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Senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler admitted that Rajiv Gandhi took rounds of North Delhi to take stock of the situation in 1984 during the anti-Sikh riots, News18 reported on January 29, Monday.
Tytler told the news channel that Rajiv Gandhi recced the areas in the former’s car and was extremely anguished and had told the party MPs from Delhi to visit their constituencies and take steps to contain the violence.
The 1984 anti-Sikh massacre broke out in response to the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
Following the report by News18, Akali Dal leader and former deputy chief minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal said Tytler’s statement means “the then PM (Rajiv Gandhi) was supervising the killings.”
Jagdish Tytler has revealed that Rajiv Gandhi travelled with him across the city in 1984. It means that the then PM was supervising the killings. The CBI must look into it. This is a very serious issue.Sukhbir Singh Badal to ANI
However, serving Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh refuted Tytler’s claims and told ANI that his claims were false.
AAP Leader HS Phoolka Demands Probe
Meanwhile, senior advocate and AAP leader HS Phoolka demanded an investigation to find out if Rajiv Gandhi had any role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, reported PTI.
Phoolka, the AAP MLA from Punjab who has been representing the riots victims in various courts for over last three decades, made the demand after Tytler’s remarks.
Phoolka told a news conference he would take up his demand with the Centre to reopen the whole issue in view of Tytler's statements and that the probe into this aspect may be handed over to the new Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court.
Phoolka further said he has been informed that Congress party has taken a stand that Rajiv Gandhi had gone to the riot-affected areas to pacify the crowd.
This means that Congress admits that Rajiv Gandhi had visited these areas and the onus is on the party to show how the former Prime Minister pacified the crowd while the killings continued during and after his visit.HS Phoolka, as quoted by PTI
Tytler was named in the Nanavati Commission report which found ‘credible evidence’ against him in his involvement in the 1984 riots. The former Union minister is accused of leading a mob in Pul Bangash area of New Delhi in 1984 that led to the killing of three Sikhs.
However, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) has, till date, not been able to establish charges against Tytler. The CBI had earlier given him a clean chit but reopened investigation following a 4 December 2015 court order in the wake of allegations by arms dealer Abhishek Verma, a witness in the riots case.
Verma accused Tytler of influencing witness Surender Singh through money and a promise to send his son, Narender Singh, to Canada.
The agency has demanded that Tytler go through a lie-detector test. As per the News18 report, the Congress leader said he was ready for the polygraph test, even though he was not legally bound to do so, and only if the CBI admits that the successive clean chits given to him were ‘mistakes.’
Tytler has denied any role in the riots.
As per reports, around 2,100 Sikhs were killed in Delhi alone during the anti-Sikh riots. Seven hundred Sikhs died in other parts of the country in riots.
(With inputs from PTI)
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