Last Diwali, then NHRC chairperson Dr A.S. Anand wanted to work out a compensation package for the large number of people locked in a legal battle with the Punjab government over the alleged extra-judicial killings of their family members during the insurgency years. A year on, Anand’s dream has finally been fulfilled. The Commission, on the eve of the festival, today awarded compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh each to 109 families whose relatives were reported missing from Amritsar, Taran-Taran and Majitha areas during the insurgency. The NHRC has directed the Punjab government to give away the amount to the affected families within two months.Last year the Commission had tried hard to make both the petitioners and the state government agree to the compensation package, but both sides failed to reach an agreement.Though the NHRC is hearing cases of 2,097 missing persons, today’s compensation was awarded in the cases where Punjab authorities have accepted to have taken the deceased in their custody. Earlier, on a SC directive, the CBI had conducted an inquiry and confirmed that of the total 2,097 missing, ‘‘585 dead bodies were fully identified, 274 partially identified and 1,238 unidentified’’. However, the Commission has, in its order, cautioned the petitioners that the ‘‘award should not be taken in the spirit of victory or loss. Both the state authorities and the citizens should therefore treat this order as an application of balm to whatever wounds still left and to engage themselves to make the state of Punjab more prosperous and peaceful’’.
