Nanavati points finger, govt absolves Congress leaders

The report of the Nanavati Commission of Inquiry, the ninth panel to probe the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, was tabled in the Lok Sabha today along with the home ministry's action-taken report. The 339-page report caused several adjournments in the House because of the clean chit given to several Congress leaders.

Despite indicting several "local" Congress leaders, the commission had absolved the party saying there was no evidence suggesting that Rajiv Gandhi or any other high-ranking Congress leader had "suggested or organised" attacks on the Sikh community.

The report noted that "whatever acts were done, were done by the local Congress leaders and workers, and they appear to have done so for their personal political reasons".

While pointing fingers of suspicion at several Congress leaders including Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar, Dharam Dass Shastri and HKL Bhagat, the commission said the local leaders "do not appear to have done so (incited and participated in riots) purely for personal reasons".

But the action-taken report has given Tytler and Sajjan Kumar a clean chit stating that the commission was only looking at the "probability" of their involvement and had not stated it for sure, which is why no further action will be taken against them.

The commission said the rioting was organised and done in a systematic manner.

"If they (riots) were the acts of individuals only, then the killing and looting of properties of Sikhs would not have been on such a large-scale," teh commission said.

While the panel recommended that charges should be filed in cases where an FIR had been filed naming Sajjan Kumar, the action-taken report said most cases had been closed because of lack of evidence or due to being "untraceable".

The commission said the slogans raised during the riots also indicated that some who were part of mobs were Congress workers or sympathisers.

The commission, however, gave a clean chit to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. "It was suggested that Rajiv Gandhi had told one of his officials that Sikhs should be taught a lesson," the report said, adding "the commission finds no substance in that allegation. The evidence in this behalf is vague".

The matter is expected to warm up the political climate with the Akali Dal and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) determined to initiate a discussion on the commission's report. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has allowed a discussion in the Lok Sabha under Rule 193.

The commission came down heavily on the failure of the Delhi Police and also criticised the role of then Police Commissioner SC Tandon and then Lt Governor of Delhi PG Gavai.

On Gavai, it described the explanation given by him as "not satisfactory" and observed that he "was the person responsible for the maintenance of law and order in Delhi and, therefore, he cannot escape the responsibility for its failure".

The action-taken report said the government had taken immediate administrative action. Gavai was replaced by MMK Wali as the lt governor of Delhi on November 4, 1984."

Regarding Tandon, the commission observed that "it is no explanation to say he was not properly informed by his subordinates. He should have known that the policemen on the spot were ineffective and in spite of the curfew, mobs indulging in violence were moving freely and were committing acts of looting and killing freely."