1.               I, Ashok Jaitly, S/o Shri Hari Ram Jaitly, aged 43 years residing at A-1/G-32, SFS, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi observed and experienced the following events from 31 October to 3 November, 1984.  From 10.30 AM till 4 PM, on hearing the news of the shooting and abundantly clear, though unannounced death of Smt. Indira Gandhi, I and my wife with some friends drove around Delhi to several places including Bhagwandas Road, Barakhamba Road, Connaught Circus, Rafi Marg, Chanakyapuri, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Lodhi Road and Khan Market.  Except for groups of people gathered in clusters, everything was normal and peaceful.  There was no unusual presence of the police anywhere.

2.                  At about 6.30 PM, we received a telephone call at home from a friend, Ravi Nair, to say that he had seen cars burning at Lodhi Road and one person lying stabbed on the road at the Safdarjung Lodi Road inter-section.  Ravi Nair also said that he was going to the Tughlaq Road Police Station to lodge an FIR.  My wife and I immediately got into our car to drive to the spot to see if there was still any trouble and to help in stopping violence if we could.  At the entrance to Jor Bagh on Lodi Road, about 20 young men were on the road with stones and rags in their hands.  They were getting set to stone our car and seeing us one of them said,”Chhor do yeh Sardar Nahin hai” and turned their attention towards vehicles behind us.  We drove a few hundred yards up to the Safdarjung Road crossing where two or three taxis and one scooter were in flames.  Another upturned car was burning at Amrita Shergill Marg.  There was one Junior Police Officer directing traffic away from the Safdarjung Flyover.  We drove upto him and told him and that the gang of youth down the road were stoning cars and should be stopped.  “You don’t worry, they are only after the sardars”, the police officer said.  My wife asked whether that meant that they should not be stopped to which he replied that police force was on its way and that we should drive on.  Further up the road towards Tughlaq Road, I saw a small contingent of armed police going towards the Safdarjung intersection.  What struck me then was the casual manner in which these policemen were going towards the trouble spot.

3.                  I am an officer of  the Indian Administrative Service with more than twenty one years of service.  I have served six continuous years as District Magistrate and handled several law and order situations including violent ones.  Although this affidavit is in my personal capacity, I have no hesitation in stating that the small mob on Lodhi Road that evening could have been dispensed by a few lathi-wielding policemen with no difficulty.  Instead, even while considerable damage had been done, there was no police presence worth the name and what is more the manner of the policemen heading for a trouble spot was quite astonishing.  As for the attitude of the police officer we spoke to, it was nothing short of despicable and displayed a total abrogation of his duty as a guardian of law and order.

4.                  At about 7.30 PM I, accompanied by my niece Nadika and son, Akshay drove towards Defence Colony to see whether the situation had improved.  From the top of the Sewa Nagar flyover we could see a huge crowd completely blocking off the road at the Defence Colony intersection.  Traffic was being turned back and particularly Sikhs were being advised not to proceed that way by some well meaning citizens.  We also turned back and as we did so, we saw two Sikhs on a scooter going in the direction of Defence Colony.  I stopped them and advised them to turn back.  The old man and his son were in a state of desperation and told me that they had been trying to reach their home in Andrews Ganj for several hours.  Every route they had tried had been blocked off by mobs who were attacking Sikhs.  I asked them to accompany me and brought them to our home in Sujan Singh Park.

5.                  Once again, I was amazed to find that despite the large mob collected at the Defence Colony intersection and the burning buses by the side of the road, there was no police force to be seen anywhere in that area.

6.                  At about 11.30 PM, my wife and I decided to try and reach the two Sikhs gentlemen to their home via the Moolchand Hospital route.  By that time, the roads were deserted and once again, there was no police force on the roads.  As we approached the Lajpat Nagar-Defence Colony intersection, we saw the car in front of us being stopped and searched by a large mob which had taken over the whole road. There was no one to stop them.  We realised that we could not be able to go through and therefore, turned around and took the two Sikhs to the Tughlak Road Police Station.  There were a large number of policemen at the Police Station and the thought struck me that they should have been out on duty patrolling the roads instead.  I asked one of the officers, an inspector, whether they would escort the two Sikhs home.  After obtaining an assurance about their safety, we left them at the Police Station.

7.                  On 1^st November, 1984, I, my niece, son and a friend left the house at about 10 AM and drove towards Nizamuddin.  At the round about  near Humayun’s Tomb, we found the road cordoned off and the road towards Nizamuddin deserted except for burnt and abandoned cars and buses.  We could see smoke rising from the Lajpat Nagar and Bhogal areas.  Then we turned back and went towards Moolchand Hospital.  From the Defence Colony flyover we could see smoke from many fires all around.  At Moolchand Hospital, we turned towards the All India Medical Institute, and just outside the Institute on the ring road, there was a crowed of people led by an elderly man in a white Khadi cap.  The crowd was indulging in rowdyism and shouting slogans.  Again, there was very little police presence.

8.                  In the evening of 1^st November, we heard cries of people shouting from the direction of Khan Market.  My wife, niece, son and I rushed out to see whether there was any trouble and whether we could be of any assistance.  The taxi stand outside the Ambassador Hotel had been damaged and the Gurdwara on Lodi Road had suffered fire damage.  There were no police in that area.  We were informed that the shouting came from people who were trying to attack the Sikhs living behind the temple outside Lok Nayak Bhawan.  A solitary policeman stopped us from proceeding further saying that reinforcements were coming who would handle the problem.  I rushed back to the house and telephoned the Tughlak Road Police Station to ask them to send police force quickly so that further violence could be prevented.

9.                  On 2^nd November, 1984, I jointed a group of about 70 friends in a peace march from Lajpat Bhawan through Lajpat Nagar, Bhogal and Ashram.  A considerable extent of damage had been inflicted on Gurdwaras, Sikh homes and business premises in all these localities.  Charred remains of vehicles that had been burnt were to be seen on almost every road.  The residents of these areas were silent spectators to our march and our appeal to maintain peace and communal harmony.  At one place Lajpat Nagar, we were threatened by a group of young men armed with lathis, iron crowbars and trishuls.  We were able to argue our way through, without being physically attacked but neither the policeman nor army personnel intervened to assist us at any time.

10.             From 3 November, 1984 I assisted voluntary efforts to provide relief and other assistance to the victims of the anti-Sikh violence that took place in many parts of the Delhi between 31^st October and 3^rd November.  I worked as a part of a citizens group called Nagrik Ekta Manch and met hundreds of people in different relief camps and colonies including Farash Bazar Police Station, Nanaksab Gurdwara, Shakarpur, Moti Bagh Gurdwara, Shahdara, Kalyanpuri and Sultanpuri.  These people described in vivid detail how their near and dear ones had been murdered by beating, torture and burning with kerosene.  They also stated that the police did nothing to protect them and instead encouraged the mobs who went about killing, burning and looting.  Further, they named several political  workers of these localities who not only encouraged the mobs but actively assisted them by providing money, liquor and kerosene.

11.             I have compelling reasons to believe all these accounts as hundreds of  people who had suffered grievously, repeated the same facts and the same pattern of attacks in different parts of Delhi.