Appealing to the kin of the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to give it a chance to heal their wounds, the centre on Friday said the recommendations of the Nanavati commission would be implemented as soon as possible.
Union Minister of State in the prime minister's office Prithviraj Chauhan and MoS for home Sriprakash Jaiswal met widows and other relatives of the riot victims who had been on a 'dharna' on the Parliament Street since three days, demanding punishment to the perpetrators of the violence.
The Ministers, who were accompanied by Delhi Police Commissioner K K Paul, accepted a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the riot-affected.
"We have come as representatives of the government. We understand your feelings," Jaiswal said. Referring to Singh's intervention in Parliament during the discussions on the Nanavati report, Jaiswal said "even the prime minister's eyes brimmed over. He has felt your pain, the government has felt your pain."
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The government had already decided that the rate of compensation for riot victims would be uniform all across the country and all pending claims would be settled in "two or three months," Jaiswal said, adding that children of the riot victims would also be provided government jobs soon.
"Please put behind your pain and start a new life. All your problems will be removed... give the government a chance to put the healing touch on your wounds," Jaiswal said.
The kin of the victims apprised the ministers of the problems faced by them due to shortage of money. "The authorities cut off our electricity because we cannot pay the bills. Our colonies have no water and our children are taking to drugs as they have no jobs," said a widow from Tilak Vihar, a Sikh resettlement colony.
Before the Union Ministers came to meet the protestors, some heated scenes were witnessed as the riot-affected insisted that they would meet only the Prime Minister. But senior police officials convinced them to meet Chauhan and Prakash.
However, even as the ministers were speaking, some of the riot-affected demanded that they be given a chance to meet Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Jaiswal assured them that they would try to fix an appointment for them with the senior leaders.
The riot-affected also raised slogans against Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, virtially indicted in the Nanavati report, demanding that "the killers be hanged."
Meanwhile, the Akali Dal (Badal), which had organised the 'dharna', later announced that the protest had been withdrawn for the time being. "In view of the government's assurance, we are postponing our protest for two months," party General Secretary Onkar Singh Thapar said.