Calls for exemplary punishments so that no one dares to create violence in future

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday that he hoped that justice would be done in the 2002 Gujarat riots and Muzaffarnagar riots cases.

A day after the Delhi High Court awarded life sentence to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for his involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, Mr. Kejriwal was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a stakeholder consultation for the Delhi government’s electric vehicle policy here.

Harshest punishment

When asked for comment on Monday’s development, he said: “I welcome the judgment of the High Court on Sajjan Kumar. Though it took 34 long years for the decision to come, better late than never. I hope that all other politicians who were involved in the Sikh genocide get the harshest of the punishment.”

Referring to the riots in Gujarat when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of that State and the 2013 riots in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Kejriwal said, “I also hope that justice will be done for all the other mass murders which happened in the country after that, be it 2002 or Muzaffarnagar, all such riots are carried out for political benefits.”

He added that different communities did not want to fight each other, but political parties and leaders were behind riots. “If exemplary punishments are given, no one would dare to do it in future,” he said.