Congress covered up, buried the cases in 1984 anti-sikh riots: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday claimed the two NDA governments led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi made significant efforts to investigate the 1984 anti-Sikh riots resulting in conviction and sentencing in two cases.

The senior BJP leader also accused the Congress of covering up the cases, saying it tried to show as though, "the 1984 genocide had not happened."

"The two NDA governments of which the Akali Dal has been an important constituent made significant efforts to investigate the cases where evidence was still available," Jaitley said in a blog.

He said the success has been achieved in one case but the Indian society, particularly the Sikh community, wants a closure of the horrible memories of 1984.

"We owe to the victims that the other cases suggested by the SIT for investigation and prosecution be vigorously pursued. The same is being done. Such convictions in those residual cases will be a small consolation," he said.

He said that Vajpayee-led government appointed the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission of Inquiry which prepared an "excellent report" giving details, police-station wise, where the accused were prima facie guilty of crimes and the status of each case.

"The case in which Delhi Court on Tuesday convicted two people, sentencing one to death was prosecuted after decades by this SIT," he said.

Accusing the Congress government of misrepresenting facts, he said civil liberty organisations brought a detailed report on the extent of mob violence and injustice which was banned.

"The Courts refused to lift the ban. A judicial commission headed by Justice Rangnath Mishra gave a clean chit to the government to the extent that there was no collusion or failure of the government. Post his retirement he first became the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission and subsequently a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha," he said.

He said the victims and the community were crying for justice but those Congressmen who led the mobs were made MPs and even Ministers.

Dubbing 1984 as one of the "most remembered years" in recent history, Jaitley said that year will always be known as among the "worst" for Indian governance.

"The year started with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) actively conspiring to destabilise the National Conference government in Jammu and Kashmir. An alternate Government headed by Gul Mohammad Shah, who was the estranged brother-in-law of Farooq Abdullah proved to be disastrous. The manipulative politics of the PMO and the Congress was being experimented in a sensitive state. It proved catastrophic," he said.

Recalling the operation Bluestar, he accused the Congress of allowing the militancy in Punjab to go unchecked due to elections at the end of 1984.

"The operation Bluestar proved to be a historic blunder. It was poorly planned and terribly executed. Bluestar succeeded in hurting the psyche of India's most patriotic community. A myopic government did not consider the political cost of this move," he alleged.

--IANS

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