BJP Zakhm 84 De Conclave in Chandigarh Today: Saini to Join Final Session on Rehabilitation of 1984 Victims Families
The Punjab BJP is holding a one-day conclave titled ‘Zakhm 84 De’ in Chandigarh on Wednesday, November 4, bringing together survivors and eyewitnesses of the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre, legal experts, former judges, community representatives and political leaders. The conclave, being held from 9 am to 5 pm at Hotel Parkview in Sector 24, aims to place the facts of the massacre before the younger generation, 42 years after the violence, and to discuss the decades-long legal battle for justice and the rehabilitation of affected families. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is scheduled to participate in the concluding session, which will focus on rehabilitation efforts undertaken by BJP-led governments.
The programme opens with a photographic exhibition documenting the 1984 massacre, to be inaugurated at 9.30 am by Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon and the party’s Punjab in-charge Satish Poonia. The opening session begins with an Ardas, a prayer for the peace of those who died and for justice, followed by an address from Dhillon. Former Union minister and BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, who represented victims in proceedings before the Supreme Court, will deliver the keynote address. BJP national spokesperson R P Singh will moderate the sessions through the day.
Six sessions structure the conclave. The first gives the floor to survivors and eyewitnesses, including Nirpreet Kaur, a key witness in the case that led to the conviction of Sajjan Kumar, along with Jangsher Singh, Darshan Kaur and Satpal Kaur. A second session examines whether the violence was part of a larger conspiracy, with former National Commission for Minorities chairman Tarlochan Singh, BJP MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney, who lost five family members in the violence, and senior advocate H S Phoolka among the participants. The third session, titled ‘Murder of Justice’, looks at alleged lapses in investigations, with retired Justice S N Dhingra, who headed the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team that reinvestigated closed cases in 2018, Phoolka and advocate Ashok Kashyap taking part.
A further session on efforts to ensure punishment for those responsible features Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Phoolka, who has fought a decades-long legal battle on behalf of victims. The concluding session turns to rehabilitation: Saini, Poonia, Dhillon and Sahney will outline the initiatives taken by BJP governments to help affected families rebuild their lives, including assistance and support measures for the families of victims. Organisers say the conclave is intended both as remembrance and as a record of the struggle for accountability, so that the next generation understands what happened and what the fight for justice has involved.
The 1984 anti-Sikh violence broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, and Delhi was among the worst-affected areas. In the four decades since, victims’ families have pursued cases through commissions of inquiry, including the Justice Nanavati Commission set up by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, and through the courts, with the Supreme Court-appointed SIT reopening closed cases in 2018. The BJP has said the conclave will present the experiences of survivors and the findings of these processes directly to the public. The Chandigarh event falls on the same day the Congress launches its Punjab campaign in Sangrur, making the conclave one of the most closely watched political events in the region on November 4.
