Phoolka for travel ban on perpetrators of anti-Sikh riots

Phoolka has been representing as the counsel for the 1984 riot victims and fighting for their rights for decades. Phoolka said a coalition to campaign for a worldwide travel ban on those involved in genocide and crimes against humanity had now been put in place. Responding to a query by The Indian Express through e-mail today, he said the coalition comprising Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Liberty and Redress Trust, would be a powerful medium to press for the demand.

The event was attended by a group of MPs, including Minister John Spellar and Shadow Attorney General Edward Garnier. Phoolka said the focus of his lecture was to emphasise that the persons committing “communal violence” to terrorise a community were no less than terrorists. “We requested MPs to impress upon the UK government not to allow Tytler and others to enter,” he said.

Phoolka alleged, “The 1984 genocide was the beginning of the government-sponsored violence against a minority community in India.”

He said had the guilty of 1984 riots been punished, the killing of Christians would not have taken place. Kevin Laue, a Zimbabwean rights lawyer representing the Redress Trust, explained the steps that were needed to ensure that there was a political will to implement the travel ban.