DEHRADUN: BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Thursday said the Narendra Modi-led government had taken decisive steps to bring those responsible for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to justice after decades of delay.
Addressing thousands of members of the Sikh community at the Punjabi Gaurav Sammelan in Rudrapur on Thursday, Nabin said the Centre had worked to ensure justice for the victims and punishment for the perpetrators.
“For three decades, those responsible were not punished. Prime Minister Narendra Modi constituted a Special Investigation Team in 2015 to pursue the cases,” he said. “The country will never forget the inhuman crimes committed against innocent Sikhs in 1984, and the BJP will never forgive them.”
Nabin, who is on a two-day visit to Uttarakhand, paid tribute to Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Gobind Singh and the four Sahibzadas. He urged people to draw inspiration from their sacrifices and work towards building a developed India.
The BJP chief also highlighted the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor as one of the Modi government's landmark decisions. He said devotees had been forced to view the shrine through binoculars for 72 years before the corridor was inaugurated on November 9, 2019.
“Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years of his life at Kartarpur Sahib. By opening the corridor, Prime Minister Modi corrected a historic wrong,” he said.
Nabin also referred to the observance of Veer Bal Diwas, the Citizenship Amendment Act and the Hemkund Sahib ropeway project while underlining the government's outreach to the Sikh community.
Describing Patna as his home and workplace, Nabin spoke of the city's deep spiritual association with Guru Gobind Singh. “Patna Sahib gives us the energy, strength and direction to do something for our country and our soil,” he said.
He also paid homage to Nanakmatta Sahib and greeted Sikh and Punjabi families from across the Terai, including Kashipur, Bajpur, Sitarganj, Khatima, Gadarpur and Jaspur.
“Nanakmatta Sahib is not an ordinary land. Guru Nanak Dev visited this place nearly 500 years ago during his third Udasi and lit the lamp of truth,” he said, also offering his respects to Hemkund Sahib and Reetha Sahib.
Highlighting the contribution of Punjabi and Sikh families to Uttarakhand, Nabin said many had settled in the Terai after being displaced during Partition in 1947. Their hard work, he said, helped transform Udham Singh Nagar into the state's food bowl.
“Punjab and the Sikh community have always held a special place in the BJP's heart. The pride of the Sikh community has always been inseparable from the pride of India,” Nabin said.
He urged young people to join the Nasha-Mukt Yuva Sankalp Abhiyan, a campaign against drug abuse, and called for linking the development of Punjab and Uttarakhand with the broader goal of a developed India.