Majithia appeals for financial support for missing Sikhs' kin

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia today met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and requested him to extend financial assistance to the families of eight Sikh pilgrims who went missing after paying obeisance at Hemkund Sahib in July.
The former Punjab minister, while meeting Uttarakhand chief minister at the latter's office in Dehradun, also requested Rawat to direct authorities to make a legal closure to the case if they were satisfied that every attempt had been made to locate the remains of the eight pilgrims who went missing on July 6 from Govind Ghat near Hemkund Sahib gurudwara.

He said issuance of death certificates by the Uttarakhand government would provide proper closure to the case.
Majithia said eight pilgrims from village Mehta in Baba Bakala Sahib, in Punjab, had not been heard of since July 6.
He said search and rescue operations had also not yielded anything.
He said one of the victims Mehnga Singh was a taxi driver who had purchased his taxi on a bank loan which was still unpaid.

"Mehnga was the only bread winner of his family and the ill fated taxi was his sole source of income," he said.
Another victim Kartar Singh had three unmarried daughters while Jasbir Singh had left behind a seven-year-old son and another had left behind a young widow.

Stating that all these families needed a new start in life, Majithia said Uttarakhand could also give financial assistance through the office of the chief minister.