In India, Justice to the victims in communal riots is an Oxymoron

The writer is working as a senior DSP in Punjab Police and has done Masters in Police administration as well as Masters in Psychology. Apart from his professional police duties, he undertakes social work as well as writes for various newspapers and magazines in India to spread information and awareness amongst the masses about the current issues. He has also authored a book, “NEW INDIA
THE REALITY RELOADED”.

Over the past few days in India, the newspapers headlines have been screaming loud; TV newsroom anchors have been shouting with melodramatic effects and an atmosphere of intense discussions has gripped the old and the young alike. An air of some sort of celebration is being tried to be injected into the blood of Indian mainstream society to make them believe that after 34 years of painful wait, the perpetrators of 1984 Sikh riots have been finally taken to task by the law in India and now, sufficient punishment is being meted out to these devils in flesh and blood. Well, is it seriously such a rosy picture to be painted and asked to be digested; afterall, the victims of 1984 communal riots have lost almost everything in their lives in order to fight and survive in this legal battle of justice. What sort of ironical justice is this which comes after an ordeal of 34 years. Infact, it is a blind travesty of justice and painful mockery of the victims emotions that they were forced to relive these torturous moments of heart-rending memory all through these 34 years of burning hell. The newspaper clippings showed tears dripping from the hollow eyes of Jagdish Kaur and Nirpreet Kaur, the relatives of the 1984 riot victims. These tears of suppressed helplessness stood cruel testimony to the endless wait and life-threats they had to undergo in order to see the light of this day when Sajjan Kumar was pronounced guilty by the Court. A lot has already been written and said over the 1984 Sikh carnage that had massacred the soul and psyche of India. The victims still recount the dreadful tales of horror with fear, dismay and feelings of dark anguish.
One begs to ask the question that have we learnt any lessons or not in these 34 years? India normally takes pride to be addressed as a society with strong credentials of multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual characteristics with a powerful belief in the adage, ‘Unity in Diversity’. Are not we a part of hypocritical society where we run amok in the name of religion and mob mentality. Also, another question which cries for immediate attention is that can India’s social fabric of unity in diversity survive for long in such hostile circumstances wherein an atmosphere of intolerance and religious polarization has got created and anybody, even well-acclaimed actors like Naseerudin Shah are dealt with iron hands by mobs on social media when the just simply express anxiety and concern about their children’s safety.

It is not only the 1984 ghastly pogrom that comes to mind but also various other instances wherein the communal clashes had ripped off our pseudo-unity of  nationhood and exposed the harsh realities of Indian society. Every time the society is torn apart by radicalization and religious extremism, the system of administering justice goes dead or paralyzed and gets resuscitated only when sizeable damage and destruction has already been committed by the goons who vandalize properties, kill people and rape women in the garb of indulging in mass riots.  Justice and Rule of Law, it seems, are the first casualty in India whenever these are highly needed in excruciating circumstances, especially in cases of communal riots, group clashes and mob vigilantism.

It pains the heart that justice is not only delayed but also denied to the victims in cases of communal riots. Whether it is Hashimpura (1987), Bhagalpur (1989), Mumbai riots (1993), post-Godhra Gujarat riots (2002), all these cases have one thing in common- an inordinate delay in trial and lackadaisical action by the authorities concerned.  It took a long gap of 18 years to take the case of Bhagalpur killings to its logical conclusion; similarly, the recommendations of BN Srikrishna Commission report on the 1993 Mumbai riots, are still yet to be implemented. Innumerable fact-finding commissions of inquiry are invariably set-up after every communal riot takes place in India and then, the perpetrators are provided political support or religious backing, the witnesses are killed and the relatives of the victims are either offered monetary inducements or threatened with dire consequences to withdraw their cases and ordered to shut up their mouths, eyes and ears forever.

Such kind of inappropriate delays in dispensing justice is fatal in itself to the very idea of providing an impartial and unbiased justice. This is because many witnesses might die during such a long process of ‘wait, watch and pray’ and even the incriminating evidence gets lost which plays a crucial role in securing convictions for the prosecution. In fact, one another aspect of such inordinately delayed criminal trials is that it leads to overcrowding of Indian jails where more than 60 per cent of the inmates are undertrial prisoners. Thus, it can be said that even the right of the accused to fair trial also gets wholly denied in the process.

It has also been seen that it is not only the snail-pace of judiciary that is responsible for delaying the justice delivery mechanism, but also the police and administration which needs to be indicted for its lapse of duty. It is high time that the police reforms are implemented in India, otherwise, the police machinery would continue to be misused and manipulated as a lethal weapon of oppression by the people’s elected representatives for giving political color and vent to their own vested nefarious agendas that actually never goes beyond securing, rather stealing power in our rudimentary vote-based democracy. Ask any survivors or the relatives of the victims of 1984 communal riots, they would tell you in their choked voices of emotional deadpan expressions that how the police in Delhi had thrown in the gauntlet of responsibility and blatantly refused to help them out in the face of the ire of politically motivated mobs burning the Sikhs and their properties without any remorse or resentment. Now, fast forward it to the recent Jat agitation violence in Haryana or Bulandshahr episode of cow vigilantism, the situation seems to have not changed as far as the police action and role is concerned. How can the police shun its responsibility to protect the citizens at a time when it is most needed by them? Why are the police officers in these cases not held accountable and subjected to dismissal from their jobs after their lapse of duty is proven through departmental or court monitored enquiries. Is everything an eye-wash in our Indian society and is it perceived to be written in the destiny of the poor, weak and minorities in India to suffer and perish in the agony of communal riots every now and then? 

It is ultra-important that any case of communal riot must be thoroughly and speedily investigated in a time-bound manner by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) as this would rule out any possibilities of bias and manipulation on the part of the local police which is believed or seen to be subservient to the whims and fancies of the local politicians or the government machinery in power. Also, such cases must be tried by a Fast Track Court (FTC) and the trial in riot cases must be mandatorily conducted on a day-to-day basis. We must realize that the writing on the wall is getting clear with every passing day- if India fails to protect its minorities and misses the mark to provide speedy justice to the victims of any communal riot, it will not be long before that the country would get balkanized and torn into innumerable factions, each grudging a hatred, venom and animosity towards the other. Let the politics take a back seat and we understand that collective action is the need of the hour to rectify the bedlam of horror of yesteryears bloodshed. It is time to correct the rot and set the system in order. India must take preventive and curative steps; we cannot afford anymore 1984 riots. Afterall, the scars are still fresh, the emotional pain has refused to subside and wounds have not healed till now.