New Delhi, Nov 12 — Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tarun Chugh on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) President Sam Pitroda, after the latter questioned the relevance of repeatedly revisiting the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, remarking that pain does not have an "expiry date".
During an exclusive interview with IANS, when asked whether Congress should be held accountable for the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, Pitroda said that there is little point in repeatedly discussing events that took place 40 years ago, stressing that the focus should instead be on building a "prosperous nation" rather than dwelling on "what happened in Ram's time".
Reacting to Pitroda's comments, Tarun Chugh accused "Rahul Gandhi's political mentor (Sam Pitroda)" of "rubbing salt into the wounds" of the Sikh community with his remark.
Speaking to IANS, the BJP leader said: "Once again displaying the same anti-Sikh mindset, he (Sam Pitroda) has said that people should forget what happened 40 years ago and 'move on'. Thousands of Sikhs were burnt alive by Congress leaders, thousands of homes were destroyed, lakhs of people were displaced, and generations were devastated—and you are asking them to move on?"
Lashing out at the Congress, Chugh asked whether the party's leaders and workers are unable see the pain inflicted on the Sikh community?
"Does pain have an expiry date? Pain requires healing, and healing requires justice. To this day, the Gandhi-Nehru family has not even apologised. Instead, the Congress party sheltered those accused of the massacre, who used voter lists to identify Sikhs, put tyres around their necks and burnt them alive," the BJP leader said.
Accusing the grand old party of "glorifying" those Congress leaders allegedly involved in provoking the anti-Sikh riots, Chugh said: "This statement by Rahul Gandhi’s mentor, Sam Pitroda, reflects the Congress party’s disgraceful mindset.”
Earlier, during the interaction with IANS, Pitroda said: "That was more than 40 years ago. And this has been going on and digging, and people just do this. Let's look at the future. Let's move on. Let's design a better, prosperous, peaceful nation for everybody. That should be the agenda. Not what happened in Ram's time, or why did Hanuman go here, why did he lift the mountain?"
Referring to the IOC chief's remark on Lord Ram, the BJP MP said that it reflects the Congress party's "anti-Hindu mindset".
"Lord Ram is the soul of India and an integral part of the country’s cultural consciousness, Mr Pitroda. It is unfortunate that you are questioning the episodes involving Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman. You are insulting the faith of crores of devotees of Lord Ram across the world," Chugh said.
He also accused Pitroda of "deliberately insulting" Lord Ram and Indian culture, for "vote bank politics" and in order to appease a select few.
"Such remarks on the auspicious occasion of Diwali reflect the Congress party’s anti-Hindu mindset. The Congress party's reprehensible attempt to portray India's faith and heritage as unnecessary and inferior is unacceptable," Chugh added.