Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s highly publicised Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the 1984 riots Sikh genocide in the national Capital is hogwash. The announcement made by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader remains only on paper. The Kejriwal Government was supposed to write a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) asking for officers from the outside Delhi to be part of the SIT but that was never done.

Top sources told The Pioneer that Kejriwal Government’s decision to set up a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the national Capital could not materialise and Kejriwal too had resigned from the post after the Jan lokpal debacle.  Sudden decision of the previous Delhi Government led by Kejriwal to set up a team came two days after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said some of his partymen were probably involved in the pogrom but were punished. 

“The Kejriwal Government was supposed to send a written communiqué to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informing the decision of his Government and asking it for appointment of the officers from the outside Delhi to be part of the SIT. But after that nothing moved. AAP Government did nothing but play to the gallery,” said the sources.

However, officials in Delhi lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung’s office claimed that indeed the letter was sent to MHA in this regard. On the other hand, MHA officials have claimed that they have not received any communiqué from the Delhi Government regarding setting up a SIT yet.

When The Pioneer sought response from the Principal Secretary (Home) Archna Arora, she said that she was not aware about the file pertaining to setting up a SIT for 1984 Sikh riots in Delhi in the Home Department. Surprisingly, AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal himself has been propagating during the general elections that his AAP Government in Delhi had formed a panel (SIT) into anti Sikh riots in Delhi. As it has been revealed that the Kejriwal Government did not move positively in the case, Congress leader and its ally in previous Government in Delhi, Arvinder Singh lovely said, “With the statement for creation of probe panel, the AAP Government tried to strike the emotion chord for political mileage. Forget the SIT, they just did nothing in its 49 days and kept on propagating its various orders that it forgot to operationalise.”

The politically sensitive decision to form the SIT to investigate the riots which left around 3,000 Sikhs dead following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 has apparently created turmoil in the relationship between AAP and Congress which was providing outside support to Kejriwal dispensation.

But the move was welcomed by riot victims with one of their prominent lawyers saying it gave them a “ray of hope”. Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar are facing allegations of involvement in riots after Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984. Delhi Police and CBI have investigated the riots cases so far.