Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee warns Congress against giving key role to Sajjan, Tytler

AMRITSAR: The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has warned the Congress against any effort to give prominence to their leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, in the wake of assembly elections in Delhi. Names of both the senior Congress leaders had figured prominently in the 1984 massacre in which thousands of Sikhs were killed in cold blood.

DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK told TOI on Wednesday, "There are reports that Congress is planning to give Tytler and Sajjan prominent roles in the forthcoming Delhi assembly polls. Giving prominence to these leaders will be suicidal for the party which has bitterly lost in the general elections and would not get even two assembly seats in the Delhi polls. He added that the people of Delhi had neither forgotten the Sikhs' massacre nor they had forgiven those leaders.

He said giving important role to both leaders would be like rubbing salts into the wounds of Sikhs due to their role in the riots. He also blamed the Congress for saving them. "For the past 30 years, Congress is protecting them," he alleged.

However, Manjit said with the taking over of BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, Congress was much worried that noose was tightening around its leaders who perpetrated the massacre of innocent Sikhs. "Very soon these two leaders will be behind bars," he said.

GK said Congress had already caused much hurt to the Sikhs by giving prominent positions to its riot-accused leaders during its regime in the past. He reminded the Congress that after the action taken report was tabled in the parliament in 2005, the then UPA government had assured that party leaders whose names figured in the pogrom would not contest elections. "Despite the commitment in the parliament, these leaders were chosen to contest the parliamentary polls. Only after objection by Shiromani Akali Dal their candidature was withdrawn," he pointed out.

Manjit said 12,000 innocent Sikhs were killed in the riots across country with over 3,000 in the national capital alone. Referring to the Nanavati Commission report of 2005, he said a total of 587 riots related FIRs were registered in Delhi and out of these-241 were closed by the police as untraced and were never sent to court for trial.

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