Washington, US (April 30, 2013): In a press release sent to Sikh Siyasat News (SSN) the leadership of Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE) has expressed their dismay and shock at the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar from the November 1984 Sikh massacre and murders of six Sikhs onApril 30, 2013 in Delhi court.
Dr. Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, said, “It is shocking to see Sajjan Kumar being acquitted by the court. This certainly sends a wrong message that the legal system in India is not just. It has become obvious that India’s legal and investigative work by governmental bodies lacks transparency. Guilty people like Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and many others, who organized the pogroms of 1984, can roam around free without feeling the weight of justice even after so many years and after series of governments in the center.
Sajjan Kumar – Indian politician – accused of orchestrating the genocidal violence against Sikhs in November 1984.
Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal should be a matter of concern for all Indians not just the Sikhs. Justice must prevail in the nation especially when the evidence is overwhelming and when thousands of country’s citizens were murdered and many were left homeless. What message this justice system sends to the future would be perpetrator of this kind of heinous crimes in the nation? India must rise to this challenge while it is trying to move forward to improve its own governance. History will judge its leaders harshly if they do not act to correct the wrongs. “
Dr. Jasbir Singh Kang, an active Sikh leader in California and a founding member of Punjabi American Heritage Society, said, “Today’s decision is not about one person (Sajjan Kumar), but rather about the justice process of largest democracy of world. If murderers can become elected members of the parliament (temple of democracy) then how ordinary citizens can trust that institution? Where is the conscious of average Indian, why are they putting up with this kind of injustice? 29 years have passed by and still no justice in sight for thousands of victims.”
Dr. Rajwant Singh added, “Any nation cannot afford to alienate its minorities and Sikhs are feeling that justice is one sided. Time requires Supreme Court’s intervention to restore faith in the nation’s legal system. It is a shame that after the brutal violence against so many Sikhs, no one has been found guilty in the last 29 years. It is equally disconcerting that even non-Congress governments in the center failed to act decisively to hand justice to the 1984 victims of Anti-Sikh violence.”
He exhorted all Indians by saying, “We appeal to the Indian intelligentsia, press and all the social thinkers to add their voice in this protest. Their silence is often too loud.”