Punjab CM seeks president, PM intervention for 1984 victims

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal today sought the intervention of President Pratibha Patil and prime minister Manmohan Singh to set up special courts to provide speedy justice to the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The perpetrators of the crime against the Sikhs were still moving scot free which had not only demoralised the entire community in general but also the riots-affected families in particular who had been seeking justice for over 25 years, Badal said in a statement here.

"Justice delayed is justice denied," he said and charged that the Centre had been "apathetic and insensitive" towards the victims and "miserably failed" to assuage their feelings. Badal also questioned the Centre's claims about rehabilitation of such families.

"It is high time to take stock of the entire situation to initiate remedial steps to mitigate the sufferings of the victims who had undergone a long ordeal of 25 years facing trauma and fear psychosis," he said.