Title: Sikhs demand
scrapping of Article 370
Author:
Publication: The Hindu
Date: March 29, 2000.
Mumbai, March 28. (UNI):
A 14-member delegation of Shri Guru Singh Sabha -- the central body of
Sikhs in Maharashtra -- today called on Governor Dr P C Alexander and submitted
to him a representation condemning the gruesome killing of 35 innocent
Sikhs at Chitsinghpura in Jammu and Kashmir recently.
The delegation led by
former Mumbai Sheriff Kulwant Singh Kohli asked for immediate scrapping
of Article 370 of the Constitution and suggested that the people living
in the border areas of the State should be trained to safeguard their lives
and be provided with arms. (AP photo shows members of the Sikh community
breaking a police cordon and stage a road block in protest against the
massacre, in Mumbai on Tuesday.)
The delegation also informed
that a group of persons from the community would shortly be visiting the
place of the killing to express solidarity with the local population and
to extend financial help to the family members of those killed in the massacre.
Dr. Alexander told the
delegation at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai that not only the Sikhs, but the
entire nation and the civilised world had been outraged by the heinous
act and promised to convey the request made by them to the Union Government.
Meanwhile, the Sikh business
community downed their shutters at several places spread across the metropolis
to protest against the killing of innocent Sikhs in the valley. The incident
took place on March 20 when the United States President, Bill Clinton,
was visiting India.
