New Delhi, February 10
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM), besides several Sikh leaders, today urged the government to make the report of the Justice Nanavati Commission on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots public.

Voicing suspicion over contents of the report, "leaked" to a TV channel, and its submission after the Haryana poll, they expressed fear that the Congress-led government was trying to shield certain influential politicians, indicted in the report.

Talking to The Tribune, NCM Chairperson Tarlochan Singh said the commission had asked the Home Ministry to send it a copy of the report. Criticising the Nanavati Commission for already taking too long in submitting the report, he said even 20 years after the riots none of the accused had been punished. "The more time an inquiry takes, more evidence is lost. All records have already been destroyed by the Delhi police. Till date, no person, whether it is a police official or a politician, has been punished. We have urged the government to avoid any further delay and make the report public ," he added.

Mr Tarlochan Singh said the NCM had no expectations from the report as so far nothing had been achieved from the inquiry commissions set up in the past. " This report is 20 years late. Had there been timely justice for those who suffered in the 1984 riots, other such incidents would not have taken place ," he added.

Sikh leaders, including Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal) president Prem Singh Chandumajra and SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, have also echoed the NCM's demand for making the report public. Expressing doubts over the timing of the submission of the report, they blamed the Congress-led government for trying to shield certain politicians and help the party in the Haryana elections.