Who is Jagdish Tytler, and what was his alleged role 1984 anti-Sikh violence in Delhi?

Here is a recall of the 1984 violence, and Tytler’s alleged role in it.

Blue Star, Indira’s assassination & carnage in Delhi

Operation Blue Star saw the Indian Army enter the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984 to neutralise militant preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who had taken refuge there. While it achieved its objectives, it caused massive damage to the Sikh community’s holiest shrine, and led to many civilian casualties.

For many Sikhs, this was an affront to their religion and community. Indira Gandhi, who as prime minister had given the go-ahead for the operation, was deemed responsible. On October 31, 1984, two of Indira’s Sikh bodyguards gunned the prime minister down as she was walking down the lawn of her Safdarjung Road house, ostensibly to “avenge” Blue Star.

Indira’s killing provoked a carnage in Delhi — over the next three days, Delhi burnt as close to 3,000 innocent Sikhs were murdered by mobs. Congress party leaders were accused of instigating violence and leading the mobs; state machinery was also allegedly used to identify and target innocent Sikhs. It is in the context of this violence that Tytler, who was a 40-year-old Congress MP at the time, has been implicated.

Nanavati Commission, violence in Pul Bangash & Tytler’s “probable” role

Despite grave allegations against the top Congress leadership, the official investigation in the aftermath of the violence did not make much headway.

In 2000, the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee appointed a commission under former Supreme Court judge Justice G T Nanavati to submit a comprehensive report on the 1984 anti-Sikh violence. The commission made its submissions in 2005.

The Nanavati Commission report provides details of what transpired on November 1, 1984 at the Pul Bangash Gurdwara. It said: “At about 1.30 pm, a big mob of about 3,000 to 4,000 persons attacked Gurudwara Singh Sabha, Pul Bagash… The mob hurled petrol bombs and sprinkled kerosene on the Gurudwara and set it on fire.”

The report said three Sikh men were burnt alive by the mob, and that the police did nothing to prevent the killings. It referred to eyewitness accounts to say that “the mob was led by Shri Jagdish Tytler, Congress (I) MP”. Tytler at the time was a rising figure in the Congress party.

The Commission concluded that “Jagdish Tytler, Ram Lal, Kaka Bali, Ram Chander Nagoria and Tarvinder Singh Bedi, who were all Congress(I) leaders or workers, were in some way involved in the attacks on Sikhs or their properties” in North Delhi.

It stated that “it [was] safe to record a finding that there is credible evidence against Shri Jagdish Tytler to the effect that very probably he had a hand in organizing attacks on Sikhs”.

The Commission recommended that the government take further action. Tytler, who in 2005 was a member of the Union cabinet, resigned soon after the publication of the Nanavati Commission report.

Tytler has maintained that he was not present at Pul Bangash on the day of the violence, and that he was instead at Indira’s residence where her body had been kept.

CBI investigation, allegations against Tytler

The case against Tytler was registered by the CBI on November 22, 2005 on directions of the Union Home Ministry (MHA) in view of the findings of the Nanavati Commission.

On February 12, 2015, the MHA constituted a Special Investigation Team to “re-investigate” Tytler’s role, among other such cases about the 1984 violence. After further investigation, which included the collection of Tytler’s voice sample last April to corroborate evidence that the agency had gathered, a charge sheet was filed last May.

Relying on the testimony of a witness, CBI had claimed Tytler instigated the mob by shouting “Kill the Sikhs, they have killed our mother!”, a reference to Indira Gandhi.