The Sikh community’s pent up anger over the denial of justice in 1984 riots came out again in the open on Tuesday, following Jarnail Singh’s throwing shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Sikh Gurudwara Prabandh Committee (SGPC), the community's highest decision making body, went on to offer a respectable job to Singh.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the act should serve as “an eye opener for the Centre, especially for the Congress, about the depth and magnitude of pain and angst over clean chits given to those guilty of the unspeakable horror of 1984 massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs.”
The common refrain from the masses from across Punjab was--“His act might have upset others, but one should understand the trauma Sikh community has suffered for 25 years.” They even warned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi against batting for two Lok Sabha seats (Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar) at the cost of 23 seats in north India.
“We would extend all kind of help including financial, security, job and protection to Jarnail and his family,” said SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, adding there was outrage among Sikhs for giving clean chit to Jagdish Tytler.
“Jarnail took the extreme step under the sheer influence of his emotions, and was not intended to harm P. Chidambaram. His act showed resentment of Sikh community for denying justice even after 25 years of pogrom,” Makkar told The Pioneer.
Said Jathedar Akal Takht Gyani Gurbachan Singh: “I feel Jarnail was not wrong, since what he did was the out come of injured sentiments. Here I would make it clear that the Sikh community would always stand with him.”
There were dissenting voices too, but what was significantly conveyed was the kind of anger the Sikhs were writhing with after the CBI exonerated Tytler for his alleged role in 1984 Sikh carnage and the Congress deciding to field him along with another accused Sajjan Kumar from their respective parliamentary seats in Delhi for re-election.
Punjab has 13 Lok Sabha seats out of which 9 are held currently by the SAD-BJP alliance. The neighboring Haryana has 10 seats out of which nine are with the Congress. Since Sikhs are in a sizeable in number in Haryana, and of course with dominance in Punjab, the political implications of Sikh outrage cannot be ruled out.
Said the chief of Damdami Taksal Baba Harnam Singh Dhuma: “The Sikhs will give a befitting reply to the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha poll. Such an extreme step by a learned person only shows the gravity of the issue.”
Disapproving Jarnail Singh’s act, a veteran Sikh scholar and writer Principal Mohan Sigh Prem based in Patiala said: “The Congress president Sonia Gandhi has to decide now if she goes ahead with giving tickets to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar and end up losing over 22 seats from north India where Sikhs are a deciding factor.”
Agreed Dr Gurbachan Singh Rahi: “One cannot approve Jarnail’s way of protest but the Congress should re-think for allotting party tickets to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.”
“How long one can wait for justice? It is but natural to get frustrated by the system. He must have got hurt over and over again. Otherwise, what was the need for an intellectual to indulge in this kind of act,” said MS Bharaj, a senior producer with Doordarshan, Jalandhar.
Said industrialist Amanbir Singh Marvaha: “The political class has usurped everything and still they want that they should be treated respectfully by those who are victims of their long apathy. Is it possible?”
Added Sarbjit Singh, owner of CCIT, a Ludhiana based computer institute: “Politicians should learn a lesson from the incident and gauge the anger prevailing among common people about them and their misdeeds.”
Gurcharan Singh Grewal, president, Sikh Students Federation, said one might not agree with Jarnail Singh’s way of protest, but has anybody ever thought of the pang the dependents of 1984 Sikh riot victims was passing through.
“Over 25 years gone but the assassins of 1984 riots are not given punishment. Injustice meted out to Sikh community has provoked Jarnail Singh to take such an extreme step. It would be better if the Congress withdraws Tytler from the fray,” said Grewal.
-- With inputs from Gagandeep Ahuja in Patiala, Jagmohan Singh in Amritsar, Arshdeep Singh in Ludhiana, Gauri Bawa in Jalandhar
