In order to pay tributes to and keep their memories alive, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has decided to build a memorial for the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots at Gurdwara Rakabganj in central Delhi.
DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK said a team of Sikh scholars, historians and architects would be constituted soon to finalise the location of the memorial within the premises of the gurdwara and the design of the proposed structure.
"There is a memorial for every carnage that has happened in the world. More than 14,000 Sikhs were killed in November 1984 riots all over the country. We had earlier planned to rename a park in West Delhi's Punjabi Bagh but the Delhi government did not let us do that. The general house of the DSGMC has now approved the construction of a commemorative memorial within the premises of Gurdwara Rakabganj and we will start work at the earliest," said Manjit Singh GK.
In November 2012, Shiromani Akali Dal leader and municipal councillor Manjinder Singh Sirsa had tried to rename a park in Punjabi Bagh (West) as '1984 Sikh Memorial Park'. The renaming committee of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (South) had approved the proposal and a date was finalised for the renaming function. Just a day before the function, the Delhi government allegedly scuttled the proposal and the function was cancelled.
{{/usCountry}}In November 2012, Shiromani Akali Dal leader and municipal councillor Manjinder Singh Sirsa had tried to rename a park in Punjabi Bagh (West) as '1984 Sikh Memorial Park'. The renaming committee of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (South) had approved the proposal and a date was finalised for the renaming function. Just a day before the function, the Delhi government allegedly scuttled the proposal and the function was cancelled.
{{/usCountry}}"The memorial would also act as balm on the wounds of those families whose lost their kin and are still awaiting justice from the government, as none of the perpetrators of riot have been punished despite incremental evidence," said GK.
The decision comes close on the heels of protests by Sikh groups in Delh against the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in an anti-Sikh riots case.