Protesting against the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, some members of the Youth Akali Dal blackened the bust of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Ludhiana on Tuesday. The Youth Akali Dal workers sprayed black paint over the statue and demanded the revocation of Bharat Ratna awarded to Rajiv Gandhi.
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After the conviction of former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in relation to the 1984 riots, the Akali Dal had objected to the appointment of Kamalnath as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh by Congress for his alleged involvement in the 1984 riots. The Party has demanded that a special session of Punjab Assembly should be called to pass a proposal for the withdrawal of Bharat Ratna from the late Prime Minister.
Last week, the Delhi Assembly had also passed a resolution demanding from the Centre the withdrawal of Bharat Ratna from Rajiv Gandhi, who was given the highest civilian award posthumously in 1991, alleging that he justified the 1984 riots. The resolution was surrounded by lots of drama as Aam Admi Party leader Alka Lamba had tweeted that the party was demanding her resignation from the membership of the party after she refused to support the resolution.
Hours after black paint was sprayed by the Youth Akali Dal members on the statue, Congress workers cleaned the statue with milk to ‘purify’ it.