Chanigarh, PUNJAB (February 22, 2011): The Sikh organizations under the aegis of the Khalsa Action Committee on Monday submitted a memorendum Bhupinder Singh Hooda Chief Minister of Haryana regarding anti-Sikh carnage and mayhem at village Hond Chillarh on 2 November 1984.
The memorendum said that “we take this opportunity to apprise you of the anguish and concerns of the Sikhs at the discovery of the ruins of houses, Gurdwara Sahib and lands of nearly forty Sikh residents in village Hondh Chillarh in Haryana, which bore witness to the inhuman, well-orchestrated and executed mass killing of Sikhs on 2-3 November 1984.
We demand that a full scale judicial probe be ordered by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court into the killing of more than 35 Sikhs in the village Hondh Chillarh in Haryana. While your government was not involved in the killing, your government has a lot to answer.
We need to know: 1. Who were the killers and where did they come from? What was the role of other villagers at the time when Sikhs were being set on fire? What happened to the women folk? What was the role of the police after the killings were discovered? Why was no FIR filed by name? What steps did the concerned police station take to find out the killers? Under whose orders were the investigations stopped? Under whose instructions and patronization such well planned assault was organized? Who were the conspirators?
2.When the government of Haryana decided to give them compensation few years ago, what steps it took to rehabilitate the families or even to assuage the feeling of fear among the Sikh residents? Did the Home Ministry of Haryana order a probe upon discovery of so many victims from one village itself? If not, why not?
3.What was the role of the then Chief Minister of the State, Bhajan Lal, who was a notorious Sikh-baiter?
Kanwarpal Singh spokesperson of Dal Khalsa said that they look up to your good sense to undo the past and look into the future for an inclusive society not based on religion and caste but based on norms of civil society and internationally acceptable criminal jurisprudence.
The memorendum read, “Hondh-Chillarh is a testimony to the injustice done to the Sikhs and the only way in which justice can be done is by prosecuting the guilty in an exemplary manner in the shortest time possible. Please ensure that a comprehensive mandate within a stipulated time frame is given to the judge who is to probe the killings so that there is no prevarication or obfuscation of facts. The passage of time should not be hindrance and the anti-Sikh sentiment in the village or its neighbourhood should be addressed appropriately and not allowed to politicise the judicial process.
The Sikh residents of Hondh-Chillarh had made it their home after migrating en masse after the partition riots of 1947. In the dark days of November 1984, they were again made to leave their home and hearth. With family members killed, with neighbours, lumpen elements baying for their blood, the scared families did not dare to look back into the charred remains of their home and sold off their precious lands at pitiable throwaway price to whoever was willing to buy them in the surcharged post-carnage atmosphere.
Khalsa Action Committee (KAC) believes that these families deserve more exemplary compensation on humanitarian and compassionate grounds -much more which has been awarded and given by the state and the Supreme Court of India. We urge your government to do this without delay and that would pave the way for solace to the victim families and would also instil the message of justice to the perpetrators. We also demand that the neighbours and others who have occupied the houses of the victim families be evicted and the climate of fear be reduced by taking all necessary actions.
The entire Sikh world is looking up to you and Haryana. The focus has shifted from Delhi to Haryana as regards justice to families of November 1984 victims of anti-Sikh carnage. Do not let us down. Do not let justice down. Kindly do not subvert justice. History beckons you to be truthful and lawful; otherwise nemesis can still catch up, the memorandum said.