M A I N   N E W S

Riot widows postpone immolation plan

New Delhi, February 16
Demanding the arrest of Congress leaders allegedly responsible for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a group of riot widows today postponed their self-immolation plan on the Centre’s assurance that the Nanawati Commission would submit its report by March 31, 2003, and their demands would be “sympathetically” considered.

“Minorities Commission Chairman Tarlochan Singh has informed us that leaders like Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Mr Madan Lal Khurana have assured him of sympathetic response from the government for the widows’ cause,” said Darshan Kaur, a riot victim.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee has also promised to launch a legal and political struggle against “main culprits” of the riots, she said, adding that Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti had issued a “hukamnama” restraining them from self-immolation and directed the entire Sikh community to help the widows morally as well as financially.

Accepting the plea of various political and religious leaders, the members of “widow jatha”, an organisation formed by 84 riot widows, have postponed their self-immolation plan by two months, she said. The widows had recently submitted a demand letter to the Centre asking for the arrest of leaders involved in the 1984 riots, jobs for educated widows and orphaned children, pension, free houses and a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. PTI