AMRITSAR: Rajiv Gandhi had tried to rationalise the violence that claimed the lives of 300 Sikhs
A quarter century after his father Rajiv Gandhi justified the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said the violence against the community in the aftermath of his grandmother's assassination was 'wrong'.
"The 1984 riots against the Sikhs were wrong and people responsible for this should be brought to justice," Gandhi told media persons in the Sikh holy city yesterday.
The Gandhi family and the Congress party have been blamed by the Sikhs for the army's operation in the Golden Temple against Sikh militants and the anti-Sikh riots following the assassinations of then PM Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards.
Gandhi called Operation Bluestar, the name of the army operation, as a "tragedy for Punjab".
"I have seen with my own eyes how everyone left my grandmother after she lost the elections in 1977. Only her Sikh friends stayed with her," Gandhi said, trying to strike an emotional chord with the Sikh community.
Gandhi had toured Punjab for three days in September this year to revive the Youth Congress in the state. He started his tour with an unannounced visit to the Harmandar Sahib, better known as the Golden Temple in the early morning hours, catching everyone by surprise.
After his mother's assassination on October 31, 1984, Rajiv Gandhi, who became prime minister, sought to rationalise the violence that led to the death of over 3000 Sikhs, by saying "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes".
Soruce: www.mid-day.com
A quarter century after his father Rajiv Gandhi justified the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said the violence against the community in the aftermath of his grandmother's assassination was 'wrong'.
"The 1984 riots against the Sikhs were wrong and people responsible for this should be brought to justice," Gandhi told media persons in the Sikh holy city yesterday.
The Gandhi family and the Congress party have been blamed by the Sikhs for the army's operation in the Golden Temple against Sikh militants and the anti-Sikh riots following the assassinations of then PM Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards.
Gandhi called Operation Bluestar, the name of the army operation, as a "tragedy for Punjab".
"I have seen with my own eyes how everyone left my grandmother after she lost the elections in 1977. Only her Sikh friends stayed with her," Gandhi said, trying to strike an emotional chord with the Sikh community.
Gandhi had toured Punjab for three days in September this year to revive the Youth Congress in the state. He started his tour with an unannounced visit to the Harmandar Sahib, better known as the Golden Temple in the early morning hours, catching everyone by surprise.
After his mother's assassination on October 31, 1984, Rajiv Gandhi, who became prime minister, sought to rationalise the violence that led to the death of over 3000 Sikhs, by saying "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes".
Soruce: www.mid-day.com
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