Gurcharan Singh Babbar addressing the media [File Photo]

Sikh Genocide 1984

Delhi police role in Sikh Genocide 1984 – AISC held demonstration outside Delhi police headquarters

By Sikh Siyasat Bureau

February 23, 2014

New Delhi, India (February 23, 2014): As per information available with the Sikh Siyasat News (SSN) the All India Sikh Conference (AISC) held a demonstration outside police headquarters in Delhi on Thursday (Feb. 20) seeking action against guilty police personnel for their role in November 1984 Sikh pogrom. These police personnel had not fulfilled their duties and instead illegally disposed of thousand of bodies of Sikhs in an inhumane way.

AISC reportedly burnt effigies of former chief justice of India, Ranganath Mishra and former police commissioner of Delhi Subhas Tandon during the demonstration.

AISC president GS Babbar informed Sikh Siyasat News (SSN) that the AISC has also released a list of police personals of all ranks posted in different police stations of Delhi during November 1984 Sikh pogrom.

The AISC has also blamed those officials for their inaction and have demanded their arrest and investigation into their role.

AISC also submitted a memorandum to the Delhi police authorities, which reads as follows:

MEMORANDUM Dated: 20/02/2014 Police Commissioner Sahib Delhi Respected Sir, The history gives no account of such precedent on this subject as does the manner in which dreaded, criminal, murderous and ruthless officers of Delhi Police disposed of thousands of dead bodies of innocent Sikh people in an inhuman, wicked and cruel manner. Come on! Let us assume for a while that it was not Delhi Police officers who murdered or got murdered the Sikh people in November “1984”. Well, let us also assume for a while that the Delhi Police is neither aware of the truth about killings of the Sikh people in Delhi nor do they know where the killers came from to do this bloody massacre of the Sikh people. Nevertheless, the truth is as universally accepted as the existence of Sun God and the facts speak for themselves that over five thousand innocent Sikhs fell dead in a span of just three days, and all the dead bodies were found in the streets of Delhi that include the area around thirty kilometers. Besides, a large number of decomposed or badly burnt or extensively wounded dead bodies were seen lying in lanes, alleyways, squares, parks, trains, railway stations, bus terminals, trucks, streams, canals, markets, streets, stores, factories, taxi stands, petrol pumps, transporters, warehouses, etc. It was the legal obligation of the Delhi Police to take these dead bodies in their custody, and they did fulfill it. However, Delhi Police ‘neither’ lodged an FIR, ‘nor’ did they made a note of it in their diary, ‘nor’ did they photograph the dead bodies, ‘nor’ did they conduct a post-mortem on the dead bodies, ‘nor’ did they write the post-mortem report, ‘nor’ did they appeal for witnesses to the killings, ‘nor’ did they inform the kin of victims through a pubic notice, ‘nor’ did they hand over the dead bodies to an heir, ‘nor’ did they investigate a murderer for the massacre, ‘nor’ did they file a single murder case to be decided in a court, ‘nor’ did they keep the dead bodies of innocent Sikh people in a mortuary or a funeral parlor, ‘nor’ did they administer the last rites to anyone and ‘no’ funerary rites were administered as per the doctrine of Sikhism, ‘no’ recitation of the sacred Gurbani funeral was done, ‘no’ Gurdwara authorities were informed to witness a cremation and ‘no’ ritual material or wooden sticks were used to burn the dead bodies. Moreover, when a dreaded terrorist is killed, the police are supposed to perform their funeral rites as per the ritual of the religion of the dead, the last rites of the dead bodies of the Sikh people were performed by the followers of other religions. For instance, the funeral ceremony of the terrorists who attacked the Indian Parliament as well as the Pakistani enemies who died in the Indo-Pak war was performed in a dignified manner according to the respective religion of the dead, the corpses of the Sikhs were cremated with the dead bodies of alcoholics, meat-eaters, crooks, criminals and the like persons and without performing any religious ritual too! This terrible inhuman act has threatened the very fabric of the Indian society and all of the religious traditions and customs of the country. Whereas it is the foremost as well as the most important moral duty of the Delhi Police to comply with all their legal obligations, on the contrary, the senior officers of the Delhi Police crossed all limits of cruelty when they collected or got collected the dead bodies of Sikh people so inhumanly. With a nod and a wink of the Centre – especially, M.M.K. Wali, the then Home Secretary, Government of India, P.G. Gavai, the then Lt. Governor of Delhi, and Subhash Tandon, the then Police Commissioner of Delhi – the senior officers of Delhi Police bribed sweepers, criminals, butchers and slum-dwellers with alcohol and a lot of money to drag the dead bodies of Sikh people from different areas of Delhi to dustcarts, street venders’ pushcarts, cycle-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws so cruelly as if “a sweeper drags an animal to his handcart.” Thereafter, they tied or wrapped together the dead bodies collected from different parts of Delhi and put the bundles in small trucks and tempos to take these to the forests on the outskirts of Delhi and Aravalli hills surrounding Delhi to set the lots on fire with the help of petrol, diesel or other chemicals during the hour of darkness in night as a top-secret act! It marks the cold, dark and scary nights of November “1984”. It was a time when a commoner of Delhi was so terrified and the Sikh people were in hiding while many of them were injured. Television was the only electronic media and it was Government-controlled at that time. In the hard times of this tragedy, Delhi Police showed a stunning contempt of the Gurugranth Sahib and hundreds of Gurdwaras. For instance, Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Gamdi near Bhajanpura, situated in trans-yamuna area of Delhi was totally devastated and the Gurugranth Sahib and other religious books were burnt and reduced to ashes. Thereafter, the Gurudwara was occupied by the police to build a police station on the land. This police station remained in existence here for 8 years that is till 1992, and all this happened in Delhi, the capital of the country, to bring about the disgarce of a brave community. We must not forget the fact that “ten hungry hounds can kill even a lion or tiger collectively.” The Centre government has conspired against the Sikh in a planned manner and told the Sikh people again and again that investigating committees are doing their job well and they will definitely get justice. This job of investigating committees lasted for 26 years and total 18 investigating committees were set up one by one in this long period. Unfortunately, it proved to be merely deception, a criminal conspiracy. I request you that an immediate legal action be taken against all the then senior officers – ACP, DCP, Joint Commissioner and Commissiner of Police including the SHOs and other officers posted in all police stations of Delhi in murder, roit, arson, rape, throwing away dead bodies, destruction of evidence, spoiling religious places, provoking a mob of ciminals and the like serious cases. Besides, on the basis of the given facts, let a strict action be taken against the topmost police officers and felonious political leaders who made the police force do this heinous crime. Gurcharan Singh Babbar President