Prime Minister Manmohan Singh apparently faced embarrassing moments on Thursday when an inconsolable kin of a 2001 Parliament terror attack victim accused the government of not fulfilling the promises made to her.
A tearful Vimla Devi, wife of ASI Nanak Chand, who was killed in the 2001 terrorist attack, turned up at a function that was also attended by Leader of the Opposition L K Advani and Home Minister Shivraj Patil to pay tributes to the martyrs.
Narrating her woes, she told the function in Parliament that she was yet to get land for a petrol pump, which had been allotted to her as part of compensation following the killing of her husband.
"We do not want all these tributes to be paid. I do not have anything. Nobody listens to us," she said.
As Vimla Devi was escorted out, Swaraj later told media persons that the leaders spoke to the Home Minister who assured them that the process of relief and rehabilitation of the victims' families would be completed by next year.
"She is saying that she has not got anything. We have demanded that wherever there is any gap, it should be filled," the BJP leader said, adding that it was a matter of great concern that the families were still facing problems even six year after the Parliament attack case.
The function was also attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Union Ministers A K Antony and P R Dasmunsi, Congress lawmaker Rahul Gandhi and BJP lawmakers Sushma Swaraj, V K Malhotra and Jaswant Singh. A total of six Delhi Police personnel, one gardener and five terrorists were killed in the attack.
Keeping Parliament safe!
More from rediff