The BJP took out a protest march in West Delhi’s Hari Nagar, seeking an apology from Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi over the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, ahead of the INDIA bloc’s ‘Vote Bachao Desh Bachao’ rally at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday.
Leading the protest march, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the violence against Sikhs in 1984 was a “well-planned” massacre and not a riot or spontaneous happening.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, state BJP president Harsh Malhotra, Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Supreme Court senior advocate HS Phoolka participated in the protest march, which was also attended by many Sikh leaders.
The protesters marching from Sikh-dominated Hari Nagar to Tilak Nagar areas raised slogans against the Congress and Gandhi, and demanded their apologies for the killing of Sikhs in 1984.
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Addressing the protesters ahead of the march, Puri recalled that he was in Geneva in 1984 when the violence began and how his Hindu friends protected his parents living in Delhi.
“According to official figures, a total of 2,733 Sikhs in Delhi were killed in a cold-blooded manner in the violence. It was a well-planned massacre and a genocide and crime against humanity as pointed by the courts, not any spontaneous riot. Congress leaders should think seriously about it,” Puri said.
Delhi Chief Minister Gupta, wearing a black headband at the protest, recalled how a Sikh neighbour took shelter at her parents’ home during the violence. The violence forced lakhs of Sikhs to cut their hair to protect their identities and save themselves, she said.
Other speakers at the protest questioned the timing of the Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan, pointing out that widespread violence against Sikhs started on October 31 and continued till November 3.
The wounds of the anti-Sikh riots of November 1, 1984, are still fresh, they said, slamming the Congress for its November 1 rally, “insulting” the sentiments of the Sikh community.
