New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal sought the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in constituting a special investigation team (SIT) to probe all cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. In a letter to Modi, Badal said the "genocide" of Sikhs was a "pre-planned" incident at the behest of Congress leaders.
Badal urged the central government to take an immediate call on the recommendations of the Justice (retd) GP Mathur panel, constituted by the Centre in December last year, to re-investigate several cases related to anti-Sikh violence that broke out in November 1984 after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The chief minister said the Shiromani Akali Dal has been struggling to get justice for the victims of the 1984 riots in Delhi and other parts of the country. He said that on the Akali Dal's demand, the Justice Mathur panel was constituted in December 2014, by the central government to examine the possibility of setting up of an SIT for re-investigating the 1984 "genocide".
Badal said the panel had, in its 45-page report, suggested setting up of an SIT. Demanding re-investigation of many cases where crucial evidence was overlooked and cases were closed by Delhi Police even without sending them to courts, Badal said all such cases needed to be reopened.
Accusing the previous Congress-led government at the Centre and in Delhi of pushing the anti-Sikh riots cases under the carpet, Badal said the recommendations of the Mathur panel had given new hope to victims of the riots.
"By doing so, the government of India will assuage the bruised psyche of the Sikh community and help them get justice," Badal said.
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