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Jagdish Tytler submits resignation to Sonia Gandhi

     New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Non- Resident Indians Jagdish Tytler submitted his resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi this evening following uproar over his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots after publication of the Nanavati Report. Sonia Gandhi would now forward his resignation to the Prime Minister for his consideration. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, earlier, made a statement in the Lok Sabha during the discussion on the issue. He said that the Centre would make all efforts to bring justice to the victims of the riots and punish who are guilty. There were speculations since this morning that Tytler would be asked for resignation as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was understood to have discussed the matter with the United Progressive Alliance Chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Pressure was mounting on Dr. Singh from all corners including the UPA allies to ask Tytler to resign. The Nanavati Commission, which probed the infamous incident, has named several Congress leaders, including Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and H.K.L.Bhagat for their alleged role in the riots. But it said that there was not enough evidence to prosecute them. Tytler, however, maintains that he had no role to play in the incident. The Government's Action Taken Report (ATR) has exonerated these leaders on the ground that "a person cannot be prosecuted simply on the basis of probabilities." The report, however, cleared Congress Headquarters, Late former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and the then Home Minister Late P V Narsimha Rao of having hand in staging the anti-Sikh riots. The anti-Sikh riots of 1984 had started in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two of her personal bodyguards, both of whom were Sikhs. The attacks led to the massacre of over 2,700 Sikhs in Delhi alone and over 3,000 across the country.

Tytler's resignation takes wind out of Opposition's sails (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Taking the wind out of the Opposition's sails, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this evening received Union Minister of State for NRIs Jagdish Tytler's resignation, which is likely to be accepted at the earliest. The resignation is expected to neutralise the Opposition's attempt to embarass the UPA Government on its so-called "evasive" Action Taken Report on the recommendations made by the Justice G T Nanavati Commission which probed the factors responsible for 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Now, as far as the UPA Government's stand is concerned, it has succeeded in sending the message that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sincerely taken action against Tytler, on whom the Nanavati Report pointed fingers for his probable involvement in the riots. The Opposition also has been able to get partly what it wanted; that the Government should go on the backfoot and accept that its house is not clean of blots. Tytler, was in anyway not a high profile minister in the UPA Cabinet. His sacrifice wouldnot create much disturbance in the Council of Ministers. The Opposition will now try to focus on the demand that Tytler be punished. But what will be the fate of Tytler one never knows following the experience of Sajjan Kumar's trial in the riots cases. Congress leader Sajjan Kumar could not be booked, as there was no concrete evidence against him. Even the NDA Government could not succeed in charging Sajjan Kumar following four years of trial in several cases. Meanwhile, the Opposition-sponsored adjournment motion was defeated today in the Lok Sabha following a hot debate over the Nanavati Report's findings.

Is exasperated Manmohan Singh thinking of quitting as PM? (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Rumours are gaining ground that Dr. Manmohan Singh is getting increasingly disillusioned and despondent about his inability to push through economic reforms to take the country on the road to development, and might even decide to submit his resignation from the post of Prime Minister. Since yesterday, he has also been under attack for having cleared the Nanavati Commission Action Taken Report (ATR), which is widely perceived to be a whitewash. A Sikh himself, Singh is being attacked by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and other opposition groups for not standing up for delivering justice, and defending the Congress for the sake of his office.

     The Nanavati Commission had said that while the first round of disturbances in the capital after the assassination of Prime Minister Gandhi could be termed spontaneous, what continued for three days were organised and some Congress leaders were at the back of it. The perception is that the Congress party has defended the guilty. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is now required to defend the ATR as it has been cleared by the Union Cabinet. The present controversy may be the last straw as far Dr.Singh's disillusionment is concerned, says the Economic Times quoting informed sources. Dr. Manmohan Singh, who has been acclaimed for liberalising the Indian economy in the early 1990s as Finance Minister, is unable to pursue his agenda as the country's Prime Minister. The Left parties, who are supporting the Government of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) from the outside, have been putting roadblocks against each proposal to liberalise the economy. After a great deal of effort to persuade the Left parties that disinvestment of BHEL will be done only after ensuring the workers interests, the Prime Minister felt that he will be able to implement the program. But the Left parties who met the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, were able to force the government to abandon the disinvestment move. Dr. Singh has also been under criticism for what he felt were major achievements of the UPA Government. The Indo-US pact on civilian nuclear cooperation has the potential of enabling the country to receive much needed nuclear fuel for the Tarapore power plant and also obtain the necessary technology to establish more nuclear power plants. India has been a major importer of hydrocarbons which has been a drain on the country's resources. Added to the above is the criticism in the media that Dr. Singh is not a democratically-elected Prime Minister, and is a nominee of Sonia Gandhi. Dr. Singh, who has had the reputation of an upright and incorruptible person, who has always maintained probity in public life, seems to have made up his mind that "enough is enough".

     Top sources told the Economic Times, that a frustrated Singh is, at times, understood to have even indicated a wish to relinquish charge. According to the paper, the matter has reportedly come up at a number of top-level meetings where the PM has often expressed his helplessness at not being able to push through critical reforms. Sources in the Congress party say that this is indeed a new low. Political sources point out five reasons contributing to Singhs exasperation -- (1) He wanted to remove tainted ministers in his Cabinet (2) He was against the Congress's misadventure to install Shibu Soren as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand with the help of the state Governor Syed Sibtey Razi (3)The Left's tantrum over disinvestment of BHEL, (4) Controversy over Indo-US pacts and (5)the Nanavati report. "He feels left alone on almost all controversial issues with little or no backing from his party," sources were quoted, as saying.

Don't play politics with 1984 Sikh riots, says PM (Go To Top)

     New Delh: Expressing disappointment over the tone of discussion on the Nanavati Commission report in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today intervened in the debate and said the issue should not become another victim of politics. "Our effort is to find out ways to bring justice to the riot victims, not to play petty politics over the issue," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Lok Sabha. He said that it should be the collective responsibility of all political parties to ensure that victims should get justice and such tragedies never happen in future. "Do not criticise a human tragedy. Let us march out.Let the nation march out," said Dr. Singh Dr. Singh also said that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots was a blot on the national consciousness and the time is not for fixing blame on who did what. "I am not here to apportion blames. Twenty-one years have passed of that tragedy and do not bring politics into it," said Dr. Singh. He further said that it was the Sikh community which suffered the most during the partition. The community has contributed a lot to the nation's development. Their martyrdom does not mean they are weak, said Dr. Singh, adding that Sikhs never come under pressure. Referring to the messages of the Sikh Gurus, Dr. Singh said that their philoshophy is more relevant today than ever. The Prime Minister said that action against some of the culprits has been taken. However, it could not be possible to bring justice to the victims completely. "Somehow, I feel that the truth has not come out," said Dr. Singh. He, however, assured that the Government would make all efforts to ensure that the riot victims get proper justice.

Did Left take all credit over Nanavati Report? (Go To Top)
by Pankaj Yadav

     New Delhi: A word is making rounds in political circles that the Left parties, including the CPI and the CPI-M, managed to mount more pressure than the Opposition on the Congress-led UPA Government over the ATR on the Nanavati Commission Report, thereby preempting the SAD and the BJP from performing the opposition role on the issue effectively. Since yesterday, the Left continuously mounted pressure on the Government to take stern action against those named in the report. Though on Monday, when the Report and ATR were tabled before the Parliament, the Left Parties had avoided commenting over the action taken by the UPA government, saying that it was premature to comment without going through the report completely. Wanting to expose the non-constructive role of the opposition, the UPA government may have opted to yield more to the Left. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today said that his Government would take all possible steps within the ambit of law to "reopen or further examine" individual cases recommended by the Nanavati Commission Report.

     Intervening in a debate on an Opposition-sponsored adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha, Singh said there is "absolutely no evidence" of involvement of late Rajiv Gandhi or any other high- ranking Congress leader in the violence that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj appealed to the media "not to spread the message that the Left parties had taken the credit away from the Opposition" in forcing the UPA government to agree to an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha today. Sushma Swaraj said: "It's we who had mounted pressure on the UPA government yesterday demanding an adjournment motion. It's we who gave notices for the adjournment motion today, and it's we who forced day-long adjournments in both Houses yesterday, and it's we who first demanded the removal of Jagdish Tytler from the Union Council of Ministers." Replying to another question as why the BJP failed to make these demands on Monday after the Nanavati Report was tabled in the Parliament, she said: "We needed some time to read the whole report. We didn't want to react solely on the basis of the ATR which only mildly described the charges made against Congress leaders." Meanwhile, sources close to the Opposition said that in case the UPA Government decides to drop Tytler, which is expected especially after the minister met Prime Minister and Defence Minister, they would also demand the sacking of Commerce Minister Kamal Nath who is also named in the Nanavati Report.

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