NEW DELHI:A Patiala House sessions judge sentenced nine young men last week to undergo three years of rigorous imprisonment, plus to pay a fine, for mob violence in the Ajmeri Gate area on the morning of Nov.1,1984, as part of the organized violence unleashed on the Sikhs by Congress leaders. That broke out in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
The mob set fire to 15 shops, looted property and stoned the police, among other things: Butit did not hurt or kill any body. In all, 32 persons were accused by the slate prosecutor, 26 were acquitted by the judge, S.S.Bal, for lack of evidence. All the accused had got bail years back,
He has convicted each of the nine on six separate charges, with a separate sentence to be served for each count.
However, BAL said he was rejecting all pleas for leniency. The defence advocates had all pleaded for suspension of whatever sentence was given and considering the nine on probation thereafter. Nothing doing, the judge says. Not in communal violence. It affects the “health and smooth going of different sections of society (leads to) cleavage in the heats of different sections of society.” And thus hampers growth of society, he notes.
This was one of those cases (they were not a majority, of the November 1984 violence where the police arrived to confront the mob and tied to stop them though not overwhelmingly, Sub Inspector Datta Ram of the Hauz Qazi police station, the case’s investigating officer (he is now an inspector and in charge of the same Station) says they got a wireless call around 9:20 that morning, of the mob spreading out from Lal Darwaza. It swelled to around 1,000, shouting revengeful slogans from Gali Arya Samaj and came on towards Hauz Qazi Chowk. The station head, Inspector Baljit Singh, arrived, as did the area’s assistant Commissioner (AC), Virender Singh.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 28, 1993
