Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday sought direct and personal intervention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for constituting Special Investigation Team (SIT) as recommended by the Justice (Retd.) G P Mathur panel constituted by the Centre to reinvestigate several important cases relating to the November 1984 anti-Sikh violence that broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
According to an official release, in a letter to Mr. Modi, the Chief Minister said that the former Supreme Court judge in his 45-page report, had suggested setting up of a SIT for the purpose and favoured reinvestigation where crucial evidence was overlooked leading to closure of several such cases by the Delhi police. While numerous cases were never sent to the court for trial, involvement of at least two former Union ministers of previous Congress government too needed to be reinvestigated.
Mr. Badal recalled that the Shiromani Akali Dal had been struggling to get justice for the victims of 1984 genocide in Delhi and other parts of the country. He said that on the demand from the party, the Union government had in December 2014 constituted the Justice GP Mathur panel. He expressed concern that a sensitive issue had so far been kept under wraps by successive Congress governments.
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The Justice G P Mathur panel’s recommendations offered a ray of hope for the victim families whom justice had eluded for more than three decades now. Mr Badal urged the Prime Minister to pass down appropriate instructions to the Ministry of Home Affairs for initiating immediate action to set up SIT and launch the probes into the entire gamut of cases. “By doing so, the Government of India will not only assuage the bruised psyche of Sikh community but its decision will also be largely seen as a light at the end of the tunnel for the victims.”