Congress’ rival parties — Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — on Sunday questioned its decision to appoint Kamal Nath whose name has surfaced in cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Taking on the Congress, Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal asked the Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh to clear his stand on the appointment of Kamal Nath as his party's state in-charge in view of his name having surfaced in 1984 violence against the Sikhs in Delhi.
At the same time, SAD’s secretary and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to tell Punjabis why he continued to follow the Gandhi family policy of protecting and promoting the perpetrators of 1984 anti-Sikh genocide as had been done in the case of Kamal Nath who has been appointed party in-charge for Punjab Congress.
“Nath’s appointment is the direct fall out of recent visit to the state by Rahul Gandhi. You have only rubbed salt on our wounds by making this appointment,” Cheema told Rahul, adding that the Punjabis want to know why the Gandhi family continues to honour the perpetrators of 1984 genocide with plum party posts.
The ruling party maintained that it had now become even more important to make all documents relevant to 1984 genocide public. “It is a fact that Nath had been indicted by the Nanavati Commission and that a witness had testified seeing Nath leading an armed mob that attacked and demolished the Rakabganj Gurdwara wherein several Sikhs were burnt alive,” claimed Cheema.
Besides, Cheema said that Nath’s presence at the site was also confirmed by two senior police officers, Commissioner Subhash Tandan and Additional Commissioner Guatam Kaul, besides a newspaper reporter Sanjay Suri. SAD demanded that all files regarding this incident be reopened.
Asking the Congress president Sonia Gandhi to come clean on the issue, Cheema said: “Despite the fact that nine commissions of enquiry and many independent human right organisations had fixed responsibility for massacre on Sajjan Kumar, Kamal Nath, HKl Bhagat and Jagdish Tytler, Sonia Gandhi kept mum indicating her tacit backing for tainted congress leaders.”
Reacting sharply on Nath’s appointment, Punjab’s AAP convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur termed the “controversial leader” as an “accused” of the massacre of Sikhs in 1984 saying that it was an attempt to rub salts on the wounds of Sikhs.
“Since 32 years, Sikhs are crying hard to get justice for their massacre in 1984, but instead of giving justice, Congress is playing a cruel joke with them and now sending Kamal Nath, who is named as an accused for his involvement in the massacre…It is nothing less than putting salt on their wounds,” he said.
Also substantiating allegations against Nath, Chhotepur revealed that senior journalist Sanjay Suri in his statement to Mishra Commission and Nanawati Commission, stated that Kamal Nath was leading the mob in front of Rakab Ganj Guruwara of Delhi for at least two hours to kill Sikhs in 1984.
Even renowned advocate HS Phoolka, in his book written on 1984 anti-Sikhs riots, accused Kamal Nath for leading the mob to kill Sikhs, he added.
Chhotepur said that the victims of 1984 riots, are still waiting for justice, “but Congress has appointed an accused for killing Sikhs as in-charge of Congress in Punjab. Sikhs would give a befitting reply to Congress in the forthcoming assembly polls.”