Amid opposition demands for immediately bringing to book culprits of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Government on Wednesday described the incident as "one of the most tragic events" and assured Lok Sabha that it would do its best under the given circumstances.
"Everyone of us feels ashamed
that this happened. ...We cannot get back the lives we lost, we cannot remove the agony (of those affected) ... We can take a vow and draw a lesson that in future this does not happen," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
He was responding to Harsimrat Kaur (SAD) who raised the issue spiritedly during the Zero Hour, lamenting that 25 years after the ghastly incidents in which, she claimed, 7,000 Sikhs were killed, no one has been punished.
Mukherjee admitted that Kaur had brought back memories of "one of the most tragic events".
Kaur was supported by the entire opposition, led by Leader of Opposition L K Advani, following which Mukherjee assured them that he would speak to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other colleagues and see "what best can be done under the given situation".
She regretted that despite the Nanavati Commission recommending registration of cases against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and others in 2005, no case was registered. "CBI has still not filed a single chargesheet".