18 February,2010 09:27 AM IST | | Surender Sharma
It's not everyday that Jarnail Singh feels happy. Since the infamous shoe-gate incident, life for this 40-something Sikh journalist has not been easy. No job, daily struggle to make ends meet and suspicion of friends and colleagues on the 'motive' of his actions can break even the most hardened hack. The only ray of hope was the book he did, I Accuse, and the rave reviews it got. Wednesday brought one more reason to smile. The anticipatory bail plea of Sajjan Kumar, Congress leader and prime accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, has been deferred by a Delhi court. MiD DAY caught up with Singh
Jarnail Singh
Some positive development would you say? What is your reaction to today's development?
Well, did you see what Sajjan Kumar did today? I think he is still proud and unrepentant. He still smiles at the camera. I don't want to see that any more. He thinks he is above the law. He didn't even turn up for the hearing, despite the court's summon.u00a0 He has been like this for the past twenty five years. He has been influencing the Congress Party and even the judiciary for too long. The sudden change in judicial course has also exposed the CBI, the agency which was investing the case.
Sajjan and the other accused Jagdish Tytler have manipulated facts all these years. Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi has been saying all this while that criminals should not be given entry to parliament. Now the Congress should show the door to a man who is responsible for the killings of thousands in the 1984 riots.
Do you credit yourself for what happened in court today?
Yes, absolutely. Anti-Sikh riots had become a dead issue. The culprits had almost come out clean. In 2005, when the Nanawati Commission report came out, it said that these people should be charge-sheeted for the riots. But till 2009, the charge-sheet was not filed before the court. So, in a way, they had succeeded in evading justice. After the shoe-gate incident, the Congress Party took back Sajjan and Tytler's tickets for the Lok Sabha election of 2009. It was as if they were all waiting for me to throw the shoe. All of a sudden, the Home Minister, who had said earlier that he was happy to see Tytler come out clean, changed his stance. He said Sikhs were angry and the Congress party was sympathetic to their sentiments. But both leaders are still blackmailing the Congress leadership. 'If we are indicted, we would name others also,' that's what they are saying. The Congress party fears them.
What about Tytler? He has come out unscathed.
Tytler is manipulating the situation. He is influencing the Congress leadership. The submissions of the late Surender Singh Granthi, who was one the witnesses, have been buried by the CBI.
What do you expect from the government now?u00a0
I am an apolitical man. I feel if politics has to be cleaned, Sajjan Kumar and Tytler has to be thrown out of the Congress party. This would serve as an example to all other parties. The Prime Minister should visit the widow colonies of 1984 riots orphans. Nobody has gone to see them so far. But I am happy with the role played by the judiciary in recent times and the media all through.
u00a0
What about your book on 1984 riots? Is it doing well?
These days I am in Hyderabad on an all-India tour for the promotion of my book, I accuse. It's being very well received.
