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Absent in the Spring
(From Wikipedia)

Numerous commissions have been setup to investigate the (anti-Sikh) riots (of 1984), however, many of the primary accused were acquitted or never charge-sheeted. Ten commissions and committees have till now inquired into the riots. The most recent commission on the riots, headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati submitted its 185-page report to the Home Minister, Shivraj Patil on February 9, 2005 and the report was tabled in Parliament on August 8, 2005. The commissions below are listed in the order they were formed.

Marwah Commission
This commission was appointed in November 1984. Ved Marwah, Additional Commissioner of Police, was assigned the job of enquiring into the role of the police during the carnage of November 1984. Mr Marwah almost completed his inquiry towards the middle of 1985 when he was directed by the Central Government not to proceed further as Misra Commission had been appointed by then. Complete records of the Marwah Commission were taken over by the government and were later transferred to the Misra Commission. However, the most important part of the record, namely the handwritten notes of Mr Marwah, which contained important information, were not transferred to the Misra Commission.

Misra Commission of Enquiry
Misra commission was appointed in May 1985. Justice Rangnath Misra, was a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Misra submitted his report in August 1986 and the report was made public six months thereafter in February 1987. In his report, Justice Misra stated that it was not part of his terms of reference to identify any person and recommended the formation of three committees. There was only one term of reference to this commission, i.e. whether the violence was organised? The commission and its report has been heavily criticized as biased and a miscarriage of justice.

Kapur Mittal Committee
Kapur Mittal Committee was appointed in February 1987 on the recommendation of the Misra Commission to inquire into the role of the police, which the Marwah Commission had almost completed in 1985 itself, when the government asked that committee to wind up and not proceed further. After almost two years, this committee was appointed for the same purpose. This committee consisted of Justice Dalip Kapur and Mrs Kusum Mittal, retired Secretary of Uttar Pradesh. It submitted its report in 1990. Seventy-two police officers were identified for their connivance or gross negligence. The committee recommended forthwith dismissal of 30 police officers out of 72. However, till date, not a single police officer has been awarded any kind of punishment.

Jain Banerjee Committee
This committee was recommended by the Misra Commission for recommending registration of cases. It consisted of Justice M.L. Jain, former Judge of the Delhi High Court and Mr A.K. Banerjee, retired Inspector General of Police. The Misra Commission held in its report that a large number of cases had not been registered and wherever the victims named political leaders or police officers, cases were not registered against them. This committee recommended registration of cases against Mr Sajjan Kumar in August 1987, but no case was registered. In November 1987 many press reports appeared for not registering cases in spite of the recommendation of the committee. In December 1987, one of the co-accused along with Sajjan Kumar, namely Mr Brahmanand Gupta filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court and obtained a stay against this committee. The government did not oppose the stay. The Citizens Justice Committee filed an application for vacating the stay. Ultimately, the writ petition was decided in August 1989 and the high court quashed the appointment of this committee. An appeal was filed by the Citizens Justice Committee in the Supreme Court of India.

Potti Rosha Committee
Potti Rosha Committee was appointed in March 1990, by the V.P. Singh government, as a successor to the Jain Banerjee Committee. In August 1990, Potti-Rosha issued recommendations for filing cases based on affidavits victims of the violence had submitted. There was one against Sajjan Kumar. A CBI team went to Kumar`s home to file the charges; his supporters locked them up and threatened them harm if they persisted in their designs on their leader. As a result of this intimidation, when Potti-Rosha`s term expired in September 1990, Potti and Rosha decided to disband their inquiry.

Jain Aggarwal Committee
The committee was appointed in December 1990 as a successor to the Potti Rosha Committee. It consisted of Justice J.D. Jain, retired Judge of the Delhi High Court and Mr D.K. Aggarwal, retired DGP of Uttar Pradesh. This committee recommended registration of cases against H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, Dharamdas Shastri and Jagdish Tytler. The Committee also suggested setting up of two - three Special Investigating Teams in the Delhi Police under a Deputy Commissioner of Police and the overall supervision by the Additional Commissioner of Police, In-charge - CID and also to review the work-load of the three Special Courts set up to deal with October - November, 1984 riots cases exclusively so that these cases could be taken up on day-to-day basis. The question of appointment of Special Prosecutors to deal with October - November 1984 riots cases exclusively was also discussed. This committee was wound up in August 1993. However, the cases recommended by this committee were not even registered by the police.

Ahuja Committee
Ahuja Committee was the third committee recommended by the Misra Commission to ascertain the total number of killings in Delhi. This committee submitted its report in August 1987 and gave a figure of 2,733 as the number of Sikhs killed in Delhi alone.

Dhillon Committee
Dhillon Committee headed by Mr Gurdial Singh Dhillon was appointed in 1985 to recommend measures for the rehabilitation of the victims. This committee submitted its report by the end of 1985. One of the major recommendations of this Committee was that the business establishments, which had insurance cover, but whose insurance claims were not settled by insurance companies on the technical ground that riot was not covered under insurance, should be paid compensation under the directions of the government. This committee recommended that since all insurance companies were nationalised, they be directed to pay the claims. However, the government did not accept this recommendation and as a result insurance claims were rejected by all insurance companies throughout the country.

Narula Committee
Narula Committee was appointed in December 1993 by the Madan Lal Khurana government in Delhi. One of the recommendations of the Narula Committee was to convince the Central Government to grant sanction in this matter. Mr. Khurana took up the matter with the Central Government and in the middle of 1994, the Central Government decided that the matter did not fall within its purview and sent the case to the Lt. Governor of Delhi. It took two years for the Narasimha Rao Government to decide that it did not fall within Centre`s purview. Narasimha Rao Government further delayed the case. This committee submitted its report in January 1994 and recommended the registration of cases against H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. Ultimately, despite the delay by the Central government, the CBI was able to file the charge sheet in December 1994.

The Nanavati Commission
Nanavati Commission was appointed by a unanimous resolution passed in the Rajya Sabha. This commission was headed by Justice G.T. Nanavati, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India. The commission submitted its report in February 2004. The Commission claimed evidence against congressmen Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and H.K.L. Bhagat for instigating the mobs to violence. The Commission also held the then police commissioner S.C. Tandon directly responsible for the riots. There was widespread protest against the report as it did not mention clearly the role of Tytler and other Congressmen in the riots. It finally led to the resignation of Jagdish Tytler from the Union Cabinet. The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also apologised to the Sikhs for the riots, few days after the report was tabled in the Parliament. The ATR report, while exonerating Mr Tytler, said, “a person cannot be prosecuted simply on the basis of probabilities.”

Absent in the Spring
#176

Judge Zeena
Absent in the Spring Chambers
District Court,
Chowk City

Reference: recent motion (#176 by zeemax on February 11, 2007 2:26am PT)

Your Honor Judge Zeena,

I strenuously object to the line being peddled here by this “Zeemax” character!

(1) The accusing party has expressly disavowed that this “Zeemax” character is authorized to represent that party. Therefore, he lacks any authority to speak here.

(2) In an earlier filing, he explicitly absolved the undersigned of any wrongdoing. It is a done deal and a closed book and can not be raked up again.

(3) There are serious doubts regarding the sanity of this “Zeemax” character – he has a track record of threatening physical violence upon the bodies of persons with whom he disagrees.

Accordingly, you are requested to deny his recent motion (#176 by zeemax on February 11, 2007 2:26am PT) and immediately start proceedings for his disbarment.

Sincerely,
BJ Kumar

Absent in the Spring
#165

Judge Zeena
Absent in the Spring Chambers
District Court,
Chowk City

Reference: receipt of summons

Dear Judge Zeena,

This is to acknowledge the receipt of Your Honor’s summons #165, dated February 10, 2007 5:32 pm PT, listing a variety of charges against the undersigned.

It is the understanding of the undersigned that so far the accusing party has not filed any formal written charges against the undersigned and has in fact not even showed up in your court. In fact, the only hints of even an accusation are to be detected in an azan-like sermon delivered from a neighborhood i-log minaret which was delivered to the world at-large, very much in the style of those deliverers of Friday afternoon sermons by a group called the mullahs who, from all accounts, are suspected of being at the root of many a problem facing the subcontinent – as Your Honor is perhaps well aware.

It is true that a certain questionable character who calls himself “Zeemax” previously acted as a self-appointed lawyer for the same but has since been either openly disavowed or has been summarily fired as such by the same accusing party.

Because of the failure of the accuser to show up in your court, you are requested to issue a summary judgment in favor of the undersigned.

However, if that is not possible because of the serious nature of the charges, you are requested to grant me additional time (approximately till some time the afternoon of Sunday, February 11, EST) to prepare a reasonable defense and still be able to sleep regular hours.

Thank you, Your Honor, for your kind consideration of this request.

Sincerely,
BJ Kumar

Absent in the Spring
#167
Dear Zeena,

Thanks for your kind words on this “baby” of mine – and especially for the second half of that interact. It brought tears to my eyes (really!)

BJ Kumar

Absent in the Spring
#162 Mian hamidm2

May I help you?

Absent in the Spring
Okay, here is my simple statement on this issue.

If the (claimed) “original” author is convinced that there has been a case of plagiarism

(1) the “original” author must make a formal complaint to chowk editors – showing the exact item “plagiarized” and giving an explanation of how it is the same idea (not just the same words).

(2) chowk editors must compare the two articles side by side and see if they resemble each other in the way the “original” author claims, then they must make their own decision and if they agree, they must apply the predefined penalty.

Please note:

(1) Whining via an i-log, using less-than-precise words does not constitute a formal complaint to the chowk editors – it is merely an evasion. Plagiarism is a serious charge and those hurling it on fellow authors must also ensure they mean it and see it to its logical conclusion (and be willing to face any defensive counter-steps).

(2) The complaint must be made by the “original” author or their appointed legal representatives. Self-appointed advocates do not count!

Short of the above, the whole thing can be considered merely a circus act staged to obtain cheap publicity!

Therefore, Zee and others of that gang:

Put up or shut up!

Absent in the Spring
#150 Zee

You are right. I should not have addressed you by that derogatory term.

I have no clue what you ``wanna-be``!

Absent in the Spring
#149

My dear Zee,

I urge you to read #131 again.

At least two more times.

If anything ``comes to you``, let me know. Otherwise, I may be forced to explain to you.

Alternately, you could simply accept your limitations.

Absent in the Spring
All interactors are requested to direct their comments (hopefully constructive and valuable ones) to the current article and its scope and background issues. Any issues related to any past articles are welcome on those relevant boards. Thank you.

I urge the chowk staff to enforce this simply guideline (of chowk’s own making) seriously.

---

#zeemax
You are welcome to provide feedback on #131. Thank you.

#132 Hamidm2
Thank you, my dear!

Absent in the Spring
#137 Zee

Yaar, perhaps it was presumptuous of me to have called you a ``lapdog``.

It turns out - all this while you were NOT a lapdog, after all!

Merely a ``lapdog wanna-be``!

Therefore, on this day, that`s the title I bestow upon you! :)

(PS: I personally adore dogs.)

Absent in the Spring
#All interactors

I have read all of the preceding interacts.

I stand by EVERY WORD I have said.

Here and elsewhere.

Absent in the Spring
#105 SWarrier

Dear sir, I will appreciate some tips from you in identifying and addressing the ``rough edges``. Thanks. :)

Absent in the Spring
4:50 from Paddington

“I wish that train would show up! It is already an hour late.” Ragho devi said to her son.

The passengers in the crowded second-class waiting room were getting edgy. As usual, there was a power cut and it had gotten sweltering hot. The sky looked gray and darkness approached all around.

Ragho devi, who looked quite a bit older than her thirty years – for life in the village was hard work – was getting impatient. She had needed a man to accompany her on the trip to her maika located in the small town twenty miles away – but her husband had been called away on business and her father in-law had fallen sick. The company of her nine-year old son, who sat close to her on that crowded bench, was not quite the same.

The nine-year old looked about him anxiously. He needed to use the bathroom. The waiting room of the dilapidated station building had walls that were very bare. At one time, those walls had held plaster on them but neglect over the years now made the red brick show in most places. There were no pictures on the walls. In fact, the waiting room had few items in there, except a small blackboard on which someone had written with chalk the train times. The subject of the first entry, the morning train, was long gone – and next to the second entry for the 4:50 train – the word “Late” appeared. A grandfather clock stood next to it which showed 5:50 now.

The darkness appeared to be looming close – ready to descend any minute now.

Ragho devi noticed her son’s discomfiture. She pointed him to a corner in the back of the room. There was an opening in the back of the side wall which would have been easy to miss – it was not a door. The nine-year old stepped through it. The area was enclosed from three sides and not exactly meant to be a bathroom – perhaps it would have been an unfinished extension room – but it was now clearly used as a bathroom. There was no roof over it. In the dying light from the opening above, the nine-year old stared at the crumbling surface of the reddish walls which had developed green moss in places. With his little finger, he gently scratched at a loose brick in that wall, a little above the dark, parabolic area which looked that way because of countless men having urinated over it. The poor light made the grassy earth appear like a dark green carpet. The nine-year old looked intently at a little green frog sitting in his path. He tried to walk carefully around it.

Before he could get to business, he heard a voice he had never heard before which completely startled him. As he turned, he bumped heads with the diminutive man in white pajama-kurta who had just rushed in. As he watched incredulously, the half-panting, half-whimpering little man ran to the right corner and finding no exit door, crouched there, hiding his face.

Stepping back into the waiting room, the nine-year old was struck by how quiet it had become. As he walked half the way, all he heard were the sounds of his own slippers and the ticking from the grandfather clock. His mother did not say a word. Nobody in the waiting area said a word. Nobody even looked at him. They all looked at the door.

The burly sikh filled the six and half foot doorway completely. His face had the most ferocious look the nine-year old had ever seen. He wore a white tunic which was splattered with what looked like blood. He also held a sword which dripped blood.

“Kahan gaya woh?” He roared.

Then the sikh’s gaze fell at the nine-year old – in his pajama-kurta. He walked over and touched his face with the sword tip.

“Tu kaun?”

The nine year old tried to speak – but no words came out. With considerable effort and with his trembling hands, he reached under his collar and held out his sacred thread in the sikh’s view.

The sikh lowered the sword and – in a gesture of disapproval, ran its sharp edge along the pajama legs, cutting those vertically, up to the kneecaps. The blade nicked a bit but the nine-year old kept his cries silent.

The sikh walked over to Ragho devi and asked – “Behenji, woh kahan gaya?” Ragho devi hesitated, then with her head – indicated outside the door, toward the platform. The sikh watched her face closely – she did her best to keep it impassive.

Finally, the sikh turned away and started toward the doorway. Instinctively, Ragho devi glanced at the bathroom entrance – as if to assure herself that the man taking shelter therein had not tried to come out. Then she looked at the door again and immediately froze.

The sikh had stopped. He had turned in his tracks and had just seen her move her head. And now he had gotten the scent of his prey.

The sikh dragged the diminutive man by his collar. The damned man was struggling to get away – but to no avail. In the process, his feet kept slipping on the mosaic floor of the waiting room – the floor which had developed too many cracks in too many places over the years. His Hawai slippers kept making a flopping sound – as if beating to the music of a dance.

Shortly after, from outside came the sound “Sat Sri Akal!” followed by a piercing scream.

There was silence for a while – soon to be broken by the sound of the bell which warned of the incoming train. The passengers shuffled out of the waiting room – ready to board. The power came back suddenly and the station lit up. The nine-year old covered his eyes to avert the lights which, in their suddenness, appeared to hurt them excruciatingly.

People lined up along the length of the platform, except for one small area. Nobody stood there, it was no ground to stand on – because it was highly slippery with what looked like newly-shed blood.

The horizontal metal bars on the train compartment made it appear like a little prison – yet nobody seemed to think that they were in one. People peered from behind – virtually everyone was quiet – as if listening to someone telling a fascinating tale which must never be interrupted. Nobody seemed eager for the train to start – as if they knew they were destined to go nowhere.

Outside the station, it had become absolutely dark now.

The grandfather clock in the waiting room suddenly started chiming.

The 4:50 had arrived exactly at 6 o’clock.

Absent in the Spring
(Enter bjkumar and yellowbelly)

Bjkumar:
abhii na jaao chho.D kar ke dil abhii bharaa nahii.n
abhii abhii to aaii ho, bahaar banake chhaaii ho
havaa zaraa mahak to le, nazar zaraa bahak to le
ye shaam Dhal to le zaraa, ye dil sambhal to le zaraa
mai.n tho.Dii der jii to luu.N, nashe ke ghuu.NT pii to luu.N
abhii to kuchh kahaa nahii.n, abhii to kuchh sunaa nahii.n
abhii na jaao chho.D kar ke dil abhii bharaa nahii.n

YellowBelly:
sitaare jhilamilaa uThe, charaaG jagamagaa uThe
bas ab na mujhako Tokanaa, na ba.Dhake raah rokanaa
agar mai.n ruk ga_ii abhii to jaa na paauu.Ngii kabhii
yahii kahoge tum sadaa ke dil abhii nahii.n bharaa
jo khatm ho kisii jagah ye aisaa silasilaa nahii.n

Bjkumar:
abhii nahii.n abhii nahii.n

YellowBelly:
nahii.n nahii.n nahii.n nahii.n

Bjkumar:
adhuurii aas chho.Dake, adhuurii pyaas chho.Dake
jo roz yuu.Nhii jaaogii to kis tarah nibhaaogii
ki zi.ndagii kii raah me.n, javaa.N dilo.n kii chaah me.n
ka_ii muqaam aae.nge jo ham ko aazamaae.nge
buraa na maano baat kaa ye pyaar hai gilaa nahii.n

YellowBelly:
haa.N, yahii kahoge tum sadaa ke dil abhii nahii.n bharaa

Bjkumar:
haa.N, dil abhii bharaa nahii.n

YellowBelly:
nahii.n nahii.n nahii.n nahii.n

(Exit Bjkumar and Yellowbelly)

Absent in the Spring
#117 Swarrier

[it was Clark Gable who said that to Vivien Leigh a long time ago…]

Mr. Warrior,

Thanks for the information. I thought I knew I had heard it somewhere but this old yellow guy distracted me. Distractions can turn simple folks into angry people!

But I promise you here and now!

As God is my witness no old yellow yeller is ever going to lick me!

I`m going to live through this and when it`s all over, I`ll never be angry again – and my non-yellow tummy will never be hungry again!

No, nor any of my folk!

If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill! And no matter how much ink to spill!

As God is my witness, I`ll never be angry again.

Absent in the Spring
#115 by yellowbelly

[Thank you for admitting who you are.]

And now it is YOUR turn. Go ahead, tell everyone who YOU really are!

Go ahead, you ``old yellow``!

Or should we just call you what everyone here is probably thinking of you right now!

THE COWARD OF THE ``COUNTY``!!