NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday staunchly criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for holding an INDIA bloc rally in Delhi’s Ramlila Round on the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.He said the “jalsa” would reopen painful memories for the victims and their families, accusing the Congress of showing little sensitivity towards the tragedy.Shah made the remarks in Chandigarh while addressing a gathering after inaugurating and laying the foundation stones for development projects worth Rs 258 crore.“Rahul Gandhi’s November 1 ‘jalsa’ in Delhi will only rub salt in wounds of anti-Sikh riot victims,” Shah was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.The INDIA bloc held its ‘Chalo Dilli’ protest at Ramlila Maidan as part of its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Shah invokes memories of 1984 riots
Targeting the Congress over the violence, Shah said thousands of Sikhs were killed in Delhi on November 1, 1984. He recalled how families were torn apart, with people burnt alive, children orphaned, women widowed and homes destroyed.“The day the Sikh genocide happened, on that very day, they had to hold a rally,” Shah said, criticising the INDIA bloc for choosing the date for its protest.He also referred to a statement made by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi after the killings, saying he had watched it on television and could never forget it.“And the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi gave a statement and I saw that on TV and I cannot forget that for rest of my life. He had said when a big tree falls, the earth shakes,” he said.Shah added that only Congress leaders could make such a remark after thousands of Sikhs had been killed. He also said the Modi government reopened cases linked to the 1984 riots after coming to power in 2014, provided compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of each victim and jailed prominent Congress leaders.“India has never witnessed, nor will it ever witness, riots of this kind, incited by a political party,” Shah said.
‘Stay in mock Parliament if you want to be PM’
Shah also targeted Rahul Gandhi over the INDIA bloc’s symbolic proceedings against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. On Saturday, opposition parties had held a mock ‘public impeachment’ of the poll panel chief, accusing him of facilitating electoral irregularities and demanding action against him.
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
Taking a swipe at Gandhi’s political ambitions, Shah said the Congress leader should continue holding mock Parliament sessions if he wanted to become Prime Minister.“If you want to become PM, stay in mock parliament your entire life. Your turn won’t come,” Shah said.He also referred to Gandhi’s electoral defeats and took a dig at Sonia Gandhi’s reported ambition to see her son become Prime Minister.Shah accused the opposition of disrupting Parliament, spreading falsehoods and creating disorder. He said such conduct would keep the INDIA bloc out of power.“Telling lies, spreading anarchy, not letting Parliament function, this is your ‘fitrat’ (true nature),” Shah said of the opposition.He also described Rahul Gandhi’s ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’ slogan as a message of hatred, arguing that holding the rally on the anniversary of the 1984 riots showed a lack of sensitivity towards the victims.
