Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar sentenced to life imprisonment in 1984 anti-Sikh riots

A Delhi court's special judge Kaveri Baweja awarded life imprisonment to Kumar in connection with the killing of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984.

Kumar was convicted by the court on February 12.

He is currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail.

Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, nationwide riots had broken out.

In one incident, five people were killed in Delhi Cantonment area.

The anti-Sikh riots had erupted in different parts of the country following Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh security guards in the wake of the army operation in the Amritsar Golden Temple to flush out terrorists.

The pogrom claimed at least 3,000 lives across the country.

According to US-based Human Rights Watch, successive Indian governments’ failure to prosecute those most responsible for killings and other abuses during the 1984 anti-Sikh violence highlights India’s weak efforts to combat communal violence.

In reference to his mother Indira Gandhi's assassination and the Sikh riot which followed, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had stirred a row saying, "The Earth shakes a bit when a big tree falls on ground."

Reacting to the verdict, BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya shared Rajiv Gandhi's clip on X and said, "The wheels of justice have started moving. Several other senior Congress leaders, including one who was in the race to become Congress President, will soon meet their fate. The long arm of the law will catch up."