NCM member says ’84 riots victim a ‘terrorist’s wife’
A 1984 victim of the anti-Sikh riots has been branded a notorious terrorist’s wife by none other than H.S. Hanspal, a member of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM). Nirpreet Kaur, a crucial witness against former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in an ‘84 riots case has been described thus by Mr Hanspal after a TV news channel
recently aired a “sting” operation in which he is seen allegedly trying to influence her to save the Congress leader. In a bid to save himself from accusations that he tried to pressure Nirpreet to change her testimony against Sajjan Kumar and even allegedly offered her `3 crores, Mr Hanspal has penned a detailed note on the “sting”. The note was recently circulated among NCM members. While Nirpreet, who was 16, when she saw her father being killed before her eyes, claims she was offered the amount by Mr Hanspal, he has denied the charge.
NCM chairman Wajahat Habibullah is learnt to have forwarded Mr Hanspal’s note to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for both information and necessary action. As is the usual response of those “caught” in “stings”, Mr Hanspal claimed that the tape is “doctored”.
As for his note, a copy of which is with this newspaper, Mr Hanspal alleges in it that Nirpreet’s first husband was a “terrorist” and was killed in an encounter. He also alleges that her second husband too “was also involved in heinous crimes”. He has not spared 43-year-old Ms Kaur either saying that she was “booked for anti-national activities, i.e. TADA and various sections of IPC, including raising war against the country”. And that she was involved in cases of cheating and forgery in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana.
Asked why then was he interacting with Nirpreet, Mr Hanspal, a former Rajya Sabha member, told this newspaper on Wednesday: “I never called her. She came on her own. She wanted to discuss the cases of some ‘84 riots victims.” Pressed again to explain why he had agreed to meet a “terrorist’s wife” he said, “I didn’t know at that time...after meeting her, such things come out.”
Nirpreet, on her part, told this newspaper: “Mr Hanspal had spoken to me on several occasions since 2008.” She maintained that Mr Hanspal called her to his NCM office in Loknayak Bhavan last May.
She further said: “If my husband was a terrorist or I am involved in cases, why did he want to talk to me. Mr Hanspal should also explain what he wanted to discuss with me.” As for the charges against her, her lawyer H.S. Phoolka said: “She was booked in three cases under TADA and was in prison for eight years. She was eventually discharged in two cases and acquitted in one”.
In the “sting”, Mr Hanspal is heard telling Nirpreet, “Compensation wali gal karni hai ya doosri gal karni hai (Do you want to discuss compensation or the other matter?) He’s also heard telling Nirpreet more than once to sit down and discuss matters.
At another point, when Nirpreet says that the person accused of murdering her father comes to the court smiling and shows no shame for committing such a crime, Mr Hanspal responds by saying, “we will sit and discuss matters”.
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