New Delhi: The BJP on Friday demanded that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi apologise to the nation over their leader Sam Pitroda's reported remarks about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Union minister and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said Pitroda has made a very "irresponsible" statement about the riots.
"Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi must apologise for Sam Pitroda's irresponsible statement that the '1984 Sikh genocide happened, so what'," he told reporters.
Javadekar said that Rahul Gandhi's guide and Rajiv Gandhi's colleague Pitroda had made "a very condemnable" remark in public discourse.
"He said the 1984 genocide where 3,000 Sikhs were killed.'Hua to hua. Hua to kya hua. It happens, so what.
"Today, he has made an even a more dangerous statement. He says that I can acknowledge the pain of Sikh community, but it is not relevant today," he said.
He also claimed that Pitroda said Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi would never target a group of people. "Then how he can explain Rajiv's justification of 1984 Sikh genocide by saying 'when a big tree falls, Earth tremors'. If this is not a justification then what it is," he asked.
Javadekar said the issue is relevant today because it is an unresolved saga of atrocities. "And if atrocities against Sikhs and their genocide is not relevant, then tomorrow Pitroda will say partition of the country is also not relevant, ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits is also not relevant."
"He will say the communal politics by Rajiv Gandhi on Shah Bano issue is also not relevant," the Union minister claimed, adding that it was relevant, because these issues were being faced by the nation.
Javadekar said that these issues were relevant but the Congress would become irrelevant.
"Today, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has also said that for the Sikh genocide, Arjun Singh, HKL Bhagat, Lalit Maken and Sajjan Kumar and one minister were all responsible," Javadekar claimed.
"And, here is Sam Pitroda who says that Rajiv and Rahul never target any group, and their associates do, their colleagues do, their followers do. Are they not responsible? Therefore, we demand that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi must apologise for the comments by Pitroda which have hurt the people of the country," he said.
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