1984 anti-Sikh riot injustice hangs around Congress, Gandhi family's neck: Jaitley

New Delhi, [India] Dec 17 (ANI): Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the injustice in 1984 anti-Sikh riots hangs around the neck of Congress party and Gandhi family, who allegedly provided a cover-up to the guilty.
"The 1984 injustice hangs around the neck of both of the Congress party and the Gandhi family which ensured that no justice is done to the victims of 1984. Instead of ensuring punishment to the guilty and justice to the victims, the Congress government repeatedly indulged in a cover-up exercise," he said here on Monday, while talking to media persons.
It is worth mentioning that Delhi High Court on Monday reversed the trial court's verdict of 2013 and convicted and awarded lifer to former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, one of the accused in 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases.
"For many of us who are witnesses to what happened in Delhi in 1984, it was perhaps the worst kind of genocide. Finally, the cover-ups are being defeated and the judgment of Delhi High Court is an extremely welcome development," he added.
Jaitley further said: "The first part of the cover-up exercise was that the truth shouldn't come out at all. So when civil liberties organisations came out with a whole report on 1984 riots, the report was banned by the Congress government in 1984-85."
"Thereafter, the sitting judge of the Supreme Court was appointed and surprisingly the commission led by him didn't blame the Congress government. The judge concerned in the case was made the member of the Rajya Sabha after retirement," he added.
Praising the efforts of NDA government in providing justice to the victims of 1984 Sikh massacre, Jaitley said: "It was finally by the first NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which appointed the Justice GT Nanavati Commission of Inquiry in the case, which prepared a list of cases where innocents were killed. Many cases were also referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other investigative agencies."
"The second NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by retired judge of Supreme Court G C Mathur, which also recommended a number of cases that had been closed earlier, though meant for prosecution. Ultimately, the apex court had to intervene and the second SIT was subsumed," he added.
"The injustice of 1984 needs a closure. It is only after these key Congress leaders who had perpetrated the injustice including Kamal Nath and Jagdish Tytler are convicted," he said.
After the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984, at least 3,000 people were killed in anti-Sikh riots when mobs led by the Congress leaders targeted innocent people across Delhi. (ANI)