We can't forget 1984 riots without justice: Sikh Students Federation

PATIALA: Union home minister P Chidambaram's 'time to forgive, help build a new India' statement in connection with 1984 anti-Sikh riots has drawn sharp reactions from Sikh Students Federation (SSF), which has announced it could not forget the genocide of Sikhs without getting justice.
To air its anger against failure of successive Union governments in delivering justice to victims of the 1984 riots, the SSF has written an open letter to the Union home minister and has requested other parties to join it in raising the issue at the national level to secure justice for the affected families.
"Without giving justice, how could one ask for forgiveness? Sikhs can never forget 1984," said SSF president Parmjit Singh in his letter.
Though the Union home minister claimed in his speech at Delhi that he played a part in removing 142 names from the blacklist, SSF has accused the Union home ministry of continuing to add new names to it.
"You might be aware that your government is still adding new names to the list. Wife of Gurcharan Singh Goraya (living in Germany) has recently been denied an Indian passport by the Indian embassy in Germany, and the reason given is that her husband was blacklisted. Lakhwinder Singh Gill was not permitted to attend the funeral of his father, who died on June 19, 2011," alleged SSF in its letter.
SSF said in its letter that names of Sikhs were being added to this list without any verification, which was evident from the fact that the Union home minister sent to Punjab government a list of 185 persons last year after revision. But later, it came to light that the blacklist had only 169 names while 16 names were fictitious.
"Of those 185, some have died while many such as Dr Jagjeet Singh Chauhan, Wassan Singh Jafarwal, Harpal Singh Cheema and Kulbir Singh Barapind are already living in Punjab. The Union home minister should first provide justice to Sikhs before asking for forgiveness," said the SSF president.