Chandigarh, Aug 21 — Punjab BJP President, Kewal Singh Dhillon, on Friday condemned remarks by Congress leaders describing former MP Sajjan Kumar, an accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as a “role model.”
He said that this statement once again exposed the party’s anti-Sikh mindset.
Dhillon said even after 42 years of the horrific and painful 1984 riots, the wounds of the victim families remain unhealed.
At such a sensitive time, describing a key accused in the massacre as a “role model” is a condemnable attempt to rub salt into the wounds of the victim families and reopen their painful memories, he said.
He further said no amount of condemnation “is enough for Congress’ anti-Sikh mindset. The Congress has repeatedly acted in a manner that has hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community”.
Dhillon asked the party to unconditionally apologise to the families of the victims and the entire Sikh community for such irresponsible and shameful statements made by its leaders.
Kumar, who was serving life imprisonment in connection with the riots, died on Thursday at a Delhi hospital at the age of 80.
Kumar, who was lodged in Tihar Jail, was taken to Safdarjung Hospital after his health deteriorated. Doctors declared him brought dead on arrival.
The former Congress leader had been convicted for his role in the violence in Delhi's Palam Colony on November 1 and 2, 1984, following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards.
On December 17, 2018, the Delhi High Court overturned a trial court's 2013 verdict acquitting Kumar in the case. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The case related to the murder of five Sikh men in Raj Nagar Part I, Palam Colony, as well as the burning of a gurdwara during the widespread violence.
The High Court held Kumar guilty of criminal conspiracy and abetment and directed that he remain in prison for the remainder of his natural life. In its judgment, the court had described the 1984 anti-Sikh violence as “crimes against humanity”.