NEW DELHI: The thought of resigning as president over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots didn't cross the mind of Giani Zail Singh, claims author and former diplomat KC Singh who has penned a new book on his presidential days.
Speaking here at the launch of the book, "The Indian President: An Insider's Account of the Zail Singh Years", Singh on Monday, while recalling those days, said the situation had led to a "degree of chaos."
The then prime minister Indira Gandhi's body was lying, foreigners were coming in and Rajiv Gandhi was yet to be in charge actively and was performing multiple duties at that stage, he said.
"I don't think he (Zail Singh) ever thought of resigning after the riots, maybe the thought processed after 'Operation Bluestar' when he came back from Amritsar...Look in real time I don't think anybody could make a determination as to how high the responsibility went and who all were involved. We still don't know, we can only assume that hierarchs were involved," said K C Singh, who was deputy secretary to Gaini Zail Singh during 1983-87.
Over 3,000 Sikhs were killed nationwide in violence following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security guards - Beant Singh and Satwant Singh - on 31 October 1984.
Arguing that it was only "72 hours later" when the journalists came out with the stories of the massacre that the extent of what was happening became clear, Singh said that traditionally riots are put down in 24 hours and it was difficult to imagine that the same won't happen in this case of the 1984 riots as well.
"He (Zail Singh) could only think that this is just chaos that is emanating. It will settle down...and the Army will be called in. Now, to imagine that the Army would be in slow march, I don't think the Commander-in-Chief will assume that. It is assumed that the Army will step in when the civilian order is disturbed," he explained.
Former minister of finance and external affairs Yashwant Sinha was the chief guest for the occasion.
Talking about the important role of the president in preserving, protecting and safeguarding the constitution of India, Sinha said in digital times, this role has become more defined.
"Nobody can deny that the President of India has a role to play in protecting the Constitution. We can't merely and at all times depend on the courts of law to do that, the courts will play their role after the President of India," Sinha, who had unsuccessfully contested the presidential election in 2022, said.
He also praised the book and said he went through it with a great deal of interest as it brings out various facts and facets about the functioning of Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Published by Harper Collins, "The Indian President" recounts how the guardrails painstakingly created by the first two presidents, Rajendra Prasad and S. Radhakrishnan, were partly resurrected by Zail Singh.
It also makes a compelling case for why the Zail Singh years are crucial to understanding both limits and possibilities of the country's highest office.
Giani Zail Singh, who was India's seventh president from 1982 to 1987, died in a road accident in December 1994 at the age of 78.