1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case: CBI Charges Congress Leader Jagdish Tytler

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has implicated Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a new chargesheet in relation to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, which is a significant move. Notably, Tytler, who has been one of the main suspects in the riots, is reportedly charged with inciting, encouraging, and agitating the mob that gathered at Gurudwara Pul Bangash in Delhi's Azad Market.

After receiving "new evidence" in the case, the Central agency captured Tytler's voice sample and included it in its updated chargesheet against the Congress leader. Several relevant IPC sections have reportedly been filed against the Congress leader, according to sources. Notably, Tytler visited the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in the CGO Complex earlier in April, where researchers took a voice sample from him.

It is important to note that the case relates to the rioting at Gurudwara Pul Bangash in North Delhi on November 1, 1984, which took place one day after the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Although the central agency had previously submitted three closure findings, it had now reopened an investigation into the killings of Badal Singh, Thakur Singh, and Gurcharan Singh outside a Gurudwara in North Delhi after a court in December 2007 rejected its closure report.

In 2005, the Nanavati Commission directed the CBI to reopen three cases, one of which was the case against Tytler. One of the leaders of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, according to the Commission, was Tytler.

Following the death of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, a series of violent assaults known as the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 took place in India. The then-prime minister, Indira Gandhi, was killed by her Sikh bodyguards in reprisal for Operation Blue Star, a military operation carried out at the Golden Temple in Amritsar earlier that year to drive away Sikh separatists.

Large-scale violence against Sikh people, organisations, and gurdwaras broke out after the murder, primarily in the nation's capital but also in other regions of India. Mobs that were purportedly incited by government figures targeted Sikhs, which led to numerous homicides, thefts, and burning.For several days, there was unremitting violence that killed thousands of Sikhs and left many more traumatised, injured, and forced to flee their homes. Official statistics show that over 2,800 Sikhs were slain throughout India, including 2,100 in Delhi.

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