NEW DELHI: A former Indian home secretary R.D. Pradhan in his recently published book “Working with Rajiv Gandhi” has disclosed that the then home minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government Arun Nehru was in favor of teaching Sikhs a lesson in the wake of May 10, 1985, bomb blasts in Delhi. Pradhan’s account runs as follows Militant activity had hit Delhi with a bang. At around 11 pm, Rajiv Gandhi came over from a dinner engagement and the Home Minister also joined. We went over the ground and reviewed the situation. There was a great deal of discussion on the probable group of militants and the technique adopted for detonating the bombs. Soon we were told that parts of a transistor were found at the ISBT depot. The PM asked us to keep a watch over the situation and agree on a plan of action. He decided to go back to 5 Race Course Road to work on his papers. A little later, the Home Minister also went home. An action plan was quickly worked out to take prompt steps to apprehend the culprits; to reinforce the law and order machinery in the Capital; to alert the Punjab administration and other State governments; to be prepared to deal with a possible backlash, in Delhi as well as in the urban areas of Punjab against the Sikhs. Also to take steps to prevent panic and rumormongering, ‘We started acting straightaway. I got additional paramilitary police forces for deployment in the capital and also alerted the Army authorities to be in readiness to assist the Delhi Administration. By that time it was past midnight. Arun Nehru, who was quietly watching and listening, suddenly suggested that this kind of action alone would not do. We should launch an operation to apprehend during the course of the night any Sikh found loitering on the streets of Delhi; He anticipated a backlash from Hindus. I, however, sensed that he was not so much proposing action to save the ‘Sikhs from the Hindus but to teach the Sikhs a lesson, He also suggested certain strong arm action. I did not agree to such a wide-ranging operation and instead suggested selective action against all suspects and Sikhs known for their links with militants. Arun Nehru was not satisfied with that kind of response, He said slowly and deliberately: “Mr. Home Secretary, tomorrow if thousands of Delhi citizens march to 7 Race Course Road and demonstrate before the PM’s residence that will not be acceptable.” To make his meaning quite clear he repeated: “That will not be acceptable.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 16, 1994
