Advani offers to set up fresh panel on ’84 Sikh riots

When the demand was made by senior BJP member K R Malkani during question hour, the Home Minister said he had no objection to the demand if there was complete unanimity and broad consensus in the House.

Specifically pointing out towards the Congress benches, Advani said as the matter concerned political adversaries “we do not want to be accused of conducting a witch-hunt”.

Therefore, if the leader of the opposition responds to it and it is the unanimous opinion of the House, he has no `hesitation’ in looking afresh into the demand for setting up another commission to go into the 1984 Sikh riots.

At this time the question hour ended and chairman Krishankant switched over to the next listed business.

However, Sikh members of the House came into the isle and pressed for a new commission. They were joined by Kuldip Nayyar (nominated), who had originally raised the question, and many members from BJP, Shiv Sena, the left and other non-Congress opposition parties.

But the Home Minister was still not accepting the demand saying that there was no unanimity on the issue.

Senior CPI member Gurudas Das Gupta said as there was no dissenting voice in the House, it should be presumed that there was unanimity on the issue.

But the Home Minister insisted that leader of Opposition Manmohan Singh should respond if he found it necessary to have the new commission.

The matter spilled over to the zero hour.

Immediately after the question hour, Manmohan Singh went out of the House.

The BJP and non-Congress members continued to press for a new commission, with some even going to the Home Minister to impress upon him,.

Congress member K Hanumanthappa said unanimity could not be taken for granted just because his party colleagues were not speaking. If the Government was interested, it should formally bring a motion for this purpose, he argued.

Das Gupta, however, said there was no need for a formal motion because there was no dissenting voice and complete unanimity in the House.

Malkani said the country needed another commission to look at the Sikh riots just as a fresh commission had been appointed by the Government to look into the death of Subhas Chandra Bose even after 50 years.

The Home Minister said he agreed with Das Gupta that there was no need for moving a resolution or motion on the issue, but added that there was still need for unanimity.

This, he said, was not there as Congress member Hanumanthappa had expressed his dissenting voice.

When still pressed for, Advani said the Government would look into the demand of the members for appointing a fresh commission to go into the 1984 Sikh riots.

Raising the matter, Kuldip Nayyar wanted to know whether any person including police official had been found guilty and punished.

Advani said disciplinary proceedings had been completed in respect of 92 police officials and on their basis 14 of them had been punished.

He said proceedings in the remaining cases were still in progress but “it is difficult to specify a time-frame for their completion because of their quasi-judicial nature”.