Sajjan Kumar deserves stringent punishment

When more than 3,000 people were maimed and butchered on Delhi streets and women, including young ones, were brutally raped and killed in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination, the perpetrators of the crimes against humanity never, once, thought of the fate of their families if anyone is left behind. The heady power that they enjoyed made them remain smug and safe in their comfort zone. Those families that lost their near and dear ones in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots continue to suffer.

There was no electronic media (of today's proportions) to expose the crimes and no campaigns strong enough to denounce the devilish Congress leaders and bring them to justice. And today Sajjan Kumar, one such heinous character, convicted to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court seeks time till January 31 to settle his property matters as he has three children and eight grandchildren to spread over the same.

What a humane question? Sajjan Kumar is worried that his property if not given away to his children and grandchildren will be a great loss to his family members. While he goaded mobs to maim, kill and dismember fleeing Sikh victims or when he ordered them to be tied and burnt with tyres or when he asked them to throw phosphorus powder in their mouths so that they burn with a high intensity or burnt their property he never had the same sensitivity. He neither deserves the court's mercy or reconsideration and must be thrown behind the bars to be incarcerated till death. He is guilty of criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity and acts against communal harmony.

Besides this judgment the court also upheld the trial court order awarding life term to former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, retired naval officer, Captain Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal. The bench also upheld the conviction of two others in the case. This was an extraordinary case where it was going to be impossible to proceed against Accused No 1 (SK) in the normal scheme of things because there appeared to be ongoing large-scale efforts to suppress the cases against him by not even recording or registering them.

Even if they were registered, they were not investigated properly and even the investigations which saw and progress were not carried to the logical end of a charge sheet actually being filed. The mass killings of Sikhs between November 1-4 in 1984 in Delhi and the rest of the country, engineered by political actors with the assistance of the law enforcement agencies, answer the description of crimes against humanity.

There cannot be a rear approach to such crimes of this scale. However, there is one more accused - of the many - celebrating his appointment as a Chief Minister of a populous State now. Will he ever be probed? Given the nature of the Congress leadership, the party and those supporting them and trying to form a political front with Rahul as their leader, would cry foul and accuse the BJP and Narendra Modi of vengeance. Everything is fine with them as long as their crimes are untouched. Such is the Indian polity!.