Congress, Akalis in war of words
AMN / AGENCIES /Chandigarh / Ludhiana
Youth Akali leaders today blackened former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s statue at Salem Tabri in Ludhiana. They accused former prime minister of killing the Sikhs during the 1984 riots.
Soon after, Congress leader Gursimran Singh Mand cleaned the statue with his turban and milk, reports Tribune.
The two leaders, who blackened the statue have been identified as Meetpal Dugri and Gurdeep Singh Gosha.
They alleged that Rajiv Gandhi was the mastermind behind the riots and all his statues all over the country should be removed.
They demanded rescinding the top award to Rajiv Gandhi over his infamous speech to justify 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Gosha said: “We don’t fear the law. Despite the Congress government in power, we will continue to blacken the statues of Rajiv Gandhi.”
Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh flayed the act, he tweeted: “Strongly condemn vandalisation of Rajiv Gandhi’s statue by @Akali_Dal_ workers in Ludhiana. Have asked Police to identify the guilty & take strict action. @officeofssbadal should apologise to people of Punjab for this obnoxious act.”
“They are well aware of the fact that the Gandhis were never named or implicated in the 1984 riots, yet they continued to drag the family into the case to further their own political agenda,” said the Chief Minister.
SAD president Sukhbir Badal reacted strongly to Amarinder’s statement. “You @capt_amarinder should apologise to the Sikh sangat for failing them as CM and standing with hated Gandhi family. The community has shown what it thinks of Rajiv Gandhi in Ludhiana. Don’t disrespect the sentiments of Sikhs,” Badal tweeted.
If you @capt_amarinder have any ‘dard’ for the Sikh ‘qaum’ you would resign as CM and stand with the community to expose Gandhi family for authoring and engineering genocide of Sikhs in 1984. But it seems you are made of stone. No amount of suffering of the community moves you,” Badal said.
“It would have been better if you @capt_amarinder as a true Sikh & Punjab CM had condemned the Gandhi family and demanded expulsion of #1984SikhGenocide culprits Sajjan Kumar & Kamal Nath from Congress party. But you are too busy in sycophancy of Gandhi family to save your chair,” Badal added.
Congress Sewa Dal activists later blackened the faces of SAD president Sukhbir Badal and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on posters in Ludhiana in retaliation against the statute vandalization. They burnt posters of both Akali Dal leaders.
Amarinder reiterated that only a few Congress, BJP and RSS workers were involved in the violence against the Sikh community in 1984 and the judiciary was proceeding to act against them.
“Sajjan Kumar had already been sentenced to life and others involved in the perpetration of the riots would also face legal action,” he added.
“Had the Gandhis been involved in any way, they would have been named by at least some of the victims in the wake of the riots,” he observed, adding that while he had personally visited the refugee camps to meet the victims, Sukhbir had packed his bags and left for the United States and was totally unaware of the developments at that time.”
“The Akalis, in their frustration to seize political mileage, are taking law into their hands, which his government would not allow at any cost,” the Chief Minister warned, adding he would not let the state’s hard-earned peace be disturbed by anyone.
Meanwhile, Ludhiana Congress president Gurpreet Singh Gogi said the culprits would not be spared and they have registered a complaint with the police.