By IANS
New Delhi : Survivors of the 1993 communal violence in Mumbai, in which nearly 900 people were killed, with rights activists Wednesday demanded implementation of an inquiry commission report and action against Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and others for their alleged role in the carnage.
“We demand immediate implementation of the Justice Srikrishna Commission report which has found 31 policemen responsible for the violence. A criminal case should be registered against all of them, and the Central Bureau of Investigation should be asked to investigate matter,” said Farooque Mhapkar, a victim.
“Criminal proceedings against politicians indicted in the report, including Bal Thackeray, Manohar Joshi, Madhukar Sarpotdar and others, should also be taken up for instigating riots,” Mhapkar told reporters here.
India’s financial capital had witnessed large-scale violence in December 1992 and January 1993 in the aftermath of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on Dec 6, 1992.
The violence was followed by the March 12, 1993 serial bombings in the city, killing 257 people. The blasts were allegedly orchestrated by India’s most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim and his associates.
Soon after the riots, Justice Srikrishna, then a judge of the Bombay High Court, was appointed to investigate the causes of the riots. For five years till 1998, he examined victims, witnesses and alleged perpetrators.
Nearly a decade after the riots the report was made public.
The successive governments so far have failed to implement the recommendation made in the reports.
Noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan said: “False cases registered against the victims should be quashed immediately, and award of rehabilitation and compensation package to the next kin of the dead and the missing should be on a par with the same in case of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence of Delhi.”
Saumya Uma, women’s rights advocate from the Women’s Research & Action Group, along with activists met the officials of the Planning Commission, the Minority Commission as well as Vice-President Hamid Ansari.
“The vice-president has asked us to send a memorandum, which he has promised to discuss with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The Planning Commission has assured (us) that it would pursue the matter with the Maharashtra government regarding the implementation of the Shrikrishna report,” Uma said.
“The Minority Commission also said that they would help in rehabilitation and awarding compensation to the victims’ kin,” she added.
The social activists also moved a petition before the Supreme Court last month seeking implementation of the commission report so that victims can receive financial relief and the culprits are brought to book.
The next hearing in the apex court is scheduled Oct 30.