By IANS
New Delhi : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad feels the 2002 Gujarat violence would not have happened if justice had been done after the 1984 anti-Sikh violence.
Speaking Thursday at a panel discussion on “Delhi 1984 to Gujarat 2002”, Prasad put the blame on the Congress government for all the sectarian killings post-1984.
“If justice would have been done (to the 1984 victims), Godhra wouldn’t have happened,” the BJP leader said.
Prasad spoke on the occasion of the release of “When a Tree Shook Delhi”, a book on the failure of the criminal justice system after the anti-Sikh violence. Its authors are journalist Manoj Mitta and advocate H.S. Phoolka.
The comments came on a day when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) decided to close its case against former central minister Jagdish Tytler in the anti-Sikh riots case.
Congress leader Salman Khurshid commented: “Twenty-five years have passed and it will take one hell of a wise judge to decide what is true.” But he said that one must not stop pursuing the case. “After all Nazis were pursued for 50 years.”
Brinda Karat of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) condemned the attitude of people who believe that if after 5-10 years a case is re-opened even with justice in mind, the wounds will keep festering.
But asked about West Bengal’s violence-hit Nandigram region, she said: “I am not talking about Nandigram because today I want to talk about Sikh and Hindu riots. We’ll talk about Nandigram when we’ll talk of state violence.”
Karat left the panel before the question answer round.
Justice Rajender Sachar attributed the various killings in the country to what he said was a failed system.
“The political system has failed. We have become individualised in politics,” he said.
The panel members unanimously appreciated the courage of Sikhs to stand through the turbulent times in the 1980s.