Assuaging the Sikhs in Canada that his government was doing everything possible to heal the wounds of the 1984 riots, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged the community to put the past behind them and move forward.
In a meeting with Indo-Canadian parliamentarians before paying his respects to the victims of the Kanishka bombing at the Air India Memorial in Toronto, Manmohan Singh said the riots were a horrible tragedy which should not have happened. The riots had followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on Oct 31, 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards.
The prime minister said he apologized for the tragedy in 2005 and his government also opened the issue of compensation to the victims. But the Indian judicial system has the same problems as the Canadian system, he said, hinting at the delay in justice and acquittal of the accused in the riots.
He said though it is difficult to forget a tragedy, the community should not dwell too much on the past and play its larger role in India. However, he regretted that some groups were trying to keep the issue alive to further their separatist agenda.
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