Report on Sikh genocide sought from collector

Ahmedabad, India: The Gujarat high court on Friday asked the district collector to inspect the documents regarding damages sustained by Sikh families during the 1984 Sikh genocide. The officer will submit a report before the court on June 13 after proper inspection of records and material supplied by the affected famillies.

The bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala sought the report over a PIL filed by Kalgidhar Sewak Jattha, a Sikh organization, through advocate Kishor Paul. There is a demand for compensation for 60 families in Ahmedabad. Earlier also, the court had sought information from the authorities in this regard.

According to the PIL, in the Sikh genocide that broke out following assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, properties of 60 Sikh families were damaged and destroyed in Raipur and Saraspur areas of the city. FIRs were also lodged in connection with the genocide.

The PIL further stated that the Centre had then announced a relief package for the genocide affected. Accordingly, the riot affected families from Ahmedabad had sought the relief, but they were refused. They communicated with central and state governments, but their requests were not heeded.

The petition also stated that the state government had gone to the extent of claiming that no incident of rioting had taken place in Gujarat and no step was taken to assess the damage caused during the genocide.

Source: TOI