Yogi ‘misled’ Sikhs over ’84 Kanpur riots probe

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, December 28

The All-India Riot Victims Relief Committee (AIRVRC) on Friday accused CM Yogi Adityanath of misleading the Sikh community on the issue of setting up a special investigating team (SIT) to probe the 1984 riots in Kanpur.

At a press conference here, committee head Kuldip Singh Bhogal said while the CM at a Sikh meet in Lucknow on October 28 had claimed to have set up a SIT to probe the matter, his government had repeatedly failed to submit a report with the Supreme Court as sought by the latter.

Bhogal said the life sentence awarded to former Union Minister Sajjan Kumar had motivated them to step up efforts to bring the Kanpur culprits to book. “Three years ago, we learnt through an RTI query that 127 members of the community were killed in Kanpur. A committee delegation visited various police stations and found that most of the records against the rioters were missing. None had been chargesheeted, leave alone punished.”

Subsequently, the committee filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, seeking a CBI probe and a SIT. The apex court asked the Union Home Ministry to file an affidavit in this regard. “It has been more than a year, but no affidavit has been filed. Nor has a SIT report been sent to the court,” Bhogal said. The case is listed for hearing on January 2.

The committee presented cheques for Rs 11,000 each to 1984 riot widows Parkash Kaur and Kuldeep Kaur on behalf of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (DSGMC).