CHANDIGARH: Jagdish Kaur who lost her husband, elder son and three cousins in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots had waited 34 years for this day. The frail 77-year-old's lengthy courtroom battle against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar over his alleged involvement in the riots finally ended in victory as the Delhi High Court sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Soon after the verdict, Kaur, who is now based in Amritsar but had gone to Delhi for the verdict, said, "At last I am relieved, but I will fight for justice with the last drop of my blood. This sentence is not enough. He should be hanged. So far, the courts have only convicted common people who were part of the killer crowds. It is for the first time an influential Congress leader who had then organised the mobs has been
convicted. Earlier the lower court had acquitted Sajjan Kumar on the basis of doubt when there was never any."
Kaur, who can barely walk, said, "There was a lot of political pressure as he was a top politician and well connected. Everyone from the government wanted to save him for his crimes and for years we felt that we will never get justice from any quarter, as people said to us you will never get justice as he is a powerful person and will go scot-free, but finally we got justice after so long. Our faith in the judiciary has been restored."
On November 1, 1984, a mob allegedly comprising then Congress MP Sajjan Kumar and others attacked the Rajnagar house of Kaur in Delhi Cantonment and killed her husband, elder son and three cousins.
Another witness against Sajjan Kumar, Nirpreet Kaur of Mohali, said that she was allegedly threatened with slapping of TADA cases against her.
AAP MLA and Supreme Court lawyer H S Phoolka thanked everyone for their support and help. He said, "It is a big day in my life and a result of 34 years of struggle. I had resigned from the post of Leader of
Opposition in the Punjab Assembly to appear in this case."