CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday lashed out at Sukhbir Singh Badal for the unwarranted and uncalled attack on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on the 1984 riots issue.
Castigating the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president for his statement that Rahul was a ‘partner (bhagidar) in the crime,’ Amarinder said, “Rahul was in school at the time of Operation Blue Star. To blame him for anything is totally absurd,” said Singh.
“To hold Rahul responsible for an act which he was not even aware of at the time it happened is completely ridiculous," he said.
The Congress, as a party, was never involved in the riots that continue to haunt the Sikh community. If any individual was involved, they would be dealt with as per the law, he said.
"To blame the entire party for the acts of a few is preposterous and typical of the political immaturity of Sukhbir,” he added.
Amarinder said that Rahul's latest comments need to be seen in context with his earlier statements on 1984 riots, wherein he himself had named some Congressmen.
"You cannot blame an entire party because of the acts of such individuals", he said while reiterating that the culprits of the riots should be hanged, irrespective of their political affiliations.
He said it was evident the Akalis did not have either the maturity or sensitivity to understand or appreciate the sentiments behind the regrets expressed by Dr. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi on the issue.
Their statements were never an admission of guilt or Congress Party's involvement in the riots, he said.
Sukhbir had on Saturday said Rahul had justified the lynch mentality of the Gandhi family by shamelessly denying the Congress Party's role in the organized massacre of Sikhs in 1984 and by this act becomes a 'bhagidaar' in this most inhuman and dastardly act.