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Chandigarh, Punjab: While victims of 1984 riots disrupted rail traffic at several places, including Ambala and Jalandhar, to protest against denial of justice to them, their lawyer HS Phoolka has appealed to them to shun such actions. “Our fight is not against the public. Why inconvenience the general public? Our fight is against the Union Government as well as the Delhi government for getting the culprits of the worst-ever carnage in the history of Independent India punished,” says Phoolka.
Various organisations of victims of the riots had given a call to disrupt rail traffic today in protest against the denial of justice to them for the past 25 years.
Because of disruption in the rail traffic, several trains were either cancelled or were running several hours behind schedule thus putting the passengers to a lot of inconvenience.
“Though our hearts go out to the victims of the 1984 carnage, at the same time it does not help them anyway in harassing common people, many of whom may be travelling by trains to perform important assignments, including their duties.
“All right-thinking people want that justice be done and all those against whom sufficient evidence or eyewitness account is available should be prosecuted for their role in the 1984 carnage, but at the same time, common citizens who may have been supporting us in our fight for justice, should not be inconvenienced,” adds Phoolka.
Reports from different parts of the region suggest that among the trains affected by the “rail roko agitation” were the New Delhi-Chandigarh and New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express besides several other passenger and express trains. Though no untoward incident was reported from anywhere, train services were partially affected in the region.
Phoolka hoped that riot victims would see reason and use utter restraint in repeating such actions that put common citizens to inconvenience or harassment. Instead, they should concentrate their energies on the central prosecution agencies, especially the CBI and the Central Government to ensure that culprits, especially those holding high positions in the government or the ruling alliance do not get away with their 1984 actions.
The issues mentioned in the operative part of the ‘Amnesty International’ report were very relevant to be decided without diluting and manipulating the issues
The demand of international intervention to deliver justice for the Sikh community, considering and deciding the issues mentioned as under, in the operative part of the ‘Amnesty International’ report, was very relevant and must be accepted and decided without diluting and manipulating the issues as early as possible:
Submission by
Balbir Singh Sooch, Advocate, Ludhiana
http://www.sikhvicharmanch.com
‘Those Guilty of November 1984 Sikh Massacre Should Be Punished,’ Says Amnesty International
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS11311+05-Nov-2009+PRN20091105
“………“Addressing the conference, Amnesty International’s T. Kumar said “We simply want to find out why this deplorable act was committed and ask why it has taken so long for those responsible to be punished. We need to deliver justice for all those Sikhs who suffered in 1984 and their families.”
The conference was created to expose the true extent of killings as a state sponsored act, in contrast to the Indian government’s position which labeled the killings as “Anti-Sikh Riots.”
“The killings, burning, robbing, rape and looting of Sikhs has constantly been termed by the Indian government as ‘reaction’ to the murder of Ms. Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984,” said Sikhs for Justice legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
“The truth, however is that the Sikh massacre was planned, organized and targeted at the behest of the ruling political party and with the active support and sometimes connivance of Police and law enforcement authorities.
During the four days of carnage, Sikhs across India were located, identified, targeted and ruthlessly killed by armed and in most cases, hired career criminals and arsonists.
Politicians at the top of Indian government actively instigated, provoked and ordered the killings while police and local administrators either actively participated or stood passively by.”…………”
Here is the answer as to why victims block rail traffic only and …….. in India?
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/5c563df503ffad425f339cab6907a181.htm