Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that consistent efforts should be made to ensure that an incident like the Rampur Tiraha firing case is not repeated.
Rawat said this after paying homage at the martyrs memorial at Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) on the anniversary of the incident that took place during the Statehood movement in 1994. The Chief Minister was accompanied by the Uttarakhand Rajya Nirman Andolankari Samman Parishad vice chairman Dhirendra Pratap and Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Rawat said that one can never forget the martyrdom of Uttarakhand Statehood activists. Referring to the Rampur Tiraha firing that took place in Muzaffarnagar on October 2, 1994, the CM said that it was all the more saddening that such an incident took place on the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister lal Bahadur Shastri. On behalf of Uttarakhand’s people the chief minister thanked the people of Rampur and neighbouring villages for helping the people of Uttarakhand at the time of the incident. Rawat said that after the ongoing process of identifying Statehood activists is completed, the identified activists will be provided pension by the State. The State Government will name buildings, schools and other facilities after those who had sacrificed their lives in the Uttarakhand Statehood movement, said Rawat.
Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Rajya Nirman Andolankari Samman Parishad vice chairman Dhirendra Pratap met Rawat and demanded the setting up of a new inquiry commission into the Rampur Tiraha firing incident. It will be recalled that a non-violent protest being undertaken as part of the Uttarakhand Statehood movement saw shots being fired and protesters being mistreated resulting in the death of seven protesters and injuries to more than a dozen on October 2, 1994.
According to Pratap, a new inquiry commission should be formed to ensure punishment to the police and administration officials responsible for the firing incident.
“Twenty one years have passed since this incident but not a single person guilty in this incident has been punished so far. Despite the seriousness of the crimes committed, not a single police or administrative official has been punished 21 years after the incident. If many commissions can be formed to inquire into the 1984 riots and other incidents, then those guilty of crimes against Uttarakhand Statehood activists should also face the law,” he said.