"Rubbed Salt To Wounds": Akalis Blast Rahul Gandhi Over 1984 Riots Remark

Congress President Rahul Gandhi's disclaimer that his party had no role to play in 1984 anti-Sikh riots has "rubbed the salt into the wounds" of the Sikh community, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said. Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said if Mr Gandhi gets an opportunity, he is capable of saying that the massacre never took place and no Sikh ever died in 1984.

"Rahul Gandhi has rubbed salt into the wounds of Sikh community. It shows the thinking of Mr Gandhi," SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said and alleged that Mr Gandhi was trying to protect those Congress leaders who were involved in the "genocide".

Describing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots a "very painful tragedy", Mr Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the UK, said, "I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don't agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly there was tragedy."

Nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed in the riots in 1984 following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards when the Congress government was in power.

"Rahul Gandhi's grandmother did everything to demolish the Sikhs, just like her father who made pieces of Punjab. The state suffered the most when the country was divided. Then Rahul Gandhi's father allowed their goons to run rampant and kill thousands of Sikhs. It was a state-sponsored massacre," Harsimrat Kaur Badal said.

I say today with R.Gandhi's brain, that I'm putting in place of my brain. If as per him Sikh Massacare never took place then as per me his father&grandmother were never assasinated, they died of normal heart attack: Union Min HK Badal on R.Gandhi's statemenet on 1984 riots, y'day pic.twitter.com/arhpqZxUOh

- ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2018

She criticised the Congress chief for lying to the country, for playing "pappi-jhappi" politics and his "immaturity". During an interview with a news channel in 2014, Mr Gandhi had admitted that the Congressmen had a role in the massacre. Ms Badal shared a video on Twitter to support her claim.

"I want to ask Rahul if Congress leaders were not involved in anti-Sikh riots then why were HKL Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar not given tickets. Why was Jagdish Tytler removed from the ministry in the Manmohan Singh-led government," Sukhbir Singh Badal asked.

Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh had apologized for the killing of innocent Sikhs & Mrs Sonia Gandhi expressed regret for the same. @RahulGandhi , please tell why these apologies were proffered if the Congress was not bhagidaar in the worst ever mass lynchings seen in world history.

- Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) August 25, 2018

The Congress' Punjab unit defended Mr Gandhi's comments and alleged that the Akalis were "deliberately distorting" his remarks to divert public attention after being "exposed" of their role in Bargari sacrilege and subsequent killing of innocent Sikhs protesting the sacrilege in Kotkapura.

"Normally the Badals are used to raking up the 1984 issue during elections. However this time, they are faced with more serious emergency as their survival is at stake in view of the Bargari revelations that are certain to script their political obituary and that is the reason they have resorted to such dirty tricks," they said.

Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh Commission was set up by the Congress government in April 2017 to investigate various incidents of sacrilege of religious texts. It dealt with incidents at village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari and firing incidents in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in 2015.

(With inputs from PTI)