Initiate 'thorough, impartial, effective' probe in 1984 riots

Rights organisation, Amnesty International India today urged the government to initiate a "thorough, impartial and effective" probe into the 1984 anti- Sikh riots and claimed thousands across the country have supported its campaign to re-open closed cases of the carnage.
The organisation claimed that over 88,134 people across India have supported its campaign demanding the government to "re-investigate the massacre of over 3,000 Sikhs in the days following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984."
"This year marks 30 years of impunity for the crimes committed during one of India's most shameful episodes. It is a national disgrace that thousands of victims and survivors of the 1984 violence have been denied justice for three decades now," said Shailesh Rai, Programmes Director at Amnesty International India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday raked up the anti-Sikh violence that followed the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 saying it was a "dagger" in the centuries-old fabric of India's unity.
The government had recently announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for families of 3,000 people killed during the riots.
"Amnesty International urges the government to establish an independent team to conduct thorough, impartial and effective investigations into all cases, including closed cases of anti-Sikh violence in 1984," it said in a statement.
A number of official Commissions of Inquiry were appointed to investigate the massacre and some found evidence of complicity of police officials and political leaders from the Congress party in systematic attacks against members of the Sikh community.

"The Indian government cannot continue abdicating its responsibility to punish those who were behind the violence against Sikh men, women and children in 1984. Authorities must heed the voices of the thousands who are calling for justice," Rai said.