NEW DELHI: BJP leaders, members of the Sikh community and families of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots’ victims on Monday held a protest march from Gurdwara Bangla Sahib to Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, accusing the Congress of reopening old wounds by holding a rally on November 1.
The march was organised as part of the BJP’s ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ campaign, during which the participants carried banners excoriating the grand old party over the riots triggered by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination, while raising slogans against the party.
Speaking on the occasion, BJP MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat said, “Sikhs were systematically targeted... Individual houses were identified, Sikh families living there were dragged out of their homes, and subjected to inhuman atrocities.
This was not an act carried out by ordinary members of the public. Rather, it was orchestrated by Congress Party leaders and people who enjoyed the party’s support and protection.” She then added that the Congress had never made serious efforts to secure justice for the riot-affected families or to heal their wounds.
Adding to that, another BJP MP, Bansuri Swaraj, said, “The massacre of innocent Sikh men and women in 1984 was a premeditated conspiracy by the Congress. Then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi attempted to justify it by saying, ‘When a big tree falls, the earth shakes.’ His son Rahul has demonstrated the same mindset.” She added,
“On November 1, 1984, Congress workers and rioters operating under the party’s patronage brutally burnt members of the Sikh community alive. It is ironic that Rahul chose that very date, November 1, to organise a rally promoting anarchy, while the Sikh community waited for justice for years and the Congress kept mum.”
She contrasted that the relief and jobs provided by the current government to families affected by the 1984 riots, adding, “Not a single leader of the INDIA alliance spoke even a word about the riots at the rally.”
