Families of the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre victims on Friday strongly objected to the Congress rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1, calling it an insult to the day of mourning for Sikhs. The objection came from a delegation of 1984 Riot Victims Welfare Society, which met Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria under the leadership of Rajya Sabha member Satnam Singh Sandhu.The delegation sought the Governor’s intervention in the long-pending rehabilitation of the families.The delegation urged the Governor to ensure that the Punjab Government implements the relevant orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Sandhu said rehabilitation of the 1984 victims was not a favour from any government but its responsibility.The delegation raised issues of allotment and possession of houses and flats for victim families, booths for business, red cards and employment. Members said many families were still running from office to office despite government decisions and court orders. They urged the Governor to seek the status of pending cases from the state government and to ensure that eligible beneficiaries received their dues. Making families wait for decades only deepened the injustice, they said.The delegation included society president Surjit Singh, women’s wing president Bibi Gurdeep Kaur, secretary Daljit Singh, chairman Gurdev Singh, Inderpal Singh, Dharminder Singh, Surjit Singh (DP), Bhupinder Kaur, Rajwant Kaur, Sangeeta Kaur and Gurdev Kaur, a widow.The victims’ representatives said the rally, called by Rahul Gandhi against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the Election Commission, showed the party’s insensitivity to the pain of Sikhs. November 1 is the day in 1984 when the large-scale killing of Sikhs began in Delhi. For the victim families, they said, it is a day to remember the dead and to demand an account of the justice still denied. A show of political strength in the same city on the same date, they said, was like reopening their wounds.They said if Rahul Gandhi and the Congress respected Sikh sentiments, another date could have been chosen.Raising the role of Congress-linked leaders in the massacre, they said a party that invokes justice and the Constitution could not escape accountability for its past. They announced that they would protest against the rally and burn effigies of Rahul Gandhi.Sandhu launched a sharp attack on the Congress, saying November 1 was a day of deep anguish in the collective memory of the Sikh community. Gathering a political crowd in Delhi on that day showed indifference to the victims’ suffering, he said. Respect for the pain of Sikhs had to be shown through decisions and not speeches, he added. He said he would stand with the victim families at every level in their fight for justice, rehabilitation and their rightful dues.Society president Surjit Singh said the struggle was not only for justice but also for dignified rehabilitation. He said Sandhu had given the families direct access to the Governor, an important platform for their pending demands.Bibi Gurdeep Kaur said eight members of her family, including two younger brothers of her husband, were killed in 1984. Families that lost their homes and loved ones still live with that trauma, she said. She expressed hope of justice from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thanked Sandhu for raising their issues and reiterated the demand for an inquiry into the alleged role of Sonia Gandhi.