Compensation to victims of Anti Sikh Riots of 1984.

Chandigarh, August 28- Haryana government is first in the country to disburse compensation to victims of Anti Sikh Riots of 1984. Based on the recommendations of the Justice T P Garg Commission, the state government had sanctioned an amount of Rs 12.07 crore for the victims of Gurgaon and Pataudi area, out of which cheques of compensation were distributed to 42 victims today in a program organized in Main Gurudwara of Gurgaon.
The cheques to the victims were distributed by Chairman of National Minorities Commission, Naseem Ahmed. Former Secretary of Union Urban Development Ministry, L M Mehta, Deputy Commissioner, T L Satyaprakash and Commissioner of Police, Sandeep Khirwar also extended their help in disbursement of cheques.
While interacting with media persons on the occasion, the Deputy Commissioner said that compensation to about 150 victims of Gurgaon and Pataudi area was cleared by the Commission, based on which the state government has sanctioned the compensation. The rest of victims belonging to this area would soon be handed over the cheques. Replying to a question, Mr Satyaprakash said that ever since he joined as Deputy Commissioner in Gurgaon, he got instructions from the state government not to miss hearing of Garg Commission and also to provide all the relevant documents as and when the commission demanded. “We (district administration) followed those directions and are now disbursing the amount sanctioned by the state government as per the recommendations of the commission”, said Mr Satyaprakash.
The Senior Vice President of the Riots Action Committee and Spokesperson of the Committee, Sardar J P Singh said that 32 years have passed since that unfortunate incident of 1984, when Sikhs were subjected to loot and genocide for no fault of them. Nobody has answer to this as to why and how this genocide happened. He said that the government is paying compensation because it could not provide protection to the families, which it ought to have provided. Haryana and Gurgaon have taken lead in paying compensation to affected families in the country because the Chief Minister, Manohar Lal is positive. Nowhere in the country, any sikh family has been given such compensation. At the same time, he added that the Sikhs also raised their voice and sent it to the government through peaceful protests. Moreover, the Chairperson of National Minorities Commission, Naseem Ahmed and Former Secretary of Urban Development Ministry, L M Mehta guided them in pursuing their cases.
He also gave credit to the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Rajesh Khullar who was instrumental in getting their files cleared. Mr Singh said that Deputy Commissioner, T L Satyaprakash pushed their case and wrote DO letters. He did not forget to thank the media also who, according to him, raised the issue prominently in their newspapers and channels. He said that the President of the Riots Action Committee, Sardar Santokh Singh Sawhney attended 109 seating’s of the Commission at Hissar.
The persons who helped the victims in getting the compensation were honoured with Saropa and memento by the Gurudwara Management Committee and renowned persons of Sikh Community in the function.