NEW DELHI: Home minister Rajnath Singh's assurance to a delegation of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee that "justice will be done" is being seen as an indication that the Centre may set up an SIT to probe the cases linked to the 1984 riots after the February 7 polls.
Sources said the demand of SAD (Badal) for opening cases against senior Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler has gained strength and the ministry is likely to comply. This development comes a day after TOI reported about the GP Mathur panel's recommendation to set up a probe team.
Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his personal intervention for constituting an SIT to re-investigate the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. In his letter, Badal claimed that the panel had been constituted by the NDA government on the demand of SAD.
READ ALSO: 1984 riots: Panel wants re-probe in 237 cases
SAD (Badal) Delhi president Manjit Singh GK too met Rajnath Singh on Sunday. "Since the code of conduct is in force, the minister said he cannot announce the government's stand on the SIT. However, he assured us that justice will be done. We want a probe against Congress heavyweights Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler who were involved in the riots," Singh GK said.
He criticized the continued association of both Kumar and Tytler with Congress and the former's presence at Sonia Gandhi's rally near Badarpur on Sunday. "The duo is associated with Congress as they need the protection of the Gandhi family to survive," Singh GK alleged.
The GP Mathur panel was set up in December 2014 and submitted its report to Rajnath Singh last week recommending setting up of an SIT for a fresh probe.
READ ALSO: Set up SIT for Sikh 'genocide', Punjab CM Badal asks PM Modi
The issue of justice to the riot victims has also become a hot subject in Delhi polls. AAP, which promised to notify the SIT in its manifesto released on Saturday, claimed that Mathur's recommendation was an indictment for both the NDA government and Badal as they had deliberately stalled the functioning of the SIT ordered by the Kejriwal government in February 2014.
"The NDA government, in which SAD is a partner, has been in power for the last nine months but it has continued to stall the SIT. They should explain the delay," said senior AAP member HS Phoolka, who has been spearheading the legal battle for justice to the victims.
Meanwhile, Congress launched an equally scathing attack on Sunday with Digvijay Singh questioning the "role" of RSS in the anti-Sikh riots. "One aspect of the riots on which the media and others have been very silent is the role of RSS activists," the Congress general secretary said.
"Is it only an electoral ploy or gimmick of PM Narendra Modi to woo voters ahead of polls? If so, then it is deprecating," said Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala. Questioning the timing, he asked whether the Prime Minister and his government were "sleeping" for nine months and now suddenly woke up when only a week is left for polling in Delhi.
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