The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday held state-wide protests and burnt effigies of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other leaders for the party's alleged “role” in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
SAD activists also burnt the effigies of Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar for their alleged “involvement” in the riots in Delhi.
During the protest march, the Akali activists raised anti-Congress slogans while protestors demanded justice for the victims of 1984 riots.
Party MlA from Ferozepur Rural assembly segment Jogidner Singh Jindu, along with senir Akali leaders and workers, burnt the effigies of Congress leaders responsible for 1984 riots to register their protest.
Making a direct attack on the Congress party, Jindu said that the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 were at the behest of Congress party including the police and army, continuously for three days. Till day, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumr have not been punished and they are moving freely in the country.
In Phagwara, SAD's Kapurthala district president Sarwan Singh Kular led the protest while party councillors, including Phagwara Corporation deputy mayor Ranjit Singh Khurana, joined in.
Addressing protesters, Kular, also a SGPC member, flayed Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh for his reported “advice to Sikhs to forgive and forget the killings during the riots”.
“How can Sikhs forget and forgive what happened,” Kular said, while calling upon Punjabis to give Congress a “befitting lesson” in the upcoming assembly polls.
Alleging that Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were “chips” of the same bloc, Kular targeted AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for “befooling” Punjabis with his "misleading" statements over riots againts the Sikh community.