Rahul Gandhi reiterating his stand on the controversial remarks made by Sam Pitroda.
Sam Pitroda's remarks on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots last week is "absolutely wrong and he should apologise to the nation for it", Rahul Gandhi said today, reiterating his stand on the controversial remarks made by the Congress leader.
"What Sam Pitroda said about 1984 is absolutely wrong and he should apologise to the nation for it. I told him this over the phone, I told him what he said was wrong, he should be ashamed and apologise publicly," Mr Gandhi said at an election rally in Punjab's Fatehgarh Sahib.
Mr Pitroda had used the words "hua toh hua (what happened, happened)" while trying to dismiss questions on the anti-Sikh riots last week, triggering criticism from political parties cutting across ideological lines. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it showed the Congress' "character and mentality", Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh termed the remark as "shocking".
He apologised shortly after his party distanced itself from his comments and warned all its leaders to be careful."What I meant was move on. We have other issues to discuss as to what the BJP government did and what it delivered. I feel sorry that my remark was misrepresented, I apologise. This has been blown out of proportion," Sam Pitroda told news agency ANI.
In an interview with NDTV on Saturday, Rahul Gandhi had said, "Sam Pitroda was wrong to say what he did. I told him that you cannot say things like this. There is no debate on the 1984 tragedy. Whoever committed violence, they should be 100 per cent punished".
Sam Pitroda, who is in charge of the Congress's overseas affairs and is seen as a mentor to Rahul Gandhi, had made the remark in response to the BJP's claim that the Nanavati Commission, which probed the 1984 carnage, had traced the "instructions to kill" back to Rajiv Gandhi's office.