Rakabganj may get memorial for 1984 victims

A memorial for the 1984 anti- Sikh riot victims at Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib, which is a stone’s throw from the Parliament House Complex, may get city administration’s approval soon. The New Delhi Municipal Council had earlier opposed the construction of the memorial, but has recently sought opinion of the Delhi government on the contentious issue.

The city administration has, in turn, sought a detailed report from the Delhi police on the controversial matter. In a letter dated August 26, the city government’s home department has asked the Delhi police special commissioner ( Intelligence) to “cover all the aspects” of the matter and then send a report to the government. The letter has termed the matter as “sensitive” and “under litigation.”

Last year, the decision of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee ( DSGMC) to build a memorial for the 1984 anti- Sikh riot victims had led to a major controversy, with the NDMC terming the laying of the foundation stone for the memorial as “illegal.”

Despite the NDMC objection, the Shiromani Akali Dal- led DSGMC had gone ahead with the inauguration ceremony in June 2013 with senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj attending the event along with and Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Many senior Congress leaders were reportedly accused of inciting the mob in the killing of about 3,000 Sikhs after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards in 1984. Former DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna, who is said to be close to the Congress, had reportedly challenged the construction of the memorial. The DSGMC claimed it was the previous Congress government at the Centre and in Delhi which had put stopped its plan for a memorial.

A source said that it was only after the DSGMC’s demand for a piece land for building the memorial in the city was not accepted, it was decided to erect the memorial in the Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib premises. A DSGMC member claimed that the “previous Congress governments at the Centre and in Delhi would have never ever allowed the construction of the memorial.”

Another DSGMC member said it was natural on the part of the NDMC not to allow the memorial as Congress leader Sheila Dikshit, who was the Delhi’s chief minister, was its member as well. But, he said, with the Bharatiya Janata Party coming to power at the Centre, “the memorial could soon be a reality.”