Ranchi, March 10: Baldev Singh, then 38 and a Lohardaga-based businessman, lost his wife, two minor children and his in-laws in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that raged in the country after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated.
Now 70 and settled in Amritsar, the heartbroken man is still seeking death certificates and compensation from Bokaro district administration for three family members.
"As we were fleeing from Bokaro from Lohardaga, six of my family members were gunned down and burnt in Bokaro. A mob killed my wife Surinder Kaur, minor children Baljeet Singh and Kulbinder Kaur, father-in-law Dharm Singh, mother-in-law Raj Kaur and brother-in-law Avtar Singh," Singh recounted the 1984 horror to The Telegraph at Project Building.
"I got Rs 10 lakh compensation in 2006 for the deaths of my wife and two children after knocking on the door of Jharkhand High Court, but Bokaro district administration refused to acknowledge the deaths of my in-laws of whom I am the next-of-kin."
Singh, among the hundreds affected by the 1984 riots and who scraped past death with bullet injuries on his right shoulder, said since 2006, Bokaro police have been verifying if his in-laws at all died in Bokaro despite eyewitness testimonies.
In 1984, 817 families suffered loss of life or property in 11 districts of Undivided Bihar that now are a part of Jharkhand. Across the nation, Bokaro was the third worst hit, after Delhi and Kanpur.
According to district administration, 70 Sikhs had died in the riots in Bokaro district, 67 and three in Chas and Bermo blocks, which the Sikh community feel is a "grossly suppressed figure".
"The district administration did not furnish the correct toll," fumed Harbhajan Singh, Bokaro Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee head. "I performed last rites of 85 Sikhs in Bokaro whose identities were established. As many as 15 victims could not be identified. Their last rites were also performed by us."
He added he "clearly remembered" Baldev Singh and six of his family had been attacked by the mob at Lakrakhanda in Bokaro.
"Survivors like Baldev Singh are still fighting for justice," said the Bokaro Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee head.
Baldev Singh added the state government had not given them the enhanced compensation of Rs 5 lakh announced by the Centre in 2014.
To this, Bokaro DC Rai Mahimapat Ray claimed no case of compensation for casualty, injury, loss of property and limb were now pending before the administration according to the old compensation slab announced by the central government, the last payment under which was made in 2008.
"As far as enhanced compensation is concerned, the district administration has written to the state government to release additional funds. I can't recollect the figure of the sum at the moment. As far as Baldev Singh's case is concerned, I will look into it. I honestly admit a few Bokaro district officials like then Chas SDO Xavier Herenz had cheated riot victims. Herenz was dismissed from service last year," the DC said.
For now, the DC added that additional collector Jugnu Minz was entrusted with the responsibility to verify all settled and unsettled claims.
But the Sikh community is sceptical about all assurances.
Former vice-president of Jharkhand State Minorities Commission Gurvinder Singh Sethi pointed out that even chief minister Raghubar Das had not kept his promises made in July 2015, when a delegation of the Sikh community representing 87 victimised families of Palamau visited him for compensation of their loss of property in the 1984 riots ( 1984 riot victims knock on Das door).
"When Raghubar Das was the finance minister in 2006, he had released Rs 11,69,96,000 as compensation for the loss of property across Jharkhand. For Palamau victims, Rs 1.64 crore had been earmarked. But, district administration sat on funds despite then governor K. Sankaranarayanan's orders in 2009 to disburse the sum among victims. When we brought the matter to Das's notice last July, he in his present capacity of chief minister assured quick action. We are still waiting."
