New Delhi: Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, facing re-investigation in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, yesterday said there was nothing against him as yet to prove that he was present at the scene and was ready to undergo a lie detector test.
The Congress leader alleged that witness Surinder Singh was put under pressure to give a statement against him.
Surinder Singh had changed his statements five times and his son had called from the US to say that his father was under pressure to give a statement against Tytler, the leader said, a day after a Delhi court ordered the reopening of a riots case against him.
“There is nothing against me as yet... still nobody has put a question mark on me,” Tytler told TV channel CNN-IBN in an interview.
“My name comes back on the basis of the statement made by Surinder Singh and Jasbir Singh. Surinder Singh first gave a statement in English and then gave a written statement in Gurumukhi. I want to know why Phoolka (senior advocate H S Phoolka representing riot victims) forced Surinder Singh to write a statement,” he said.
“Do you know Jasbir Singh is an absconder? He is wanted by a court of law. Do you know the CBI tracked down that he was not even in Delhi, he was in Jodhpur?” he said.
Tytler is accused of instigating a mob, leading to the murder of three men who had taken shelter in a Delhi gurdwara on November 1, 1984.
The mob attack was part of violence against Sikhs after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
Tytler said he was ready to undergo a lie detector test, provided Phoolka also agreed to it.
On the court order to reopen the case, Tytler said: “They should do it. I have no objection. But where were the witnesses when the case was registered in 1984?”
“His father says Surinder Singh is lying. I will show you affidavit given to CBI. His brother says he is telling a lie, I was with him. The gurdwara secretary says he was telling lies. In the end, he wrote to the PM, saying I’m sorry I told lies,” he said.
The Congress leader said he was ready for full scrutiny in the matter and would not take any responsible position in the government until his name was cleared in the matter.
“I resigned because of the moral responsibility... the accusations were against me. I did not want the party or the prime minister to be embarrassed.... Till the time my name is not cleared, I am not going to ask for any post in the government,” he said.
“I can’t even dream of taking a responsible position as an elected representative. Till date, nobody has put a question mark on me except the media,” he said.
Asked if he was being framed as part of a political conspiracy, Tytler said: “I think this is just that they wanted to take advantage of the situation and make money out of it. I think Phoolka may be getting enough money from” the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
“Twice, the BJP government was there and commissions were also appointed under them. Why did not they take any action,” he asked. He said the CBI closure report in the case submitted in the trial court was made for the first time when Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani was the home minister.
IANS
