1984
When a Tree Shook Delhi
by CNN-IBN
November 2007 marks the twenty-third anniversary of India's anti-Sikh pogroms of 1984.
Now, a new book levels serious charges against top Congress leaders implicated in the riots. The book, When A Tree Shook Delhi, authored by journalist Manoj Mitta and lawyer H.S. Phoolka, has been released in New Delhi, India.
November 1, 1984: a massacre began. Over three thousand innocent Sikhs were brutally murdered in broad daylight on the streets of India's capital. But the police and the government authorities looked the other way. Commission after commission whitewashed the guilt of the accused.
Now, twenty-three years later, a new book nails the guilty in chilling detail.
The question that was discussed recently on the CNN-IBN show, Face The Nation, was: Is the Congress as guilty over the 1984 riots as the BJP in Gujarat?
On the panel of experts to try and answer the question were the authors of When A Tree Shook Delhi, H.S. Phoolka and Manoj Mitta, as well as MP and National Spokesperson for Congress, Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
So what motivated H.S. Phoolka to write the book, When A Tree Shook Delhi?
H.S. Phoolka said that many people had asked him if he had documented the riots and that he had been urged to do it. "My lawyer advised me to present the case in the courts. I am not a writer, but ultimately Manoj (Mitta) and I decided to write and all the material that I didn't have, Manoj would fill in", said Phoolka.
It was a cataclysmic crime: three thousand people burnt and hacked to death in the capital with the government and the administration watching. Was it fair to say that if Gujarat was supposedly presided over by a Chief Minister, then this was presided over by a Prime Minister?
Phoolka agreed with the assumption. He said that it was exactly what he had tried to show in the book.
Manoj Mitta said that it was not surprising for him, considering the tone set by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi within a fortnight of the massacre. "He addressed his first public meeting and when you look back at it today, it seems like a self-incriminating statement. He didn't have a word to say about the thousands of bereaved Sikh families, or a word for the Hindus who supported and rescued the Sikhs. He only talked about those Hindus who he said were moved by krodh (wrath). He made it out to be spontaneous. He justified it by saying that it was but natural: 'When a big tree falls, then the earth is bound to shake!'", said Mitta.
After the massacres, one politician tried to justify them: "For every action, there is always a reaction". And another politician said, "When a big tree falls, it is only natural that the earth should shake". What was the difference between the two statements?
Abhishek Manu Singhvi:
"There was many mistakes and errors made in the '84 event and Congress doesn't support them. Not only should the accused be punished but also action has been taken in many cases. I don't think two wrongs can make a right. I don't think that an eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind", said Singhvi. [sic]
"There is vast difference in fact between the two. You are tearing out of context one sentence of Rajiv Gandhi and forgetting that with him at the help immediately after two days in which there was a lot of lawlessness no doubt, which is not being justified and condoned by the Congress. There was strict action taken and the degree of state sponsored culpability, connivance and conspiracy that is seen in Gujarat was absolutely not there. There was at least five six Commissions with some of them assumed to be partisans but that was not the government speaking or Rajiv Gandhi speaking. There was commission after commission who tried to get you the truth. And you can't say that all commissions were faulty. All material came and a lot of political careers did suffer. Action was taken but the degree of action could have been better", said Singhvi. [sic]
Among the accused - Kamal Nath, now Union Minister for Commerce, led the mob outside Gurudwara Rakab Ganj, where two Sikhs were roasted alive, in the immediate vicinity of the Lok Sabha.
Amod Kanth (now Chief Vigilance officer, Delhi Jal Board) abetted a mob crime against a single Sikh, by helping depict the victim as the aggressor.
Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and Dharma Dass Shastri, all Congress leaders, led mobs and forced the police to release any of the rioters who had been arrested.
Nikhil Kumar, now Congress MP from Aurangabad, failed to pass on information in time. At the time, he claimed innocence and blamed the press for exaggerating the news stories.
Author Mitta says: "Much worse than Gujarat, right in the heart of India's capital, not just by mobs, but by influential Congress leaders! There's been no justice till now".
The Congress, ever ready to accuse the justice process in the Gujarat riots, claims that justice has been done to the victims of 1984.
Congress Spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi says: "We have atoned, prime minister was apologised". [sic]
Four hundred Sikhs were butchered in Block 32 alone of Trilokpuri, Delhi. The killings were discovered by journalists. According to the book, if they had not come here, the police would have kept the horrifying incidents at Trilokpuri a secret.
Approximately one thousand were murdered in Gujarat.
Three times that number perished in New Delhi alone in 1984. So far, only thirteen have been punished! The leaders of the crimes continue to walk free and be welcomed in the corridors of power.
[Courtesy: CNN-IBN]
November 2, 2007
Conversation about this article
1: Harinder (Bangalore, India), November 02, 2007, 11:40 PM.
Sikhs - like Jews, Armenians and Gujerat's Muslims - have suffered from massacres at the hands of human evil. What we need to learn is that there is an underlying thread behind why these massacres happen. I believe we, as human beings, are capable of preventing such tragedies. After all, we are a rational species.
2: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), November 03, 2007, 12:10 PM.
Are we really a rational people? The lessons of history are not necessarily that kind. Yet, we have the ability to be rational, even if it is only minimally and years or centuries after monumental injustice. And we can evolve institutions that become progressively more rational. The fact that now, 23 years later, a book like this can be printed and distributed in India is a giant step forward for Indian progressives, even though it remains a very small step for all those Sikhs (and others) who have suffered so cruelly at the hands of a despotic system. I have to commend Phoolka who has continued in this struggle for justice over all these years. He personally and his practice must have suffered, and we need to acknowledge his single-minded devotion to our cause - indeed, a cause of humanity everywhere.
3: Mahesh (Hyderabad, India), November 07, 2007, 11:04 PM.
I would like to know the ISBN of the book because I am not able to find it anywhere. This book should be recommended for everyone to read.
4: Jasdeep Singh (Kingston, Ontario, Canada), November 08, 2007, 2:56 AM.
I would like to know how to get a copy of this book in Canada. Would anyone know? Also, I think we as a community have failed miserably to get justice for those who lost everything in the Delhi genocide. I don't say this because the victims were Sikh. It is my firm belief that had Sikh leadership not been so blinded by their thirst for personal political power and gain, that had the judicial process not been perverted to cover up all the crimes against humanity, perhaps the people who attacked and killed the over 1000 muslims in Godhra a few years later, may not have been able to do so. Each time the world sits in silence and indifference to atrocities against fellow humans, it paves the way for the next atrocity.
5: Editor, November 19, 2007, 2:53 AM.
A reader advises us that the ISBN # of the book is 987-8174365989. Lotus is the publisher.
6: Harvinder Pal Singh (India), November 26, 2007, 6:16 AM.
I have been able to get a copy of the book from one of the stalls during the recent guruparab. It is a great book which everyone must read. Great job done by Manoj Mitta and H.S.Phoolka; tremendous effort has been put to pen down the details. It gives you a lot of insight into the intentions of the ruling parties, as well as about the political, police and judicial system nexus. It makes me ashamed of being an Indian.
7: Venkat Agarwal (Mumbai, India), May 04, 2008, 3:13 PM.
This is one of the best books I have ever read and, for the first time, I feel ashamed to call myself an Indian, much less a Hindu. I think Mr Phoolka has done a remarkable job for the entire nation and not just for Sikh community. I always thought I knew what being an Indian is all about but for the first time I realised the true meaning of Indianism. It's people like Mr Phoolka who are true Indians. Everyone else is too small a man in front of him. I have strong feelings against Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress in general and I guess Rajiv got the death he deserved (Even though I feel he should have suffered more) because what goes around comes around. At least I know I am never voting for the Congress again. I would like to be in touch with Me Phoolka ... does anyone have his e-mail address, etc?
8: Amarjit singh (Jammu [Jammu & Kashmir]), October 06, 2008, 3:19 AM.
My sincere thanks to Sardar H.S. Phoolka. A true Sikh! I would like to know his e-mail ID.
9: Kaviraj singh (Boston, MA, U.S.A.), May 26, 2009, 3:20 PM.
To e-mail Sardar H.S. Phoolka: phoolka@carngae84.com
10: Amrik Singh Gill (Mumbai, India), June 12, 2013, 7:43 PM.
It is a good book.