Additional compensation is 'fake justice', say 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims

New Delhi: Justice delayed is justice denied, and for the thousands of victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot in Delhi or even those outside the state, a monetary compensation hardly accounts for real justice.

Recently the NDA government at the Centre announced an additional compensation of Rs 5 lakh to each victim of the anti-Sikh riot. The decision to enhance the compensation was taken by the Home Minister Rajnath Singh last week, just before the by-election for the three assembly seats in Delhi was announced. According to government sources, the compensation will be given in addition to what the families have already received in the past, but it’ll be disbursed only after the by-election in Delhi, as model code of conduct is in place.

But will this genuinely bring true justice or is it just another ‘politically correct statement’, with an eye on the upcoming by-poll and the likely fresh election for the Delhi assembly?

“Compensation is a positive step and I welcome it. But for the crime that was perpetrated against the Sikhs in 1984 in the form of a massacre, along with compensation, there should be punishment for the guilty. Compensation is for rehabilitation, but punishment will bring real justice to the victims, to all those who suffered and to the society as a whole,” senior advocate, Delhi High Court, HS Phoolka told Firstpost.

Phoolka, a human rights activist who has been at the forefront of justice for the victims of the 1984 riots and who had contested the 2014 general election as an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate opined that compensation couldn’t be a substitute to punishment.

“Justice couldn’t be meted in this case because law of the land wasn’t considered supreme against the political leadership that played a decisive role. Only 30 people have been convicted till now against the killing of 3,000; simply because there was absolutely no will to bring justice, and judiciary virtually failed,” he said.

There have been more acquittals than convictions during the three decades of trials, and ten probe panels were set up to look into the massacre. Out of the 3,325 victims, whom the government has decided to compensate by paying an additional Rs 5 lakh each, 2,733 were killed in Delhi alone, and the rest in the then Congress-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

However, many individuals and organisations like the radical Sikh group Dal Khalsa feel that compensation is a sham and will rub more salt on injuries. Moreover, they feel that any government – whether it’s led by the Congress or the BJP, won’t deliver justice to the victims.

“This is nothing but dirty politics. The government isn’t paying compensation from its own pocket, but it’s the tax payers’ money that will be spent. What about dispensation of justice? Do they consider us beggars? The people were looted, raped and killed, and now by giving money, the government is just being charitable,” said Dal Khalsa spokesperson, Kanwar Pal Singh.

Terming compensation as “fake justice”, the Dal Khalsa said that compensation could ‘silence’ the poor and needy, but not the entire society and the injury would always remain there. It has asked for an independent and impartial probe to look into the role played by all the organs of the government during the anti-Sikh riots.

“Fair justice can never be expected from both the Congress and the BJP, because both have perpetrated the politics of state-sponsored genocide. Instead of just announcing compensation, the government should have issued fresh order to book the guilty of the carnage, ousted them from political and public life, and awarded deterrent punishment for the crime they had committed,” he said.

In 2014, nearly after 30 years of the anti-Sikh riots which also coincided with the 30th death anniversary of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, whose assassination by Sikh bodyguards triggered the carnage, several riot cases are still pending in the courts. Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has demanded that the Centre should notify a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the riots and also re-investigate the FIRs filed in cases related to the riots, but closed as untraced.

“In addition, the present government should go for conflict resolution, to look into the factors that led to the genocide and honestly address those problems,” Kanwar Pal Singh added.

But, life moves on and many don’t want to relive the horrifying memories of 1984. Many don’t even want to talk about it.

“No doubt the Sikhs faced irreparable losses due to the riot, but now we shouldn’t try to find out any politics or ulterior motive behind this compensation, though it may have come late or inadequate. But, the prime minister is trying to undo or rectify several bad things happened during the long Congress rule. No compensation can ever heal those who lost their near and dear ones, but life has moved on for many who are still alive, and I hope the present government would do something in terms of justice as well,” said retired banker and now a law practitioner, IPS Oberoi, who had been a witness to the pogrom.

The massacre on the streets of Delhi not only saw killing of innocents, who had nothing to do with politics, but also army personnel, who were Sikhs. In such a scenario compensation can never ever be enough.

“Never. Can money bring back my relatives and friends, who were butchered? Why government failed to punish those who killed? This is politics where innocents always become victims and fail to get justice. After all, local administration, police, judiciary everything are managed by the same politicians who instigate riots. So, where will the innocents and helpless victims go?” questioned 65-year old Ranjit Singh, a resident of Hari Nagar – one of the worst hit localities in Delhi.

“The main endeavour has always been to shield the guilty politicians and unfortunately, it has been successful. We all know apart from two Congress leaders, no other leader from that time involved in arson and killing has been prosecuted. In three days of the riot, 50 soldiers were killed in the most brutal manner by a frenzied mob. Referring to Kashmir, Mr Modi during his election campaign had said that the country would demand an accounting for the head of each and every soldier. But, what about the heads of those 50, who were massacred in 1984?” asked Phoolka.