Former union minister Jagdish Tytler’s defiant statement in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, criticising the Nanavati Commission for naming him in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh carnage, not only impelled the Opposition to walk out of the House but also brought forth strong protests from Left and Samajwadi Party members.Congress MPs, too, looked distinctly uncomfortable as Tytler’s speech threatened to undo the damage control that had been achieved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s unconditional apology for the 1984 violence.As soon as Tytler rose to speak, Akali Dal MPs staged a noisy walkout but the rest of the Opposition stayed behind. But as Tytler began defending himself—insisting that all previous inquiries had negated the allegations against him—other constituent members of the NDA also walked out.Undeterred by the protests, Tytler insisted that he had had nothing to do with the 1984 violence and repeated much of what he had said to the media when the Nanavati report was tabled earlier this month.And then in a direct attack on the Commission, he said, ‘‘For reasons best known to the Commission, the Commission found it fit to drag my name, unnecessarily, merely to give credence to baseless and vile accusations, arranged by my adversaries.’’He described the accusations against him as ‘‘bizarre’’ on the grounds that ‘‘the blood in my veins is from a Sikh-Kapoor family’’ and that his brother had married into a Sikh family.After the Prime Minister told the Lok Sabha that cases would be re-investigated, ‘‘my conscience guided me to put in my resignation,’’ he said.The tone and tenor of his statement—allowed by the Speaker under Rule 199—appeared to irk several members of the House but their comments were struck off the record.
