Remembering the 1986 Delhi Riots
Forty years ago, riots in West Delhi resulted in five deaths and 45 injuries following protests over killings in Punjab.
On July 27, 1986, five people were killed in riots in Delhi, an event reported by The Indian Express at the time. The anniversary marks four decades since the outbreak of that violence.
Mobs protesting the killing of 14 bus passengers near Muktsar in Punjab went on a spree of violence and arson in Tilak Nagar and adjoining areas of West Delhi on July 27, 1986, leaving five people dead and 45 injured (Indian Express). A number of houses, shops and vehicles were set on fire, while incidents of stone-throwing were reported from east, south and central parts of the city. Authorities imposed an indefinite curfew on the Tilak Nagar police station areas, asked the Army to stand by, and organised a flag march in Janakpuri and Tilak Nagar (Indian Express).
The Home Ministry took what it described as an extremely serious view of the killings near Muktsar. Home Minister Buta Singh spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala, asking him to take immediate steps to nab the culprits. Barnala said one of the four terrorists involved in the killing had been identified and that security forces were hot on their heels (Indian Express).
Punjab and the Union Territory of Chandigarh observed a total bandh to protest the Muktsar killings. The call, given jointly by five political parties of Punjab and supported by various trade unions, evoked a massive response in urban areas including cities and towns, with shops closed in semi-urban areas as well (Indian Express).
Condemning the bus passenger killings, several political parties and religious organisations appealed to all communities in Punjab and other states to safeguard communal amity, cautioning that any provocative action would only help forces of disintegration. A meeting of politicians, social leaders and journalists, held under the chairmanship of I K Gujral, decided to hold an anti-communal convention in Delhi on August 9 and called upon all secular forces to “join hands and stand as a wall against communalism” (Indian Express).
Indian Express