Top BJP leaders remain absent from terror victims’ rally

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 29

The All India Terrorist Victims Association (AITVA) held a rally and demanded compensation at par with the one given to the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The association invited city-based BJP leaders but all prominent leaders abstained from participating in it. The invited BJP leaders who did not turn up were Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi, MP Shwet Malik and CPS Navjot Kaur Sidhu.

After a long wait, BJP leader Dr Baldev Raj Chawla and district BJP president Rajesh Honey turned up at the programme. AITVA chairman BR Hastir handed over a copy of its memorandum to the visiting BJP leaders.

The memorandum, which was addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sought a relief of Rs 5 lakh to around 50,000 families who had lost their dear ones during the heydays of terrorism in the border state.

The victims lost their kith and kin apart from suffering huge financial losses during the militancy period.

“Out of 50,000 families, as many as 32,514 families are registered with the Punjab Government who received little help from the state government. During the terrorism period in Punjab, many families were forced to migrate to urban areas as well as other states after selling their expensive properties at peanut prices,” he said.

These families were constrained to do petty jobs in the absence of adequate compensation from the government, he added.

The association demanded constitution of a state welfare board for terrorist victim families of Punjab, government jobs to the unemployed family members of terrorist victims, implementation of Punjab Government’s policy of giving 10 per cent quota in jobs to terrorist affected/riot affected migrants, increase in pension from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month, relief package to the family members of Punjab Police personnel who attained martyrdom while fighting terrorists from 1980 to 1994.

Hastir said a delegation of the association had met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in January to remind him of his promise for suitable compensation on the analogy of relief package for 1984 riot victims made during the Lok Sabha elections.

He said despite an assurance by top leaders of the BJP, the terror-hit families of Punjab had been totally ignored by the SAD-BJP alliance.

He reminded the government that the Punjab Government had decided in 1985 to release compensation, rehabilitate and restore the confidence of terrorist victim families at par with the1984 anti-Sikh riot victims but it remained non-implemented.