Controversy Erupts Over Front Seat For 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Accused Jagdish Tytler in Sheila Dikshit’s Swearing-in Ceremony

Tytler is one of the main accused of the anti-Sikh riots in the Nanavati Commission report.

New Delhi: In what raised the eyebrows, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, an accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on Wednesday attended the event where Sheila Dikshit took charge as the Delhi Congress chief.

Tytler was seen sitting in the front row of the event, which was also attended by senior Congress leaders Congress leaders Karan Singh, Janardan Dwivedi, Meira Kumar, PC Chacko, Sandip Dikshit and Ajay Maken.

Dikshit was appointed as new president of the grand old party’s Delhi unit on January 10. Devender Yadav, Rajesh Lilothia and Haroon Yusuf were appointed as working presidents to assist the former Delhi chief minister.

Speaking to the media at the event, Tytler said: “What can a man say when the Court has given a verdict. You also mention my name. Why? Is there an FIR? Is there a case? No? Then why do you take my name? Someone said that and you believed it.”

Reacting to Tytler’s presence in the event, Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, “What his family did earlier, Rahul ji is just continuing with that tradition. It clearly shows that they have no respect for sentiments of Sikhs.”

Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa that the Congress deliberately made Tytler sit in the front row to “intimidate” witnesses in related cases.

“The Congress made Jagdish Tytler sit in the front row. It was a deliberate act to intimidate the witnesses in the anti-sikh riots cases,” he alleged.

“The Congress wants to send a message to the witnesses that the party high command supports Tytler and nobody should even try to testify against him,” the MLA alleged.

“Since the conviction of Sajjan Kumar, the party is afraid… That the leaders whom it kept safe are now being jailed. By such acts, it is also sending a message to the judiciary and police that nobody should initiate action against them,” Singh alleged.

Tytler is one of the main accused of the anti-Sikh riots in the Nanavati Commission report into the immediate aftermath of the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984. At least 3,000 people were killed in the riots.

On December 31, former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar surrendered before the Karkardooma court in Delhi after being awarded life sentence by the Delhi High Court in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

In April last, both Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were asked to leave the stage before Rahul Gandhi’s arrival for a protest fast at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial Rajghat in Delhi. They were ordered to sit below, with ordinary Congress workers.