NEW DELHI: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday accused the Congress of hurting Sikh sentiments by holding a political demonstration on the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence, as he and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta met victims of the tragedy at his residence in the national capital.
Puri and Gupta interacted with the victims, enquired about their experiences and well-being, and heard their accounts of the violence that shook the country in October-November 1984.
The meeting comes amid a political confrontation between the BJP and the Congress-led INDIA bloc, with the ruling party organising marches across several zones of Delhi to commemorate the victims of the 1984 violence. The BJP accused the Congress of holding a political rally on the anniversary of the tragedy.
Earlier, on November 1, Puri had participated in a march from Hari Nagar Depot to Tilak Nagar Metro Station. Gupta, Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra, Delhi Government Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ashish Sood, MPs, MLAs, party functionaries and members of the Sikh community also took part in the march.
Puri said the Congress had deeply hurt Sikh sentiments by organising a political demonstration on the anniversary of the violence. Rejecting the description of the events as mere ‘riots’, he termed the 1984 killings an organised ‘genocide’ and a ‘crime against humanity’.
Citing official figures, Puri said 2,733 people were killed in Delhi and 3,325 across the country during the violence. He also questioned the narrative that the killings were a spontaneous reaction to public anger following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
