Arvind Kejriwal says “Centre’s SIT” on 1984 anti-Sikh massacres a mere eyewash

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Arvind Kejriwal were claiming credit few months for formation of SIT to re-probe cases related to genocidal massacres of Sikhs in November 1984, but now the political equations seem to have changed. As the SIT failed to deliver any concrete results even after a year, the AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has termed the “Centre’s SIT” as a mere eyewash.

Notably, the BJP led Central government had formed a SIT last year, after it was proposed by the Aam Aadmi Party led Delhi government.

In a letter written to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and advertised in the newspapers on Monday (June 21), Kejriwal said that during the previous 49-day rule of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, the Delhi cabinet took the decision to form the SIT to bring culprits to justice.

“Unfortunately, our government didn’t last long to implement that decision. We were keen to form SIT and included this in our election manifesto,” the letter said. He alleged that the central government formed an SIT two days before he took oath as the chief minister for the second time in February 2015 to prevent the Delhi government from doing it. “Just two days before I took oath as a CM, the central government set up an SIT on February 12, 2015, which was supposed to file its report within six months.

But it is one and a half years, yet the SIT has made no progress. Now, apprehension is growing in the minds of people that the SIT was just an eyewash to prevent us from forming an effective SIT,” he mentioned in the letter. “I would urge you (Modi) to get your SIT to do something or wind it up and allow the Delhi government to set up an SIT which will do proper investigation and bring justice for the victims,” he added.

The SIT appointed by the central government last week decided to re-investigate around 75 cases of November 1984 Sikh massacre in Delhi.

Effectiveness of any SIT remains under question

The effectiveness of any SIT is under question as more than thirty one years have already passed since the massacre of Sikhs and 11 commissions and committees formed by various Indian government to ‘inquire’ into the Sikh carnage of 1984 have failed to deliver justice to the victims.

Thirty Years of Impunity and denial of Justice

It is notable that high ups in the Congress party and the Indian administration perpetrated the Sikh genocidal violence against the Sikhs in November 1984, in which thousands of Sikhs were massacred throughout India. Culprits of the genocidal massacres of Nov. 1984 have enjoyed impunity and high political posts during past three decades where as the victims of the massacre were left to perish as the justice was blatantly denied in these cases.