A Shameful Day

Nanavati commission's report incriminating Congress big shots Jagdish Tytler et el. for inciting an anti-Sikh riot in 1984 following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, has been rejected by the government because they found the evidences not so solid to justify prosecution. Remember, by unofficial estimates, around 4000 people, mostly from the Sikh community, were killed in the massacre. Denial of justice comes plumb opposite democratic values, albeit, we, Indians, have grown used to it because of its plentitude -- such growing apathy among the masses is a formidable sign for a country. India may be the largest democratic country in the world but she has to go a long way to put herself up as a model for the others. All in all, I am very upset about the dispensation of democratic rights in independent India -- something again became luridly visible with Nanavati commission's failure to bring justice to the bereaved. What causes more embarrassment is the repetition of such ghastly incidents time and again. The recent riot in Gujarat (2002) compares to the one in question in all possible ways. In both the cases, it is revealed, from the countless testimonials of the witnesses, that the administration connived at the killings by the rioters, and often directly helped them commit murders. Also, despite strong evidences from many reliable quarters, the kingpins of the massacres were not booked, to the utter disappointment of the masses. All these incidents make me extremely skeptical about the future of Indian democracy.