Phoolka seeks relief for kin of soldiers killed in 1984 genocide

Amritsar, Punjab: Even after 30 years, the widows and close relatives of the defence personnel killed in the Sikh genocide of 1984 have not received any compensation, Supreme Court lawyer and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader HS Phoolka has said here.

Till date, the Ministry of Defence had not made the names of the victim soldiers public, said Phoolka. The lawyer who represented genocide people in the courts of Delhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask him to intervene to get the relative of the killed soldiers their due relief. He has sent him a list of 50 victims and written that the number could be higher.

In the letter, the copies of which were released to the media on Wednesday, Phoolka has called upon the PM to direct the Ministry of Defence to verify the 50 names on the list and add to it the names of the other soldiers who went missing between November 1 and 3, 1984, when riots took place in the country. The letter says the union government did not compile any official list of victim soldiers. “The Ministry of Defence has not even bothered to send the names to respective state governments or the Ministry of Home Affairs to enable their families to claim compensation,” the communication added.

Phoolka has given the PM the details of the killing of rifleman Inderjeet Singh (13740611, 4 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles), who was posted at Guwahati in 1984. On November 1, 1984, he was on his way home when a mob attacked his train near Pataudi in Haryana. “Inderjeet ran towards the fields to save self and ended up taking shelter in a gurdwara at Hondh-Chillar village near Gurgaon. “The mob attacked the shrine and killed 21 Sikhs, included Inderjeet Singh,” reads the letter, mentioning that the soldier’s widow is yet to receive compensation from any quarter.

Reminding the Prime Minister that he had avowed recently to take account of the killing of every soldier, Phoolka wrote to him that the enemies within had killed 50 on his list when they had been serving the country. “Give respect to those soldiers as well,” he wrote.

Source: HT