08-13-2005, 11:18 PM
Its from pioneer but I couldn't find the link:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->They fuelled mobs, were feted by party
Nanavati Commission report may have exonerated the top leadership of Congressfrom their complicity in the 1984 anti-Sikh carnage. However a follow-up of the evidences and findings of the Commission by The Pioneer reporters Sidharth Mishra, Rajeev R Roy and Rajesh Kumar makes it increasingly clear that those involved were feted by the party leadership for their deeds in the Capital's darkest hour
Despite being named several times for orchestrating the carnage of Sikhs in Kalyanpuri and Trilokpuri in November 1984, the acceptability and rise of Dr Ashok Chauhan within the Congress did not dampen.
He continued to remain the lynchpin of the Congress in east Delhi till 1996-97. Even today he calls the shots in the corridors of power. He is a member of a Delhi Consumer Protection Council (DCPC) and was nominated to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as an alderman.
"My nomination to the Corporation evoked sharp reaction and opposition from the aldermen belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They challenged my nomination in the court, which I subsequently won. Yet I did not press for the notification of nomination. Our party was in power and I did not want to create an embarrassing situation for the organisation," Dr Chauhan said wryly.
Dr Chauhan claims he was very close to Congress heavyweight HKL Bhagat.
After his decline in the Congress, Dr Chauhan shifted his allegiance to Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and Uttranchal Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tewari when Congress-Tewari came into being. First elected to the MCD in 1983 from Patparganj, he remained the Municipal Councillor till 1990.
"In 1993, I sought the party ticket to contest the Assembly election from Mandawali. A section of party leaders opposed my candidature. In 1994, I joined the Congress-Tewari," he said. In 1996, he contested the Lok Sabha poll from Aligarh on the ticket of Congress-Tewari, and claims to have polled 70,000 votes.
In 1997, Dr Chauhan was rehabilitated in the Congress. He got a party ticket to contest the municipal poll from Trilokpuri ward in east Delhi through then All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and currently Governor of Gujarat Nawal Kishor Sharma. Though he lost the election, he continued to remain an active member of the party and kept in touch with people like Dr Karan Singh.
Since his acquittal in the 1984 cases, Dr Chauhan, ironically a graduate in Indian medicine system from Ahimsa Ayurvedic College, stays in Kalyanpuri where he runs Lata Clinic. He owns a palatial building in East Vinod Nagar from where he runs the Indraprastha Public School. The school also has a branch in New Ashok Nagar in east Delhi.
As per the affidavits by witnesses, 300 to 400 Sikhs were massacred in Block 32 and 36 of Trilokpuri. The survivors claimed in the affidavits that Dr Ashok, Rampal Saroj and some Congressmen collected near the gurudwara of Block 36. "Led by Dr Ashok, the mob first torched the gurdwara and then the macabre dance of death began," the Nanavati Commission report said.
A survivor, Gurdeep Kaur, stated before the Commission that the mob was led by Dr Ashok, Rampal Saroj, Sukhan Lal, Kishori and Rohtas. She said her neighbours Kundan Singh, Jaggu Singh, Jagat Singh and Harnam Singh were burnt alive. Kishori stabbed 14 people and her son, Pritam, was murdered before her eyes. Dr Ashok was also accused of pouring kerosene on Kewal Singh and Mewal Singh and burning them alive.
"Allegations against me were politically motivated. My rivals in the Congress got the relatives and dependents of the victims to file affidavit against me to damage my political career. Unfortunately, they succeeded in their nefarious motive. The fact, however, is that I was not involved in acts of killings," Dr Chauhan said.
The late Deep Chand Bandhu was never named in any FIR. But his son and bother-in-law Om Prakash find a special mention in the Nanavati Commission report. The deeds of local Congress leader Om Prakash alias Omi during the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom were widely appreciated within the party. His family got benefits commensurate with Om Prakash's 'performances'. Deep Chand Bandhu, the brother-in-law of Om Prakash was promoted from being an inconsequential councillor to the powerful position of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 1985.
Sources said that since Om Prakash had been named in the First Information Reports (FIRs) and in several affidavits, promoting him would have been blatant disregard of Sikh sentiments. Thus the harvest of the seeds sown by Om Prakash was reaped by Deep Chand Bandhu from 1984 to 2003. Bandhu's son has also been named in the GT Nanavati Commission report.
From chairmanship of the standing committee, Bandhu was promoted as the Leader of the House, a position he held till 1990, until the House was dissolved. In 1990, Bandhu was appointed vice-president of Delhi Congress and given a ticket to contest the Assembly elections in 1993 and 1998 from Ashok Vihar.
In 1994 Bandhu became the president of Delhi Congress and a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee. In the year 2001, he became Industries Minister in Delhi and remained in his office till his death in 2003.
It would be pertinent to mention that at one point of time, the party leadership had tipped Bandhu to be prepared for post of chief ministership in Delhi.
A large numbers of affidavits filed by victims before the Nanavati Commission stated that Kaka Bali, Ramchander Nagoria, Ishwar Pala, Pandit Shoke, Jitu Lovely, Vimal, Om Prakash and son of Bandhu were leading the mob on November 1, 1984. They were in a jeep. They were carrying tins full of some inflammable liquid. The police personnel who were deployed there did not stop the mob from committing such acts of arson and looting. On the basis of the affidavit of one Maan Singh whose house was looted, an FIR (435/91) was registered at Ashok Vihar police station and 12 persons were arrested and chargesheeted.
The Commission in its report said that police officials-SI Mange Ram and ASI Raja Ram had not only failed to perform their duty but had also assisted the mob attacking Sikhs and their properties. The Commission also pointed out that the vice-president of Youth Congress (I) East Delhi, Ramchander Nagoria and his men were involved in the attack on Sikhs in Nimri Colony and Wazirpur industrial areas. Seven Sikhs were killed, four gurudwaras, five houses, seven shops and 31 factories were burnt between October 31 to November 4 in Ashok Vihar.
Ramchander Nagoria, vice-president of Youth Congress east Delhi, was considered close to HKL Bhagat and Sajjan Kumar. After the riots, he also became a member of the executive committee of Delhi Congress. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->They fuelled mobs, were feted by party
Nanavati Commission report may have exonerated the top leadership of Congressfrom their complicity in the 1984 anti-Sikh carnage. However a follow-up of the evidences and findings of the Commission by The Pioneer reporters Sidharth Mishra, Rajeev R Roy and Rajesh Kumar makes it increasingly clear that those involved were feted by the party leadership for their deeds in the Capital's darkest hour
Despite being named several times for orchestrating the carnage of Sikhs in Kalyanpuri and Trilokpuri in November 1984, the acceptability and rise of Dr Ashok Chauhan within the Congress did not dampen.
He continued to remain the lynchpin of the Congress in east Delhi till 1996-97. Even today he calls the shots in the corridors of power. He is a member of a Delhi Consumer Protection Council (DCPC) and was nominated to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as an alderman.
"My nomination to the Corporation evoked sharp reaction and opposition from the aldermen belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They challenged my nomination in the court, which I subsequently won. Yet I did not press for the notification of nomination. Our party was in power and I did not want to create an embarrassing situation for the organisation," Dr Chauhan said wryly.
Dr Chauhan claims he was very close to Congress heavyweight HKL Bhagat.
After his decline in the Congress, Dr Chauhan shifted his allegiance to Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and Uttranchal Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tewari when Congress-Tewari came into being. First elected to the MCD in 1983 from Patparganj, he remained the Municipal Councillor till 1990.
"In 1993, I sought the party ticket to contest the Assembly election from Mandawali. A section of party leaders opposed my candidature. In 1994, I joined the Congress-Tewari," he said. In 1996, he contested the Lok Sabha poll from Aligarh on the ticket of Congress-Tewari, and claims to have polled 70,000 votes.
In 1997, Dr Chauhan was rehabilitated in the Congress. He got a party ticket to contest the municipal poll from Trilokpuri ward in east Delhi through then All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and currently Governor of Gujarat Nawal Kishor Sharma. Though he lost the election, he continued to remain an active member of the party and kept in touch with people like Dr Karan Singh.
Since his acquittal in the 1984 cases, Dr Chauhan, ironically a graduate in Indian medicine system from Ahimsa Ayurvedic College, stays in Kalyanpuri where he runs Lata Clinic. He owns a palatial building in East Vinod Nagar from where he runs the Indraprastha Public School. The school also has a branch in New Ashok Nagar in east Delhi.
As per the affidavits by witnesses, 300 to 400 Sikhs were massacred in Block 32 and 36 of Trilokpuri. The survivors claimed in the affidavits that Dr Ashok, Rampal Saroj and some Congressmen collected near the gurudwara of Block 36. "Led by Dr Ashok, the mob first torched the gurdwara and then the macabre dance of death began," the Nanavati Commission report said.
A survivor, Gurdeep Kaur, stated before the Commission that the mob was led by Dr Ashok, Rampal Saroj, Sukhan Lal, Kishori and Rohtas. She said her neighbours Kundan Singh, Jaggu Singh, Jagat Singh and Harnam Singh were burnt alive. Kishori stabbed 14 people and her son, Pritam, was murdered before her eyes. Dr Ashok was also accused of pouring kerosene on Kewal Singh and Mewal Singh and burning them alive.
"Allegations against me were politically motivated. My rivals in the Congress got the relatives and dependents of the victims to file affidavit against me to damage my political career. Unfortunately, they succeeded in their nefarious motive. The fact, however, is that I was not involved in acts of killings," Dr Chauhan said.
The late Deep Chand Bandhu was never named in any FIR. But his son and bother-in-law Om Prakash find a special mention in the Nanavati Commission report. The deeds of local Congress leader Om Prakash alias Omi during the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom were widely appreciated within the party. His family got benefits commensurate with Om Prakash's 'performances'. Deep Chand Bandhu, the brother-in-law of Om Prakash was promoted from being an inconsequential councillor to the powerful position of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 1985.
Sources said that since Om Prakash had been named in the First Information Reports (FIRs) and in several affidavits, promoting him would have been blatant disregard of Sikh sentiments. Thus the harvest of the seeds sown by Om Prakash was reaped by Deep Chand Bandhu from 1984 to 2003. Bandhu's son has also been named in the GT Nanavati Commission report.
From chairmanship of the standing committee, Bandhu was promoted as the Leader of the House, a position he held till 1990, until the House was dissolved. In 1990, Bandhu was appointed vice-president of Delhi Congress and given a ticket to contest the Assembly elections in 1993 and 1998 from Ashok Vihar.
In 1994 Bandhu became the president of Delhi Congress and a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee. In the year 2001, he became Industries Minister in Delhi and remained in his office till his death in 2003.
It would be pertinent to mention that at one point of time, the party leadership had tipped Bandhu to be prepared for post of chief ministership in Delhi.
A large numbers of affidavits filed by victims before the Nanavati Commission stated that Kaka Bali, Ramchander Nagoria, Ishwar Pala, Pandit Shoke, Jitu Lovely, Vimal, Om Prakash and son of Bandhu were leading the mob on November 1, 1984. They were in a jeep. They were carrying tins full of some inflammable liquid. The police personnel who were deployed there did not stop the mob from committing such acts of arson and looting. On the basis of the affidavit of one Maan Singh whose house was looted, an FIR (435/91) was registered at Ashok Vihar police station and 12 persons were arrested and chargesheeted.
The Commission in its report said that police officials-SI Mange Ram and ASI Raja Ram had not only failed to perform their duty but had also assisted the mob attacking Sikhs and their properties. The Commission also pointed out that the vice-president of Youth Congress (I) East Delhi, Ramchander Nagoria and his men were involved in the attack on Sikhs in Nimri Colony and Wazirpur industrial areas. Seven Sikhs were killed, four gurudwaras, five houses, seven shops and 31 factories were burnt between October 31 to November 4 in Ashok Vihar.
Ramchander Nagoria, vice-president of Youth Congress east Delhi, was considered close to HKL Bhagat and Sajjan Kumar. After the riots, he also became a member of the executive committee of Delhi Congress. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->