Kejriwal goes to lieutenant governor for SIT on Sikh riots

NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal met lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung on Wednesday morning to ask for the setting up of a special investigation team to look into the 1984 Sikh riots. The CM was joined in his demand by opposition BJP, which also raised the pitch on the formation of an SIT after Congress vice-chairperson Rahul Gandhi told Times Now in an interview that some Congressmen could have been involved in the riots.

A Sikh delegation met Kejriwal on Monday over this issue. It raised its concern about activist Iqbal Singh Bhatti, who has been sitting on a dharna at Jantar Mantar for the past 46 days, to ask for an SIT on the riots and release of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, accused of attempting to kill politician Maninderjeet Singh Bitta.

“I discussed the matter with the LG who seemed amenable to the idea. Now the details will have to be worked out and presented before the cabinet,” said Kejriwal. The CM also wrote to Bhatti on Monday, assuring him that “the government is sympathetic to the issue and would take all necessary steps to ensure full justice…also be working on other issues, including formation of an SIT etc in a sympathetic and time-bound manner”.

Justice for the Sikh community was one of the promises made by Aam Aadmi Party in their Delhi manifesto. Denying charges that Kejriwal was trying to get political mileage from the issue, especially after Rahul Gandhi’s admission, party sources said the matter was already on his radar and that he had written to the President asking for Bhullar’s release in the first week of January.

Senior advocate HS Phoolka, who has worked extensively with the riot-affected families and recently joined AAP, wrote to Kejriwal on January 14, also pressing for formation of an SIT. “I had sent a letter to the CM, requesting him to recommend to the LG that an SIT be formed to investigate the cases pertaining to the 1984 riots which have been closed by the police. According to Nanavati Commission, out of 587 FIRs, 241 were closed by police (on the basis of being) untraced,” he said.

Phoolka has also made a case for an early investigation in the matter since many of the witnesses are either very old or have not survived. “The witnesses have become very old, some are seriously ill and some of these witnesses are no longer alive. Therefore, I request you to take immediate action before it is too late. This is the only time we can cleanse this blot from the name of the country…This SIT should be formed by drawing officers from outside Delhi Police and on the lines of the one formed in the case of Gujarat riots,” he said.