Sajjan Kumar, ex-Congress MP convicted in 1984 riots, dies at 80

Sajjan Kumar, a former Indian Member of Parliament and senior Congress party leader who was serving a life sentence for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died on Thursday at the age of 80. He was declared brought dead at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi after being transported from Tihar Jail.

Hospital authorities stated that Kumar was brought to the facility by police around 11:00 a.m. with altered sensorium. Despite immediate resuscitation efforts and medical support, he was pronounced dead at 12:30 p.m. A hospital statement noted he had a history of high blood pressure and Parkinson's disease, with multiple prior hospital admissions.

Kumar's death closes a chapter in one of India's longest-running and most significant legal proceedings stemming from the violence that erupted across Delhi and other parts of northern India following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Mobs targeted Sikh homes, businesses, and gurudwaras in the ensuing days. While official estimates placed the death toll at nearly 3,000 in Delhi alone, survivors and other reports have suggested the number was higher.

For more than three decades, Kumar was not named as an...