Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court (SC) decision to order a fresh probe by a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the 186 cases of the anti-Sikh riots, with the hope that justice would finally be meted out to the innocent victims.

Talking to mediapersons on Thursday, the CM said more than 30 years had passed since the gory violence, which claimed many lives and left many others homeless, and while various Commissions had been set up to investigate the cases, justice continued to elude the victims. Several names had cropped up in connection with the riots, and it was now up to the SIT to verify the allegations and bring the investigation to its logical conclusion, he added.

It was high time that justice be provided in these cases, said Amarinder, who himself had quit as Member of Parliament (MP) in protest against the violence.

To a question on the ban announced by certain elements on entry of Indian officials in gurdwaras in Canada and the US, the CM said anyone, be it Sikh or non-Sikh, can enter the ‘guru ghar’ (abode of the Guru) to pay their respects or partake the langar prasad. It was against the ‘Sikhi’ (tenets of Sikhism) to stop anyone from entering the gurdwaras, he said, condemning the ban as totally wrong.

It was for the management committees of the Gurdwaras, as well as the Sikh community, in these countries, to put a stop on such acts, he said, pointing out that never in history had any person been barred from entering a gurdwara.

On the issue of political conferences at Shaheedi Jor Melas, Amarinder said the precedent laid in the case of the Fatehgarh Sahib Jor Mela should be followed for all other Shaheedi Jor Melas, such as Maghi and Chamkaur Sahib.

All political parties acceded to Jathedar Akal Takth’s call not to hold any political conference in Fatehgarh Sahib and should now follow the same tradition for other similar melas, he added. If the Akali Dal planned to hold political conferences there, it was up to them to explain and justify their act, said the CM.

The CM, however, made it clear that he was not against holding of political conferences at other Jor Melas which were not related to martyrdom.