CHANDIGARH: With the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections less than six months away, the BJP, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday criticised the Congress over tributes paid to former party leader Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and died in Delhi on Thursday. The Congress did not respond to the criticism.
The controversy began after Congress MP Deepender Hooda described Kumar as a prominent political figure whose connection with people was "exemplary" and called his death an "irreparable loss." He said Kumar was not only a prominent figure in Delhi and rural Delhi but also across North India.
Senior Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also recalled Kumar as a close friend and said a condolence motion had been passed for the former MP.
“I have spoke to him few days back and he and it was expected that he will come out on parole or bail,” Bhupinder Hooda said.
Reacting to the remarks, the BJP, AAP and SAD accused the Congress of glorifying a person convicted in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and said the comments insulted the victims and survivors.
AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang said Sajjan Kumar had a dark past and had been convicted for killing Sikhs.
“Still why Deepender Hooda and his father Bhupinder Singh Hooda are appreciating this person is unthinkable; this shows the anti-Sikh mind set of the Congress party. They should come out and clarify their stand,” he said.
Senior BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu said, “Mourning and observing silence for a convicted perpetrator of the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre exposes the deeply disturbing mindset that continues to exist within the Congress. Paying tribute to Sajjan Kumar is not merely shameful—it is a grave insult to the thousands of innocent Sikhs who were brutally killed and to the families who have carried that pain for decades. The BJP strongly condemns this disgraceful glorification of a dark chapter in India’s history. Congress must stop insulting the victims and offer an unconditional apology to the nation.”
Senior SAD leader Daljeet Singh Cheema said the Congress had continued defending Kumar even after his conviction.
“It has been more than 40 years since 1984, and throughout all these years, you have kept defending him. Even now, if Congress party leaders continue to defend him, it is a sad thing,” he said.
Senior advocate Harvinder Singh Phoolka, who has represented victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, also criticised the Congress leaders' remarks and alleged that Kumar carried out the riots on the instructions of the Congress.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon condemned the remarks and said describing Sajjan Kumar as a "role model" reflected the Congress' anti-Sikh mindset.
He said the wounds of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots remained unhealed and such remarks had reopened painful memories for the victims' families.
Dhillon demanded that the Congress apologise unconditionally to the families of the 1984 victims and the Sikh community.
Sajjan Kumar, a former Congress MP convicted in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, died on Thursday at the age of 80. He was serving a life sentence in Tihar Jail and was declared brought dead at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.
Kumar faced legal proceedings in several cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. On January 22 this year, a Rouse Avenue court acquitted him in a case related to the killings of Sohan Singh and Avtar Singh in Janakpuri and the alleged burning of Gurcharan Singh in Vikaspuri.
