National
Anti-Sikh riots 'organised': Gujral
NEW DELHI, JAN. 15. The former Prime Minister, I. K. Gujral, today told the Nanavati Commission that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were an ``organised'' act and no efforts were made to nab the culprits who indulged in looting and burning of properties of Sikhs in the capital.
``From what I had seen and heard, it appeared to me that the riots were organised, particularly so when many persons had participated in them and they(riot) were spread throughout the city,'' Mr. Gujral, deposing as a witness, told the Commission probing the riots after the assassination of the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.
He said on November 1, when he went to apprise to the then Home Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, about the situation in the city, he could see ``there was no effort to arrest those people who were looting and burning the properties of the Sikhs, nor anybody trying to control the riots``.
Mr. Gujral said he had met Mr. Rao twice and during the talks it appeared that the Home Minister did not know in detail about what was happening in the city as he was busy receiving foreign dignitaries who were visiting Delhi to attend Indira Gandhi's funeral.
Mr. Rao had told him that police were facing difficulty in controlling the crowd at the Teen Murti Bhavan, where Indira Gandhi's body was kept for public to pay their tributes, Mr. Gujral said.
- PTI
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