The Hindu : Sonia visits families of Jhajjar victims

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 21, 2002

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Sonia visits families of Jhajjar victims

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI OCT. 20. Concerned over the lynching of five Dalits by a mob in Jhajjar district of Haryana, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, today made an unannounced visit to call on the families of the victims.

Accompanied by senior party leaders, Ambika Soni, Mohsina Kidwai, Motilal Vora and the PCC chief, Bhajan Lal, the Congress president visited four of the five families in the villages of Pikli and Basapur, in Gurgaon district. She expressed shock at the plight of the families and handed over a sum of Rs. 1 lakh each to the families of those killed.

She also directed Mr. Bhajan Lal to call on the family of the fifth victim in Karnal and hand over the relief, the AICC Media Department Secretary, Tom Vadakkan, said.

Apprehending that the families of the victims may not get justice, the Congress president has decided to take up the matter with the Prime Minister. She was of the opinion that the issue was not just a matter of social inequality but deeply concerning human dignity. The Congress had earlier demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

Meanwhile, the Lok Janshakti Party chief, Ram Vilas Paswan, said today he would request the National Human Rights Commission to send a team to Jhajjar to inquire into the killings. Mr. Paswan, who along with his party workers courted arrest yesterday, has decided to observe October 28 as `Dalit Daman Virodhi Divas (Dalit oppression protest day) and launch a Dalit Chetra rath in Haryana.

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