Ex-Indian MP Jailed For Life Over 1984 Sikh Massacre
Aveteran Indian politician was given a life sentence on Monday over anti-Sikh riots in 1984 that killed nearly 3,000 people following the assassination of then-Premier Indira Gandhi. The Delhi High Court found Sajjan Kumar, 73, guilty of instigating mobs during the mass killings triggered by the death of Mrs Gandhi at the hands of her Sikh bodyguards. At the time, Kumar was an MP with the then-ruling Congress party. He was acquitted in 2013, but the High Court reversed the judgment on appeal from federal investigators. He was found guilty over a case involving the murder of five members of a Sikh family in New Delhi after key testimonies from eye witnesses.
A two-judge bench convicted Kumar of criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity and acting against communal harmony, the Press Trust of India and other local media reported.
“It is important to assure the victims that despite the challenges, truth will prevail,” the court said.
“The aftershock of those atrocities is still being felt.”
The court also observed that criminals had enjoyed political patronage and there had been an “abject Police failure”.
Kumar, who has been asked to surrender by the end of this month, will have to spend the rest of his life behind bars. The 1984 carnage erupted just hours after Mrs Gandhi was shot dead at her residence in New Delhi. It lasted three days, with Sikhs raped and murdered, their homes and businesses torched.