Shiromani Akali Dal took out a protest march in New Delhi on Saturday to seek justice for families of those massacred in 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The march led by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal started from Gurudwara Patparganj and ended outside Parliament Street police station.
Protestors demanding justice for the victims raised slogans against the Congress party and its leaders. They also burnt effigies during their protest in Delhi.
The protestors surrounded former Congress President, Sonia Gandhi’s house seeking justice for thousands of innocent Sikhs who were mercilessly massacred and for innumerable women who were brutally raped during the riots.
Protestors claimed that Congress has denied their community any form of justice and have always shielded their own leaders, namely Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler who were allegedly involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh-riots.
MLA Sirsa alleged that though Rahul Gandhi for all these years has been defending his party, his party leaders are the ones who had masterminded the genocide.
The 1984 anti-Sikh-riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India by anti-Sikh mobs in the aftermath of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards. Official Indian government reports numbered about 2,800 killed across India, including 2,100 in Delhi alone.
Expressing her agony over the injustice, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal called the 1984 riots a blot on India. “Our community has been seeking justice for 34 years now. Thousands of Sikhs were massacred, several women were raped and several people lost their homes. Such atrocity is a blot in the history of India. No one received justice. Why is judiciary not taking suo-motu action?” she was quoted as saying by ANI.
According to ANI, a scuffle between the protesters and the police broke out during the march. The Delhi Police later detained the protesters after they tried to break the cordon.
As per reports Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal were also detained by police as the protest advanced.
A suspicious drone was also confiscated by the police after it was seen hovering over the SAD leaders while they were addressing the protesters on the road. The person, who was operating the drone, was also detained by the police.
A similar protest was also held in Chandigarh on November 1, where protestors remembered the innocent victims, mainly Sikhs, who were brutishly butchered and sought justice for them and their families.