Mangolpuri

Mangolpuri is a resettlement colony in Delhi. In November 1984, in the Tesra Ghallughara, it was, with Sultanpuri and Trilokpuri, one of the colonies where the killing of Sikhs in the capital was worst, and the People's Union for Democratic Rights says the worst sufferers were the poorest, among them Labana and Sikligar Sikhs.

Key moments

• About 11 pm on 1 November 1984: affidavits given to the Misra Commission describe a mob led by Congress workers, with local residents of nearby blocks, some carrying swords. Amar Singh and his father were burned alive. Badhawa Singh was attacked and burned alive on a hand cart, and Bhajan Singh, who refused to push the cart, was burned alive too. Rattan Singh was beaten to death before his wife and children, and the police took his body and refused to release it for last rites. Joginder Singh was dragged from his home and killed, and one of his sons survived burns from burning sticks. Sardar Singh was killed in front of three policemen, and Hakam Singh, his brother-in-law, was killed as well.
• The affidavits come from the widows Agya Kaur, Amrit Kaur, Gurmeet Kaur, Mohinder Kaur and Rajani Devi. The archive gives no Mangolpuri total; Rajani Devi testified that 400 Sikhs were killed in the Sultanpuri area. Across Delhi the Ahuja committee counted 2,733 deaths.
• 2005: the Nanavati Commission found "credible material" that Sajjan Kumar was probably involved as witnesses alleged. The 1984 Sikh Archive says his alleged part in Mangolpuri and Sultanpuri was particularly significant, though its page does not set out the Commission's findings for either place.

Sajjan Kumar: he was the Congress MP for Outer Delhi from 1980 to 1984. Wikipedia, citing a 1991 book by A. R. Desai, says survivors in Mangolpuri nearly unanimously named him as having masterminded the violence, and alleged that he paid each attacker Rs 100 and a bottle of liquor. The sources we opened report no conviction in a Mangolpuri case. He was convicted for killings elsewhere in Delhi, with life sentences in December 2018 and February 2025, and died on 20 August 2026 while in Tihar.

What it means today: Mangolpuri stands with Sultanpuri for the poorest families of the Delhi pogrom, and for the long gap between the 1984 affidavits and any verdict.