Parliament attack victim's widow demands land

Dec 13, 2007, 9:48 GMT

New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) A sombre moment to remember those who laid down their lives while protecting India's parliament building six years ago turned embarrassing for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders when a tearful widow of one of the victims accused the government of not delivering the promise made to her.

Vimla Devi, widow of Assistant Sub-Inspector Nanak Chand who was among the nine people killed in the 2001 terror attack on parliament, was inconsolable when she was narrating her woes to Manmohan Singh and other dignitaries present in Parliament House to pay tributes to the brave souls.

'I do not want you to pay any tributes. I am helpless and suffering from poverty,' Devi, who was invited to the function, said sobbing. She complained that the government has not fulfilled its promise of land for a petrol pump that had been allotted to her as part of the compensation.

As the parliament security personnel tried to stop her, Devi said: 'You have invited me here, so I have the right to speak... I have nothing...'

'You have to listen to me today,' she told Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil, after they had just finished paying floral tributes in front of the photographs of the victims.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was also seen carefully listening to her and tried to pacify her.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.R. Dasmunsi, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Jaswant Singh, V.K. Malhotra and Sushma Swaraj were also present.

According to Swaraj, the home minister assured those present that the promises given to the victims' families would be fulfilled soon.

Nine people, including security personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), parliament's watch and ward staff, the Delhi Police and a gardener were killed in the half-hour gun-battle in the parliament complex. Five attackers of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group were also killed in the gun battle.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service