Thirty years after the anti-Sikh riots, the Modi government has decided to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of the victims over and above the Rs 3.5 lakh they got in the past.
The union home ministry's decision, whose formal order is still under process, has turned several eyebrows as it comes at a time when there is a high possibility of declaration of assembly elections in Delhi. The national capital was the epicentre of horrific 1984 anti-Sikh riots in which 2,733 of the total 3,325 victims had lost their lives. The rest of the victims were from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states.
Delhi also has a sizable population of Sikhs and Punjabis whose wounds are yet to be healed.
The decision to pay compensation has also left many with the poser whether the government could also order a fresh probe into 1984 anti-Sikh riots where justice does not seem to have been done, especially against the main perpetrators of the crime.
The decision, home ministry sources said, has come in the wake of several representations made to the central government in last three months about inadequate compensation given to the affected families.
"One should take it as a positive development, and see it as justice being meted to people who have been at the receiving end. Who knows it may open doors for other riot victims," said an official.
The fresh compensation will cost the government exchequer Rs 166 crore, and is expected to be disbursed as soon as possible, an official said.
In 2006, the UPA government had announced a package of Rs 717 crore which included monetary compensation of Rs 3.5 lakh to the family of the killed in the riots besides financial assistance to the injured and those who had lost their property.
Out of this only Rs 517 crore had been spent and the remaining Rs 200 crore could not be distributed because of dispute over claimants.
The anti-Sikhs riots were triggered following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
Some of the anti-Sikh riot cases are still continuing in courts and many Sikh organisations have alleged that the key conspirators of the violence were at large and victims have not yet got justice.
Supreme Court lawyer H S Phoolka, who has been fighting anti-Sikh riot cases, welcomed the decision of the government.
—With inputs from agencies
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