'Come what may, I will not give up 1984 victims' cause'

Senior AAP leader and Supreme Court lawyer H S Phoolka, who ab stained from voting for the

Congress presidential candidate Meira Kumar

, has been firm on not supporting a candidate from a party whose leaders were involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Phoolka, who recently quit as the

Leader of Opposition in Punjab assembly

to take up cases of riot victims, is however dismissive about the reports that he has gone against the party. In a freewheeling interview with Aditya Kant, the MLA from Dakha said this was not the first time that he had given up something for the riot victims, whose cause would always remain his top priority.

How has AAP leadership responded to your decision to abstain from voting in the presidential polls?

No one has spoken to me about it so far. I've always been clear in my conscience, that come what may, I will not give up the cause of the riot victims and am ready to pay any price for it. I've always gone with my conscience, be it the decision to quit as the Leader of Opposition or to abstain from voting for a presidential candidate from a party, whose leaders like Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, have been involved in the riots. I had informed the leadership about my decision and no one has questioned me on the issue.

What was

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal

's reaction to your decision to quit as Leader of Opposition after Delhi Bar Council's objections that you could not appear in the (1984 riots) cases while holding the post?

My party and the leadership were not happy with my decision and wanted me to continue for some more time at least. But I had absolute clarity that I cannot give up the cause which I have been pursuing for the last over three decades.
First you resigned as opposition leader and then abstained from voting for the presidential candidate.
No one has said anything to me on this issue, though a section of the media has been claiming that I have gone against the party . But my priorities are clear and I'm sure my party understands me.It's like when a battalion is going for a war and you are left behind to man a small picket. That's what I am doing by staying with the riot victims.
You had suggested a few names of party members who could replace you as opposition leader.

I had given those names on the basis of my experience and observations while working with my party members.But this issue has not been discussed with me. Whosoever takes over, I'm sure would continue to take up the issues concerning the people of Punjab.
Where do you see your political career going from here?

I am still an MLA and will continue to work for my constituency and party in Punjab. In fact, this is not the first time that I've given up something for the cause of riot victims.

In 2001, I was told that my name was being recommended for elevation as a Delhi high court judge. I was told then law minister Arun Jaitley too liked my stand on the issue. When I came to know about it, I immediately conveyed that I could not leave the cases of anti-Sikh riot victims and who would take up those cases after I became a judge. In early 90s, my wife, who is a food technologist, got a lucrative job offer in the USA, but we decided against moving abroad. During the 1984 riots, even our house in Trilokpuri (Delhi) was attacked and we had decided to move to Punjab.

In the last week of November, when my wife and I went to Delhi to take our luggage, I visited the relief camps for the riot victims and was moved by their plight. Most families had lost their male members and there was no one to take up their cases in the court. I volunteered to do so and started going to the relief camps regularly.

We decided to stay back in Delhi. And now, after having taken up their fight for so long, I can't think of giving it up.