SAD demands judicial probe into massacre of Sikhs in Kashmir

Srinagar, Aug 9 (UNI) The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) today demanded a high-level judicial probe into the massacre of Sikhs in Kashmir since the outbreak of militancy in the Valley.

At the conclusion of a day-long convention here, SAD (Badal), Kashmir President Charan Singh Bali presented a charter of demands, which included nomination of a Sikh member from Kashmir in the Legislative Council as a permanent feature, inclusion of a Sikh in the state Council of Ministers, high-level judicial probe into the massacre of Sikhs at Chattisingpora, Mehjoor Nagar, National Highway, Poshkariri and other places in the Valley.

The party also sought nomination of a Sikh member in the State Public Service Commission, the State Recruitment Board, the State Human Rights Commission, the Women Welfare Commission, Minority Commission and the local bodies.

Besides the state unit president, among the others who addressed the convention were party senior vice president Kishen Singh Mehta and general secretary Jagdish Singh Azad.

The leaders came down heavily on the UPA-led central government for not inviting them in the second round-table conference chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on May 24-25.

The convention also demanded that anomalies in Gurdwara Religious Endowment Act be removed to make it more effective for which draft amendments have already been submitted to the authorities concerned besides starting a regular department of studies and research of Punjabi language in the Kashmir University.

The leaders also claimed that they have been trying to meet Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for the past two months, but without any success.

UNI AG SRS KP1848