Compromise After 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots
by The events that led up to the Anti-Sikh Riots and the events that took place after the riots and the compromises made after the conflicts between the Sikhs and the Hindus.
As for the Hindu population, they were not affected by the riots at all but they lost the Sikh support for some time. This proved to be detrimental to India’s claims to Kashmir because the Sikh majority state of Punjab has a significant border with Kashmir. With mounting pressure from Pakistan it was becoming increasingly difficult for India to hold on to Jammu & Kashmir7. Since the Indian government had lost support from most of the people in Punjab it could not monitor the activities of Kashmir rebels of Pakistani spies. The Sikhs in Punjab did not care about India’s claim and would not report any Pakistani insurgent movement to the Indian government. In the end a compromise would have to be made between the Indian government and the Sikhs.
Compromise- How it Didn’t Work
A compromise was the best solution because the Sikhs wanted compensation and justice for the 1984 massacres and the Indian government wanted the Sikhs back on their side. In fact, there were ten commissions appointed by the central government to identify who the main culprits of the 1984 riots were. The commissions were appointed between 1984 and 2004. These commissions were the Marwah commission, Misra commission of enquiry, Kapur Mittal committee, Jain Banerjee committee, Potti Rosha committee, Jain Aggarwal committee, Ahuja committee, Dhillon committee, Narula committee and The Nanavati commission. Some of these commissions gave clear recommendations on who should be punished for the creation and support of these riots. At first a compromise seemed impossible to reach because the commissions wanted many high ranking officials in the government to be punished because of their involvement in the riots. Some of these officials included Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and H.K.L. Bhagat. Even though many of these commissions had clear evidence against these men nothing was ever done because they were powerful political leaders in New Delhi.
Compromise- How it Worked
On the positive side, the government showed some reconciliation in the fact that they gradually restored many high ranking Sikh officials to important positions that they had held prior to the riots within 3 to 4 years of the riots. Some government aid was provided by way of resettlement of the aggrieved Sikh families. The government also tried to give many of these families financial support to restart their businesses. Some problems arose in the governments financial support plan by way of internal corruption. Despite that the help has had some mollifying influence on the Sikh community.
It was feared by the Sikhs that their recruitment into the armed forces, civil services and private businesses will be stopped. This initially was the problem in the mid 1980’s since all areas of government were predominantly Hindu. But gradually the discrimination has dissipated and normality has returned to the daily operation of the government. For instance, today the most powerful political position of Prime Minister is held by a Sikh (Manmohan Singh). Also the chief of staff of the Indian army is a Sikh general (Joginder Jaswant Singh). This presence of Sikhs in such prestigious and powerful positions in the government of India is a good example of how the Sikh and the majority Hindu government have reconciled.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots were a very tragic event. It was a great shame on the democracy of India. The riots shattered centuries of harmony that had existed between the Hindus and the Sikhs of India. The indifference of the Indian government towards giving justice to the persecuted Sikhs who lost thousands of men women and children as a consequence of the brutal attack on the sacred Golden Temple on June 6th, 1984 and the riots of November 1st to 4th 1984 was very sickening. This terrible injustice was magnified even more so because the Hindus consider themselves a peaceful, tolerant and civilized people. However it must be said to the credit of the Hindu people that ever since the tragic riots of 1984 there has been commendable progress between them and the Sikhs in matters of reconciliation on political, social and economic levels.
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