown. In such cases Indian State is fond of playing
commission-commission. Enquiry Commissions after commissions would be
constituted to see that the heinous crimes disappear from the public memory.
The horrendous genocide of Sikhs in different parts of India in 1984 is a
living testimony of this criminal attitude of the Indian justice system with
the motto in Sanskrit: ‘Yato Dharma Tato Jaya’ [Where there
are righteousness and dharma, there is victory]. Judiciary must explain what it
means by Dharma. Does it include religions of minorities and right of Dalits
also?
The scenario of the anti-Dalit violence is no
different. The major incidents of persecution and massacre of Dalits; 1968
Kilvenmani massacre, 1997 Melavalavu massacre, 2013 Marakkanam anti-Dalit
violence, 2012 Dharmapuri anti- Dalit violence (all in Tamil Nadu), 1985 Karamchedu
massacre, 1991 Tsundur massacre (all in AP), 1996 Bathani Tola Massacre, 1997
Laxmanpur Bathe massacre (all in Bihar), 1997 Ramabai killings, Mumbai, 2006
Khairlanji massacre, 2014 Javkheda Hatyakand, (all in Maharashtra), 2000 Caste
persecution in (Karnataka), 5 Dalits beaten/burnt to death for skinning a dead
cow 2006, 2011 killings of Dalits in Mirchpur (all in Haryana),
2015 anti-Dalit violence in Dangawas (Rajasthan) are some of the
thousands of incidents of the Dalit persecution. In almost all these cases
perpetrators are yet to be identified. Even if identified the prosecution rate
never exceeded 20%.
On the other hand, the Dalit, working class and
minority 'perpetrators' of violence are efficiently put on trial by
constituting special investigation teams and punished by fast-track courts. In
order to meet the end of 'justice', 'national security' and 'wish of society'
they are hanged and jailed. The overall reality is that whenever victims are
minorities, working class and Dalits the State and judiciary go into coma.
BETRAYAL
BY GOVERNMENTS TILL 2014
After giving
free run to the killer
gangs, the government appointed one man Marwah
Commission to find out the perpetrators of the 1984 'riots'. As this exercise
was proving inconvenient, it was asked to disband itself within short period of its existence and a sitting Supreme Court
Judge Ranga Nath Mishra was asked to conduct inquiry into 1984 'riots' who
submitted his report in 1987. Shockingly, this fact finding (or fact-hiding)
commission headed by Misra observed that "riots which had a spontaneous
origin later attained a channelized method at the hands of gangsters".
The genocide was reduced to 'riots' as if Sikhs
equally participated in the violence. It was a brazen lie. The 'apostle of
justice', Mishra, champion of the theory of spontaneity was not, naturally,
able to find out where these gangsters came from! According to Jarnail Singh
author of the book I Accuse: The
Anti-Sikh Violence of 1984 for this service to the State he was awarded a
berth in Rajya Sabha.
Next two decades, not less than nine
commissions of inquiry were instituted. For Indian State it became a routine to
announce constitution of some new commission or some more compensation to the
families of victims in order to deflect the mounting anger at the times of
elections. Highlighting the anti-minority bias of such commissions, H. S.
Phoolka, a renowned lawyer, commented that instead of getting convicted many of
the political perpetrators get promoted as rulers.
In the latest development Supreme Court of
India on August 16, 2017, ordered the constitution of a panel comprising two of
its former judges to examine the justification for closing 241 anti-Sikh riot
cases probed by SIT in next 3 months. Then the Supreme Court constituted another SIT chaired
by former Delhi High Court judge S.N. Dhingra in 2018, to investigate the
cases, which were closed by an earlier probe team. The confidential report was
submitted to the Supreme Court on November 30, 2019. The culprits are yet to be
identified!
BETRAYAL
BY THE PRESENT RSS/BJP RULERS
RSS
claims to have always stood for Hindu-Sikh unity. It occasionally expresses its
gratitude to Sikhism for saving Hinduism from the Muslim aggression. It may not
be irrelevant to note here that RSS does not treat Sikhism as independent
religion, which discarded Casteism and Brahmanical hegemony, but part of Hinduism.
The RSS/BJP leaders blamed Congress for anti-Sikh violence Modi while
addressing a public rally during last parliamentary elections at Jhansi, UP
(October 25, 2013) asked Congress leaders to explain who "killed thousands
of Sikhs in 1984" and "has anyone been convicted for the Sikh
genocide so far". Modi during Punjab elections and 2014 general elections
kept on referring to 'qatl-e-aam' or genocide of Sikhs.
Modi after becoming PM in a message (October
31, 2014) said that anti-Sikh riots in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's
assassination were like a, "dagger that pierced through India's
chest…Our own people were murdered, the attack was not on a particular
community but on the entire nation."
Hindutva icon, RSS whole-timer, and PM Modi
lamented the fact that culprits were yet to be booked and tried for this genocide.
However, Modi did not tell the nation what NDA governments which ruled this
country from 1998 to 2004 did to persecute the culprits. Modi also forgot to
share the fact that as per the autobiography of LK Advani ("My Country, My
Life” 2008, page 430); it was his Party which forced Indira Gandhi to go for
army action infamously named as Operation
Blue Star which killed large number of Sikh pilgrims.
Renowned journalist Manoj Mitta, author of the
book When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984
Carnage and Its Aftermath straight forwardly tells that "Despite the BJP rule, there has hardly
been any will to enforce accountability for the massacres that took place under
the Congress. It’s as if there is a
tacit deal between the sponsors of 1984 and 2002 (Gujarat genocide)".
It was not oversight that during 2024
parliamentary elections 1984 genocide was totally forgotten. This is not what
outsiders or critics of the RSS have been telling. The perusal of the
contemporary RSS documents show that major focus was on condemning the Sikh
extremism, eulogizing Indira Gandhi, and welcoming the crowning of Rajiv Gandhi
as new prime minister.
RSS
IDEOLOGUE NANA DESHMUKH'S DEHUMANIZED ATTITUDE TOWARDS SIKH GENOCIDE
The most important proof of such a dehumanized
attitude towards the genocide of Sikhs is a document circulated by Nana
Deshmukh, a prominent whole timer and ideologue of the RSS [now deceased].
This document titled as 'MOMENTS OF SOUL
SEARCHING' was circulated by Deshmukh on November 8, 1984, may help in
unmasking the whole lot of criminals involved in the genocide of innocent Sikhs who had nothing to do with
the killing of Indira Gandhi. This document may
also throw light on where the cadres came from, who meticulously organized the
killing of Sikhs. Nana Deshmukh in this document is seen outlining the
justification of the genocide of the Sikh community in 1984.
This document also shows the true degenerated
and fascist attitude of the RSS towards all the minorities of India. The RSS
has been arguing that they are against Muslims and Christians because they are
the followers of foreign religions. Here we find them justifying the butchering
of Sikhs who according to their own categorization happened to be the followers
of an indigenous religion. In this document we will hear from the horse's mouth
that the RSS like the then Congress leadership believed that the genocide of
the innocent Sikhs was unavoidable.
This document was published in the Hindi Weekly
Pratipaksh
edited by George Fernandes, who
later became Defence Minister of India in the NDA regime, in its edition of
November 25, 1984, titled 'Indira Congress- RSS collusion' with the following
editorial comment:
“The author of the following document is known
as an ideologue and policy formulator of the RSS. After the killing of Prime
Minister (Indira Gandhi) he distributed this document among prominent
politicians. It has historical significance
that is why we have decided to publish it, violating the policy of our Weekly.
This document highlights the new affinity
developing between the Indira Congress and the RSS. We produce here the Hindi
translation of the document.”
The original pages of the Hindi Weekly Pratipaksh
edited by George Fernandes, reproduced
below.
Deshmukh in his document 'MOMENTS OF SOUL
SEARCHING'
is seen outlining the justification of the genocide
of the Sikh community in 1984. His defence of the carnage can be summed up as
in the following:
1. The genocide of Sikhs was not the handiwork of
any group or anti-social elements but the result of a genuine feeling of anger.
2. Deshmukh did not distinguish the action of the
two security personnel of Indira Gandhi, who happened to be Sikhs, from that of
the whole Sikh community. According to his document the killers of Indira
Gandhi were working under some kind
of mandate of their community.
3. Sikhs themselves invited these attacks, thus
advancing the Congress theory of justifying the genocide of the Sikhs.
4. He glorified the Operation Blue Star and described any opposition to it as anti-
national. When Sikhs were being killed in thousands he was warning the country
of Sikh extremism, thus offering
ideological defense of those killings.
5. Sikh community as a whole was responsible for
violence in Punjab.
6. Sikhs should have done nothing in self-defence
but showed patience and tolerance against the killer mobs.
7. These were Sikh intellectuals and not killer
mobs which were responsible for the genocide. They had turned Sikhs into a
militant community, cutting them off from their Hindu roots, thus inviting
attacks from the nationalist Indians. Moreover, he treated all Sikhs as part of
the same gang and described attacks on them as a reaction of the nationalist Hindus.
8. He described Indira Gandhi as the only leader who could keep the country united and
assassination of such great leaders such killings could not be avoided.
9. Rajiv Gandhi who succeeded Mrs. Gandhi as the
PM and justified the nation- wide killings of Sikhs by saying, “When a huge
tree falls there are always tremors felt,” was lauded and blessed by Nana
Deshmukh at the end of the document.
10. Shockingly, the genocide of Sikhs was being
equated with the attacks on the RSS cadres
after the killing of Gandhiji and we find Deshmukh advising Sikhs to suffer
silently. Everybody knows that the killing of Gandhiji was inspired by the RSS
and the Hindutva Ideology whereas the common innocent Sikhs had nothing to do
with the murder of Indira Gandhi.
11. There was not a single sentence in the Deshmukh
document demanding, from the then Congress Government at the Centre or the then
home minister Narsimha Rao (a Congress leader dear to the RSS who later
silently watched demolition of Babri masjid by Hindutva goons as PM of India in
1992) remedial measures for controlling the violence against the minority
community. Mind it, that Deshmukh circulated this document on November 8, 1984,
and from October 31 to this date Sikhs were left alone to face the killing gangs.
In fact, November 5-10 was the period when the maximum killings of Sikhs took
place. Deshmukh was just not bothered about all this.
12. It is generally believed that the Congress
cadres were behind this genocide. This may be true but there were other forces
too which actively participated in this
genocide and whose role has never been investigated. It could be one of the
reasons that actual perpetrators remain unknown. Those who witnessed the
genocide were stunned by the
swiftness and military precision of the killer/marauding gangs (later on
witnessed during the Babri mosque demolition, burning alive of Dr. Graham
Steins with his two sons, 2002 pogrom of the Muslims in Gujarat and cleansing
of Christians in parts of Orissa) which went on a burning spree of the innocent
Sikhs. This, surely, was beyond the capacity of the thugs led by many Congress leaders.
13. It is shocking that Deshmukh presented 1984 genocide
of Sikhs as an issue between Sikhs and Hindus. He wrote: "I feel proud
of all those Hindu neighbours who protected lives and property of troubled Sikh
brothers without caring for their lives. Such things one being heard from all
over Delhi. These things have practically increased the faith in natural goodness
of human behavior and particularly faith in Hindu nature." He remained
oblivious to the fact that these were not only Hindus but Muslims, Jains,
Buddhists, Christians, Atheists, Communists who defended Sikhs' lives and properties.
RSS’ SHAMEFUL ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE SIKH GENOCIDE
Deshmukh document did not happen in isolation.
It represented the real RSS attitude towards Sikh genocide of 1984. It may be
relevant to know here that the RSS cadres did not come forward in defence of
the Sikhs. The RSS is very fond of circulating publicity material, especially
photographs of its khaki shorts-clad cadres doing social work. For the 1984
violence they have none. In fact, Deshmukh's article also made no mention
of the RSS cadres going to the
rescue of Sikhs under siege. This shows the real intentions of the RSS during
the genocide.
The RSS English organ, Organizer in its combined issue dated November 11 & 18, 1984
carried an editorial titled 'Stunning Loss' which praised Indira Gandhi in the
following words:
"It will always be difficult to believe
that Indira Gandhi is no more. One
had got so used to hearing her myriad voices for so long that everything looked
so blank without her. The violent manner of her death is the most shocking
horror story, giving the nation the creeps…It is a case of treacherous fanatics
stigmatizing the whole nation by butchering a remarkable specimen of Indian
womanhood…She literally served India to the last drop of her blood according to
her own lights." The same editorial ended with the words supporting newly
installed PM, Rajiv Gandhi who "deserves sympathy and consideration".
Organizer
also carried statement of RSS Supremo; Bala
Deoras titled 'Balasaheb condemns assassination, Delhi carnage' in a single
column. He mourned and condemned the carnage but not even once referred to the
fact that Sikhs were under attack. For him it was "infighting in the Hindu
Samaj". He also overlooked the fact that it was not only Delhi where Sikhs
were butchered/burnt but in many other parts of India too. According to this
statement "swayamsevaks have been instructed to form or help in forming
Mohalla Suraksha Samitis" for restoring peace and rehabilitation of the
sufferers. However, there are no documents available in the contemporary RSS
archives to show how these Samitis
functioned. It is a fact that RSS, which is fond of displaying photographs of
its cadres doing social work did not publish any visual of the activity of
these Samitis.
In the same statement Deoras reacting to the
assassination of Indira Gandhi stated,
"It is shocking beyond words to express the feelings at the murder
of PM Mrs. Indira Gandhi by some fanatic elements. She had
been carrying on almost the entire burden of the country since 1966. She was
loved and respected not only in this country but all over the world. Her
passing away at this critical juncture will create a void in India and also in
the world."
According to the above-mentioned Organizer,
"RSS Sarkyavah, Rajender Singh issued instructions
to all the branches in the country to hold a special meeting in
Shakha condemning the dastardly murder of the PM and paying homage to the departed soul. He also issued instructions to cancel all public
functions to be held by RSS during the period of mourning".
Of course, RSS archives do not contain any
instructions from RSS top brass ordering to mourn the Sikh victims.
RSS AGAINST FORMER PM MANMOHAN SINGH'S APPOLOGY FOR 1984 GENOCIDE
The RSS continues to downplay 1984 Sikh genocide
will be clear by the perusal of charter of demands submitted to the National
Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in last July. The senior RSS ideologue, Dina Nath Batra on behalf of
RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas submitted five pages containing list of items to be removed from school text-
books. Batra demanded that any reference to
violence against minorities in the textbooks should be removed which included
references to a simple apology tendered by the former PM Manmohan Singh over
1984 violence. It is to be noted that in an apology in Parliament on August 12,
2005, Manmohan Singh, the then PM of India stated:
“I have no hesitation in apologizing to the
Sikh community. I apologize not only to the Sikh community, but to the whole
Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of
nationhood enshrined in our Constitution.”
So, the search for finding the perpetrators of
Sikh genocide of 1984 continues endlessly. The present RSS/BJP rulers who claim
to be co-religionists of Sikhs prove no different from Congress. The only hope
is that those Indians who have stakes in continuation of democratic-secular
Indian polity will come forward to force the Indian State to identify and
punish the killers. The scholars who have been involved in the study of
religious violence are unanimous in the conclusion that if 1984 genocide was
not allowed to happen, there would not have been 1992- 93 (violence against
Muslims in pre/post Babri mosque demolition period), 2002 (genocide of Muslims in Gujarat), Kandhmal 2008 (cleansing
of Christians) and many other massacre of the minorities of India. Allowing the
1984 genocide the Indian State, let it be known to all the majoritarian fascist
organizations that in such criminal happening the former would remain silent!
NANA
DESHMUKH AWARDED 'BHARAT RATNA'
As if it was not enough injustice to the
martyrs and survivors of the 1984 genocide, on the eve of the Republic Day
(January 25, 2019) RSS-BJP rulers of India, bestowed the highest national award
BHARAT RATN (gem of India) on Nanaji Deshmukh. PM Modi praising Deshmukh said, "He
[Nana Deshmukh] personifies humility, compassion, and service to the
downtrodden. He is a Bharat Ratna in the truest sense".
If anybody wants to understand the exact
meaning of the proverb 'to rub salt into the wound' this Bharat Ratna to
Deshmukh is the fittest example!
[This photograph is of a
street theatre performance titled ‘Sadharan Log (common people) by Nishant
Natya Manch against genocide of Sikhs in 1984. It was performed at more than
two thousand places. The author is also doing a role.]
Link of a 2023 interview
of the author on the same tragedy:
https://www.academia.edu/107044638/Victims_Will_Never_Forget_The_Violence_Shamsul_Islam_On_1984_Massacre_of_Sikh
Shamsul Islam
01-11-2025
http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam
Facebook:
https://facebook.com/shamsul.islam.332
Twitter:
@shamsforjustice
http://shamsforpeace.blogspot.com/
Email: notoinjustice@gmail.com
Link for procuring Shamsul Islam’s books in
English, Hindi & Urdu:
https://tinyurl.com/shams-books
Link for the full English text of the RSS
ideologue Nana Deshmukh's document: https://www.academia.edu/4890979/RSS_IDEOLOGUE_ NANA_DESHMUKH_J
USTIFIED_MASSACRE_OF_SIKHS_IN_1984_From_R
SS_archives_
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