Assassination of Arjun Dass explained

Assassination of Arjun Dass
Location:New Delhi, India
Time:9:20 am
Timezone:IST
Target:Arjun Dass
Type:Shooting
Weapons:.55 revolver
.38 revolver
9mm stengun
Fatalities:2
Injuries:6
Victims:8
Perpetrators:Harjinder Singh Jinda
Sukhdev Singh Sukha
Numparts:6
Motive:"Justice" for 1984 Sikh massacre

On September 5, 1985, at 9:20 am member of the Delhi Metropolitan Council, close associate of Sanjay Gandhi, and Congress leader Arjun Dass was assassinated by 3 Sikhs in Delhi.[1] The assassins were Harjinder Singh Jinda,[2] Sukhdev Singh Sukha,[3] and another member of Jinda's group.[4] They killed Dass in revenge for his role in the 1984 Sikh massacre.[5] [6] Along with Arjun Dass his bodyguard, a constable, was killed and 6 others were injured.[7] [8]

Background

1984 Sikh massacre

1984 Sikh massacre was a series of organized pogroms[9] [10] [11] against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.[12] [13] [14] Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi[15] and 3,350 nationwide,[16] [17] whilst independent sources estimate the number of deaths at about 8,000–30,000.[18] [19] [20] [21]

Arjun Das was identified by eyewitnesses and human rights groups as leading mobs in the massacres.[8] A mob led by him defecated on the Sikh holy book and living Guru, Guru Granth Sahib.[22]

Hit-list

Harjinder Singh Jinda, and Sukhdev Singh Sukha soon after the riots created a hit list of politicians believed to be part of the violence. The names were H.K.L. Bhagat, Lalit Maken, Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar, Dharam Das Shastri, Jasbir Singh Jatt, Arjun Dass, and K.C. Pant.[23] [24]

Assassination of Lalit Maken

On July 31, 1985, Congress(I) Member of Parliament Lalit Maken was assassinated,[25] when he was moving towards his car parked across the road from his house in Kirti Nagar, Delhi. Maken's wife Geetanjali and a visitor, Balkishan, were also caught in the firing and died.[26] The assailants escaped on their scooters. Lalit Maken was considered to be involved in the killings of Sikhs during 1984 Anti-Sikh riots. In a 31-page booklet titled 'Who Are The Guilty', People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) listed 227 people who led the mobs, which killed up to 18,000 Sikhs over three days. Lalit Maken's name was third on the list.[27] The assassins were Harjinder Singh Jinda, and Sukhdev Singh Sukha.[28]

Assassination

On September 5, 1985, Jinda, Sukha, and the other Singh made their way to Arjun Dass' auto parts shop which was in a crowded marketplace. Jinda and Sukha were on a stole scooter while Nimma was on a three-wheeler. They had removed all identifiers of the vehicles.[29] [23] Jinda had a .55 revolver. Sukha had a .38 revolver and the other had a 9mm stengun.[23] [30] Once they reached Dass' shop Jinda continued to sit on the scooter as the getaway driver. Sukha shot Dass' guard in the head killing him instantly. The other Singh shot another guard. Both then unloaded fire into Arjun Dass. In total, they fired 29 bullets.[23] All of them quickly fled the scene. While fleeing the assassins yelled, "Long live Khalistan."[31]

Aftermath

5 minutes after the killing, a police jeep was sent to the scene. After emergency treatment, Arjun Dass was pronounced dead at the All India Institute of Medical Science.[32] Roadblocks were set up in Delhi and neighboring districts an hour after the killing. After the killing, the Home Ministry began plans to create anti-terrorist squads in key cities. Other politicians who led mobs in the anti-Sikh riots were provided security in reaction to Dass' killing. The homes of MP Jagdish Tytler, former MP Dharam Das Shastri, and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs H.K.L. Bhagat were given security from the Special Frontier Force. All 3 were named in the paper 'Who Are The Guilty'.[33] More than 2,000 men with Stenguns, carbines and West German sub-machine guns and with 500 vehicles were assigned to guard individuals believed to be on the Sikh's hit-list. They were gathered from the Central Reserve Police Force, National Security Guard, Delhi Armed Police, Border Security Force, and Intelligence Bureau.[34] Some were placed in the Very Very High Security Risk (VVHSR) category, such as Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, H.K.L. Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler. The latter 2 were named in 'Who Are The Guilty'. In another category named Very High Security Risk (VHSR) 2 involved in the riots were given security. Them being former MP Sajjan Kumar, and Dharam Das Shastri.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 5 September 1985 . Sikh gunmen kill friend of Gandhi; cabinet holds emergency meeting . Montreal Gazette.
  2. Book: India Today . Living Media India Pvt. Limited . 1986.
  3. Web site: Welcome to Frontline : Vol. 28 :: No. 26 . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20100302120102/http://hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2007/stories/20030411002004500.htm . 2 March 2010 . Hinduonnet.com.
  4. Book: Times of India Illustrated Weekly . 1988 . Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press . 31 . en.
  5. Book: Collective, News Warriors . Sweet &Sour . 2021-11-15 . Blue Rose Publishers . 978-93-5472-753-5 . 256 . en.
  6. Web site: admin . 2019-05-29 . Know the Facts of 1984 Sikh Genocide SikhPA . 2023-07-04 . en-GB.
  7. Book: Data India . 1985 . Press Institute of India . en.
  8. Book: Eugene Register-Guard . Eugene Register-Guard . en.
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20110811083708/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2005-12-31/india/27838902_1_communal-tension-communal-violence-gujarat-riots State pogroms glossed over
  10. Web site: Anti-Sikh riots a pogrom: Khushwant . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181022162632/http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/09sikh.htm . 22 October 2018 . 23 September 2009 . Rediff.com.
  11. News: Bedi . Rahul . 1 November 2009 . Indira Gandhi's death remembered . BBC . live . 2 November 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091102113639/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8306420.stm . 2 November 2009 . The 25th anniversary of Indira Gandhi's assassination revives stark memories of some 3,000 Sikhs killed brutally in the orderly pogrom that followed her killing.
  12. Book: Jeffrey M. Shaw PhD . War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict [3 volumes] ]. Timothy J. Demy PhD . 27 March 2017 . ABC-CLIO . 978-1610695176 . 129 . 30 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220426080618/https://books.google.com/books?id=KDlFDgAAQBAJ . 26 April 2022 . live.
  13. Book: Paul R. Brass . Riots and Pogroms . October 1996 . NYU Press . 978-0814712825 . 203 . 30 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201030023956/https://books.google.com/books?id=QeU8DAAAQBAJ . 30 October 2020 . live.
  14. Book: Kaur . Jaskaran . Twenty years of impunity: the November 1984 pogroms of Sikhs in India . Crossette . Barbara . Ensaaf . 2006 . 978-0-9787073-0-9 . 2nd . Portland, OR . 27 . 4 November 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120119015130/http://ensaaf-org.jklaw.net/publications/reports/20years/20years-2nd.pdf . 19 January 2012 . live.
  15. Web site: Report:Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111217234430/http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/Nanavati-I_eng.pdf . 17 December 2011 . 27 April 2012.
  16. Web site: What Delhi HC Order on 1984 Anti-Sikh Pogrom Says About 2002 Gujarat Riots . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190531060455/https://thewire.in/communalism/what-delhi-hc-order-on-1984-anti-sikh-pogrom-says-about-2002-gujarat-riots . 31 May 2019 . 31 May 2019.
  17. Web site: Why Gujarat 2002 Finds Mention in 1984 Riots Court Order on Sajjan Kumar . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190531060555/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/why-gujarat-2002-finds-mention-in-1984-riots-court-order-on-sajjan-kumar-1963730 . 31 May 2019 . 31 May 2019.
  18. Book: Joseph, Paul . The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives . 11 October 2016 . SAGE . 978-1483359885 . 433 . around 17,000 Sikhs were burned alive or killed.
  19. News: Nelson . Dean . 30 January 2014 . Delhi to reopen inquiry in to massacre of Sikhs in 1984 riots . The Daily Telegraph . live . subscription . 3 May 2016 . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10607451/Delhi-to-reopen-inquiry-in-to-massacre-of-Sikhs-in-1984-riots.html . 12 January 2022.
  20. Web site: Jagdish Tytler's role in 1984 anti-Sikh riots to be re-investigated . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220418033745/https://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/jagdish-tytlers-role-in-1984-anti-sikh-riots-to-be-re-investigated-518648 . 18 April 2022 . 3 May 2016 . NDTV.com.
  21. Web site: Pillalamarri . Akhilesh . India's Anti-Sikh Riots, 30 Years On . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220710033902/https://thediplomat.com/2014/10/indias-anti-sikh-riots-30-years-on/ . 10 July 2022 . 3 May 2016 . The Diplomat.
  22. Book: Sangat Singh . The Sikhs In History . 1994.
  23. Web site: Jail Chithiyan. Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda Ate Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha (Singhs of Keysborough) PDF South Asia Punjab . 2023-06-01 . Scribd . en.
  24. Book: Jinda, Harjinder Singh . ਅਸੀਂ ਅੱਤਵਾਦੀ ਨਹੀਂ . Sukha . Sukhdev Singh . Azad Khalsa Prakashan . Punjabi.
  25. Web site: 9 October 2008 . SGPC honours kin of Vaidya's assassins . Tribuneindia.com.
  26. Web site: Congress(I) MP Lalit Maken, wife shot dead by unidentified assailants in Delhi . 2023-06-01 . India Today . en.
  27. Web site: A Life sentence - A Sessions Court in Delhi sentences Ranjit Singh Gill, accused in the murder of Congress(I) MP Lalit Maken, to life imprisonment . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20110429183514/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl2007/stories/20030411002004500.htm . 29 April 2011 . 19 February 2016.
  28. Book: Kanth, Amod K. . Khaki in Dust Storm: Communal Colours and Political Assassinations (1980–1991) Police Diaries Book 1 . 2020-12-18 . Bloomsbury Publishing . 978-93-88630-89-4 . en.
  29. Web site: Sikh terrorists haunt Delhi after Sant Longowal assassination in Punjab . 2023-07-04 . India Today . en.
  30. Book: Kanth, Amod K. . Khaki in Dust Storm: Communal Colours and Political Assassinations (1980–1991) Police Diaries Book 1 . 2020-12-18 . Bloomsbury Publishing . 978-93-88630-89-4 . en.
  31. News: Roy . Nilova . 1985-09-05 . Ally of Indian Premier Assassinated . en-US . Washington Post . 2023-07-04 . 0190-8286.
  32. Web site: Assailants with machine guns killed a senior member of... - UPI Archives . 2023-07-04 . UPI . en.
  33. Web site: 2018-04-11 . PUCL - PUDR Report: Who are the Guilty ? . 2023-07-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180411054723/http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2003/who-are-guilty.htm . 2018-04-11 .
  34. Web site: Politicians in terrorist hit list try to fight off death of the spirit . 2023-07-04 . India Today . en.

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