Rahul Gandhi demanded that those responsible for the anti-Sikh riots, that killed over 2500, be punished.
CHANDIGARH: AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday expressed regret for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. His father, late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, had famously dismissed the pogrom saying, “When a big tree falls, the ground shakes.”
But Rahul tried to make amends by saying that the Gandhi family had always stood by the Sikhs. He demanded that those responsible for the anti-Sikh riots, that killed over 2500, be punished. Incidentally, the accused include senior Congress in Delhi.
Rahul’s words assume political significance as the Sikhs form a substantial chunk of voters in Delhi where assembly elections are slated later this month. His statement will also help the Congress assuage hurt sentiments in Punjab, though it comes nearly 24 years late.
“The 1984 riots against Sikhs were wrong and people responsible for this should be brought to justice,” Rahul said. Asked to comment on Operation Bluestar, Rahul said it was a “tragedy for Punjab”.
Sikhs blame the Gandhi family and the Congress party for the army’s operation against Sikh militants at the Golden Temple and the anti-Sikh riots that followed then prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination by her two Sikh bodyguards.
Rahul said the Gandhi family did not have any ill-feeling for Sikhs. He added that the hatred among Sikhs for the Gandhis and the Congress was misplaced. “I have travelled across Punjab recently and wherever I went I was received with love and affection. There is no ill-feeling at all. I know that my late grandmother and father, as well as my mother, myself and the entire country are proud of the Sikhs. I have seen with my own eyes how when my grandmother lost the elections in 1977 everyone left her. Only her Sikh friends stayed with her,” Rahul said.
b_ajay@dnaindia.net.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}