Memorial

Italy plans memorial to commemorate Malta tragedy, by Dilpreet Khalsa in Jalandhar:

The government of Italy has sanctioned funds for the retrieval of the remains of 300 victims of the Malta Boat tragedy, Malta Boat Tragedy Probe Mission chairman Balwant Singh Khera claimed on Tuesday.

Observing the 11th anniversary of the tragedy at the Company Bagh, he said the Italian government had sanctioned the requisite funds and had agreed to build a memorial to commemorate the death of 300 young men who had lost their lives in Malta-Sicily Channel near international waters on December 25, 1996. Italian senator Tana Dijuleta was instrumental in getting the support of four Nobel prize winners and 100 members of Parliament, who had recommended to the prime minister of Italy to help the mission in this cause.

Accusing the state political leadership of sheltering the fake travel agents, Khaira said “though 170 out of 300 youth belonged to Punjab, till now no state government has taken any initiative to provide justice to the victim’s family”. He demanded that monetary relief of Rs 50,000 is inadequate and it should be raised to Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of victims. The mission has also decided to approach the Delhi HC for speeding up the hearing of the criminal cases against the 25 fake travel agents. He demanded that the government should publish the inquiry report of the human trafficking scandal in 2001.