1980s-in-india

"Thus, after the Meenakshipuram mass conversion to Islam in 1981, non-converted villagers reported: ‘Of course, there have been marriages between Hindu harijans and the converts. Whether it is the bride or the groom, the Hindu is expected to convert to Islam.‘"

"Bofors scandal is an example of a genuine case sabotaged by a Government run by a political party which has a lot to hide."

"The Government led by Rajiv Gandhi had no opinion but to conduct an investigation, even if it meant an unobtrusive "operation whitewash"."

"Openly, on the floor of Parliament, (I said) he (Rajiv Gandhi) didn’t get the Bofors money, (Ottavio) Quattrocchi (Sonia’s close friend) got it, and these were proved quite later, too late."

"We are looking at the possibility of arguing that the deaths amounted to custodial deaths since they occurred when the victims were in the custody of the PAC. If the court accepts the argument that these were custody deaths, the onus will shift to the accused to prove that they are not guilty."

"The fight against communalisation requires drastic changes in the policy of recruitment, training and syllabi of the police. The percentage of minorities, especially Muslims, is only 5 to 6 per cent in most States. I can say from 30 years of experience in the Police Department that this is the result of a deep and inherent communal bias in the leadership of the police. There are hundreds of government directives to recruit minorities into the department, but these are often flouted. Unless we reserve some seats for minorities, their quota will never be filled."

"This case is about the first instance in which those who were appointed to keep the peace carried out attacks in cold blood. Yet, the Uttar Pradesh government has delayed the matter."

"The attacks on members of the Sikh Community in Delhi and its suburbs during the period, far from being a spontaneous expression of "madness" and of popular "grief and anger" at Mrs. Gandhi's assassination as made out to be by the authorities, were the outcome of a well organised plan marked by acts of both deliberate commissions and omissions by important politicians of the Congress (I) at the top and by authorities in the administration."

"You did not send those who are accused in the anti-Sikh riots to jails. Not just that, you also made someone who has allegations of instigating anti-Sikh riots, a Chief Minister."

"Reminiscing the 1984 Sikh Massacre, the Prime Minister asserted, “Entire Punjab has witnessed that we formed SIT to investigate the 1984 Sikh riots, helped its victims. But Congress has always done the work of sprinkling salt on their wounds by giving big positions to the accused of riots.”"

"When a big tree falls, the earth shakes."

"The attack on Sikhs and their property in our locality appeared to be an extremely organized affair ... There were also some young men on motorcycles, who were instructing the mobs and supplying them with kerosene oil from time to time. On more than a few occasions we saw auto-rickshaw arriving with several tins of kerosene oil and other inflammable material, such as jute sacks."

"It was the Congress leaders who instigated mobs in 1984 and got more than 3000 people killed. I must give due credit to RSS and the BJP for showing courage and protecting helpless Sikhs during those difficult days. No less a person than Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself intervened at a couple of places to help poor taxi drivers."

"The RSS and Sikhs have always fought shoulder to shoulder. Sikhs can never forget how RSS activists protected them during the partition and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots."

"(Rahul Gandhi's) current Guru Number 1, Sam Pitroda, added to Congress problems by making one of the most thoughtless, offensive remarks I have ever heard. Accosted by TV reporters last week and asked about the 1984 pogrom against the Sikhs, he said, “OK 1984 happened, so what?”"

"The fact of the matter is that innocent people died in 1984 and innocent people dying is a horrible thing and should not happen. The difference between Gujarat and 1984 was that the Government of Gujarat was involved in the riots. [...] I think that riots, as all riots, were a horrible event. Frankly I was not in operation in the Congress party."

"I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don’t agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly there was tragedy."

"Despite numerous credible eye-witness accounts that identified many of those involved in the violence, including police and politicians, in the months following the killings, the government sought no prosecutions or indictments of any persons, including officials, accused in any case of murder, rape or arson."

"Christians are not the only minority to be targeted by the Sangh Parivar. Violence against Sikhs in northern India in 1984… also stemmed from the activities and hate propaganda of these groups."

"The killings of Sikhs in November 1984, under Congress rule in Delhi and other cities of North India, can be accurately described as a pogrom or massacre because the killings were totally one-sided. It was not a Hindu-Sikh riot. In fact, the Hindu community was as stunned by the murderous mobs, as were the Sikhs. Congress Party had hired goons who pretended frenzy and butchered over 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi alone. Many more thousands were killed or burnt alive in several North Indian cities. The dead were all Sikhs; only Sikh women were raped. There was not a single incident of Sikhs having killed Hindus or abducted women of any community in retaliation. Sikhs are not a helpless community in ordinary times, nor are they an oppressed religious minority. However, since Congress Party politicians are known to have led murderous mobs and the top leadership of the Congress Party is known to have deliberately immobilised the law and order machinery, the killing brigades and arsonists got a free hand for three–four days. Even though the army was ready at hand in Delhi Cantonment, it was not called for three long days till the worst was over. The police did not fire a single shot at the murderous mobs. They were asked to look the other way or actively assist the killer mobs. There wasn’t even an instance of lathi charge to disperse mobs. There were no arrests of arsonists during those days. It was uncontrolled mayhem from October 31, 1984 to November 3, 1984. The loss of property was also one-sided. Only Sikh homes were set on fire; the mobs looted only Sikh business establishments and houses. No Sikh went on a looting spree."

"“I have data which shows who was responsible whenever violence incidents took place in the country... "The Congress talks of 1984 riots, I would like to tell them that they have forgotten that some accused are today on the position of CM."