Courtesy the Delhi tragedy, Congressman HKL Bhagat slipped quietly away on Saturday Oct 29th. I've never had much use for that simple-minded exhortation not to speak ill of the dead, and in Bhagat's case I have even less use for it. At one level, I'm glad my world is free of this creep; at another, I am angry that he never faced justice for his role in the 1984 massacres of Sikhs -- documented in inquiry after inquiry, case after futile suppressed case.
Nevertheless, his death on that sad Saturday was a good reminder of those massacres from 21 years ago this week. Not Bhagat and not anyone else of any consequence has ever been punished for them, and you can bet your last anna that nobody ever will.
And I was reminded particularly of Bhagat when I read headlines about the Saturday blasts in the papers the next day. For example, the Indian Express called the blasts "New Delhi's worst terror strike."
I have personal experience of the horror and sorrow of that evening, and mourn each of those nearly 60 dead Indians. But I would like to know how Saturday qualifies as a worse "terror strike" than what we remember Bhagat for: almost 3000 dead Indians over a few days in November 1984. How is a count of 60 worse than one of 3000? Why does any recounting of terrorist incidents always omit that horrible one, besides others?
I'll have more on this soon. Meantime, never RIP, HKL Bhagat. Good riddance, but your evasion of justice for 21 years is a blot on us all.
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20 comments:
Though these may not be the best of times, I wish you and your family a very auspicous Diwali.
DuDe,
You really are a chutpot.
sincerely,
K
>>than what we remember Bhagat for: almost 3000 dead Indians over a few days in November 1984
How about the 3000 dead in Feb 83? Why don't you write about it Dsouza? Isn't that a blot that our PM who's a MP from that Assam has done squat for those 3000+ dead?
Happy Diwali to you to and all
Agree about Bhagat. But what about Tytler aho until recently was a Union cabinet minister. After the public memory has faded, he will surely return. To think he was the minister for NRI affairs - when Sikhs are a good part of the overseas Indian diaspora
i think its really sad, that he didnt face justice.
even capital punishment would have been insufficient for him.
i hope atleast for one day his soul sees hell, since he made lives hell for the survivors.
its not just 3000 lives lost, but 3000 and more families, affected forever..
***
fyi
Dilip, you have written the most appropriate and fitting obituary for a man who is so universally hated for his deadly misdeeds.
Thank you. You have said what needed to be said.
I moved a year back to Montreal. And was horrified to see a full page ad in all national Canadian newspapers in rememberance of the massacre. We (the majority) may forget but many do not. And would I if my own people were affected?
I am so tired of the Indian attitude of constantly "moving on" and "leaving the past behind" when all we do is repeat the massacres somewhere, somehow every year.
Well said. Hate is a terrible affliction and I don't succumb to it much, but in the 1980s, there are are few men I hated more. As I&B minister, he took over from a cultured Vasant Sathe and converted DD into a Indira-praising propoganda machine.
..and then came the Congress led anti-Sikh riots. All my friends from Delhi used to point to him as the prime mover behind those crimes.
As Morarji Desai said, after Charan Singh died, "Just because he is dead, don't expect me to praise him."
Quizman
Spot on. Good comment from Morarji. Thanks for that other small bit of information on DD. Bhagat was an Indira plant as she did not want capable people like Vasant Sathe.
mr bhagat was one of the best human beings i have known personally .on his death not only his fanily but the capital has lost the most prominent face in the history of delhi politics
PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THE ACTUAL TRUTH ...HOW CAN ALL YOU PPL CAST COMMENTS ON A BIG FIGUARE OF 20TH CENTURY POLITICS..READING WHAT THE MEDIA WRITES OR PUBLISHES PEOPLE TALK WATEVA DEY FEEL LIK.MR HKL BHAGAT LITERALLY CONSTRUCTED THE ENTIRE EAST DELHI OR JAMUNAPAR...HE WAS A MAN OF MASSES..I ADVICE PPL NOT TO CAST COMMENTS WDOUT KNOWIMG ANYTHING
REGARDS
BHAGAT WELL WISHER AND ONE OF THE INFINITE PEOPLE WHOSE LIFE WAS MADE BECAUSE OF HIM..JUST CANNOT BE A PART OF THE RIOTS
wat shut u ppl can write...crapppin bout the king of delhi ..mr quizman nikhil dsousa..ur immature asses nothin else
bhagat ji may yr soul rest in peace
sincerly
east delhi congress worker
i dont care ..its nt our fault,,that is wat we know
though im a frm a sikh background..im a bhagatji ka bhagt..today wat my i am is because of him
om shanti
jamnapar se
Anon 3, totally agree. seriously Dilip, you must stop writing such shut.
its very easy to comment on other peoples lives but hard and even harder to live in there shoes....people only speak up what they've heard ...learn the truth and only then speak...otherwise just shut up...........cuz u know nothing abt politics
hes a man u can never know untill u would ve met him
i love u nana ji..u were the best....we dont care what crap people talk ....sensless mindless blogs they post ,they dont know u ..but wve been with u seen u struggle...alll ur kids and ur family love u and are really really proud of u...may ur soul rest in peace....may u come back as 1 of our kids and and change the senario of the indian politics
In the last few comments, some ppl have praised the monster. I don't have any problem with them as they are the prisoners of either ignorance or greed or they endrose the thought that killing ppl for ur good is OK.
The role of that son of a bitch (I don't even want to write down his name) in the SIkh massacare was evident from the eye witness accounts of the widows and mothers who lost there husbands and sons, burnt to death in front of their eyes.
Why would such miserable ppl name somebody just like that ???
Does anybody of these praisers have any answer to the questions that those eyes have been asking for last 25 yeras ??
There always have been 'Killers' on this earth who have killed to expand their 'empire'. Changez Khan, Hitler and many more also espaced the justice in this world but death is what nobody can escape. Justice awaits you after death.
For the anonymous 'grandchild' of the bastard, your 'dear' nannu would have already be born again near you. Go search for him in a 'nallah' nearby, you would surely find some pig resembling your Nannu ji. Or otherwise start callng every pig "Nannu ji"
The people who have praised him are his family, and they've written lies by signing themselves as congress workers. Bloody losers. BHAGAT was Demon. Apart from being responsible for 3000 deaths, he was the most corrupt man of those time. A. RAJA would be a 10 per cent of him. His families assets should be seized and distributed among the families of 3000 dead
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