NEW DELHI: According to a late-breaking story, the UP state govt has ordered a judicial inquiry into the Pilibhit incident.
The Lok Sabha Speaker, Shivraj Patil, on Friday, directed the govt to present a statement to the House of the Pilibhit killings as soon as possible after agitated MPs raised the issue during zero hour in the Lok Sahba.
The former home minister, But a Singh, who took the lead on this issue, demanded that the govt should send a fact finding team to Pilibhit to ascertain reports that the 13 persons killed by the police on July 13 were not militants but Sikh pilgrims.
The matter attracts immediate attention. The facts as alleged are very shocking. The govt will try to get all the facts from the UP govt and if there was a lapse on anyone’s part adequate action will be taken. If you desire a House committee and the chair desires it, it can be appointed. First, let the govt present a statement to the House”, Pantil ruled.
The BJP leader, L.K. Advani, announced that a team of four BJP MPs would be going immediately to Pilibhit. “If the version of the report is correct, it is very serious and appropriate action must be taken” he said. He could not resist a jibe at But a Singh however, and remarked that while the situation in Punjab was very bad his party was very particular about UP.
The issue was raised by Tara Singh but was taken up later by But a Singh. He felt that the most startling aspect of the case was that those who were killed had been in the custody of the police only t hidey before. Alleging that they had been killed by the police in a false encounter, Singh demanded that the leader of the house give a factual statement to the House. He also demanded that the Speaker should direct the govt to send a fact-finding team to Pilibhit.
He warmed that if this genocide was al- lowed to continue in UP, there would be repercussions i, the rest of the country. The UP police involved should be suspended and CBI inquiry instituted, he suggested.
Members of the Left parties and the Janata Dal also took up the issue and several MPs, including Basudev Acharva, Malini Bhattacharya(CPI-M), Naini Bhattacharya (RSP), and Mohan Singh and Rajnath Shastri (JD) were on their feet demanding an inauiry into the incidents.
PTI adds that the Supreme Court issued notices on Friday to the Uttar Pradesh govt and four others on a public interest petition, seeking an enquiry into the killing of 10 Sikh sat Pilibhit in three alleged encounters on July 13.
The petition has also sought compensation to the family members of the victims and has further prayed for a direction that the affected Sikh families be given police protection. LUCKNOW: India’s opposition Janata Dal and Samajwadi Janata Party Saturday demanded a thorough and impartial enquiry into the Pilibhit Episode.
Addressing separate news conferences former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and SIP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and president of JD state unit Kailash Nath Singh Yadav said delegations of their parties, comprising senior party officer bearers, would visit the places where the encounters occurred, for an on the spot assessment.
Mulayam Singh Yadav alleged that “the encounters were pre-planned” and an all-party committee should enquire into it Kailash Nath Singh Yadav, who also demanded an impartial enquiry, said the “superintendent of police in Pilibhit should be wans erred to facilitate an imperial enquiry”. Referring to another episode in Ghadwi village under Muzzafarnagar district where a police constable was killed and five others held captive by the villagers on July 16, both the leaders said “it is a blot on the administration and resulted in the demoralization of the police force”.
Meanwhile in Amritsar Saturday, Akali Dal-Mann Party, all India Sikh Students Federation and Chief Khalsa Diwan also demanded a judicial inquiry into the Pilibhit incident. General Secretaries of All India Sikh Students Federation, Harminder Singh Gill and Sarabjeet Singh Jammu, in a joint statement welcomed the notice taken by the Parliament and its decision to send a team to Pilibhit to inquire into the incident.
They said that such a team should also be sent to Punjab to go into the police excesses and killings of Sikh youths in fake police encounters. In Chandigarh Saturday, former Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal (L) leader Surjit Singh Barnala demanded an enquiry by a Supreme Court judge into teh Pilibhit incident. In a statement here, Barnala said “such criminal activity on the part of the state police was most reprehensible. It will cause panic and distrust amongst the minorities in the country.”
LUCKNOW: Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh, and Monday described as “childish” former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s allegations that the Pilibhit encounter between police and alleged militants were “conspiracies”.
Ridiculing Yadav’s statement, he said “it’s funny that the same Mulayam Singh Yaday who never hesitated to shoot down innocent people in Ayodhya was shedding crocodile tears at the killing of 10 militants in encounters with police,” Police had denied the reports and claimed at least eight of the dead men were militants. The issue also caused uproar in Parliament with members cutting across party lines to demand an enquiry Incident.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 26, 1991
