Indian opposition leader jailed for life over bloody anti-Sikh riots in 1984
Delhi — An Indian court has jailed for life a leader of the main opposition Congress party for his role in anti-Sikh riots that erupted after the 1984 murder of the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, and killed nearly 3,000 people. The governing party hailed the conviction of the former Congress member of parliament, Sajjan Kumar, as a confirmation of justice, just months before a general election when it will face off against Congress, now led by Gandhi’s grandson. Anti-Sikh riots broke out in Delhi after the assassination of prime minster Gandhi, of the Congress party, by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984. Most of those killed in one of India’s bloodiest outbreaks of rioting since independence were Sikhs, who make up about 2% of Hindu-majority India’s 1.3-billion people. At the time Congress supporters were widely suspected of egging on the mobs. The Delhi high court said Kumar, at the time serving the first of three terms in parliament, was convicted of criminal conspiracy and for del...
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