How, why Dr Singh rewrote a lot of the past this week

For, on January 17, 1985, two days after Parliament met for the first time following the massacre—the Rajiv Gandhi government in place—both Houses passed a resolution condoling the death of Indira Gandhi. Not one word was for spoken for the victims of the massacre.

Not just that, the next day, both Houses observed a one-minute silence as a mark of respect for the victims of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal. No such symbolism for the Sikh riot victims.

To get a sense of how Singh has broken from his party’s tradition, consider how the party and the government reacted to the massacre after the landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections:

• December 31, 1984: Rajiv government sworn in; Jagdish Tytler became a minister for the first time and H K L Bhagat promoted to Cabinet rank. By then, several citizens’ groups had named these two for their alleged complicity in the riots.

• January 15, 1985: Parliament meets first time since carnage. Manmohan Singh takes over as Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission.

• January 17: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha pass identical resolutions condoling the death of Indira Gandhi. No mention of the carnage.

• Same day, President Giani Zail Singh addresses the two Houses and devotes one para on the incident. Praising the government’s role in tackling the attacks, he made no mention of Sikhs being targeted: ‘‘Disturbances and violence in Delhi and in some other parts of the country following Indira Gandhi’s assassination resulted in loss of life and property. Stern and effective action was taken to control the situation within the shortest possible time. My Government extends them deepest sympathy to the families which suffered during the violence. Rehabilitation is a priority task..’’

• January 18: Members in both Houses stood in silence as a mark of respect to the memory of those killed in the Bhopal gas tragedy of December 1984. Again, no mention of Sikh riot victims.

Having reaped an electoral harvest in the Lok Sabha polls of December 1984, the Rajiv Gandhi government remained insensitive to growing public outrage. And it was only after the Assembly elections in March 1985 that the Centre accepted the demand for a judicial inquiry into the carnage to pave the way for the Punjab accord. Ironically, that one-man commission, headed by Justic Ranganath Misra, gave the party and even its local leaders a complete clean chit.