A day after Captain Amarinder Singh defended Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the Congress party was not involved in the pogrom against Sikhs in 1984, he has named Congress leaders in the Punjab Assembly who are believed to have been involved in the slaughter of Sikhs while continuing to maintain that individuals were involved, not the party. Amarinder Singh claimed that the names were given to him by riot victims.
Pb CM @capt_amarinder says he met 1984 riot victims in Delhi in those days. “They gave me names of 3-5 persons who were involved in the riots,” CM tells assembly. He ‘names’ 3 of these persons– all @INCIndia leaders . “Individuals were involved, not the party,” he reiterates.
— Chitleen K Sethi (@ChitleenKSethi) August 27, 2018
Aam Aadmi Party MLA and a long time crusader for justice for the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom, H.S. Phoolka claimed that Amarinder Singh’s admission that the Congress leaders were involved is evidence of the fact the pogrom was backed by the party as the leaders mentioned continued their involvement with the party and received important positions.
Today during debate in Punjab VidhanSabha, CM Pb. @amarindera_capt admitted that Cong Min HKL Bhagat, Cong MP Sajjan Kumar & some other Cong leaders were involved in #1984SikhGenocide.
Cong gave them plum positions& allowed them to continue clearly shows Cong involved.— H S Phoolka (@hsphoolka) August 27, 2018
The Speaker of the Assembly had initially sought to expunge the names mentioned by Singh from the record. However, after protests by members of the Aam Aadmi Party and approval from Singh, the Speaker allowed the names to go on record.
Pb speaker allows the names to be put on record. Names taken by CM @capt_amarinder on the floor of the house are: Sajjan Kumar, HKL Bhagat, Arjun Dass & Dharam Das Shastri .
“These names were given to me by riot- victims when I visited Delhi during those days,” CM said.— Chitleen K Sethi (@ChitleenKSethi) August 27, 2018
Amarinder Singh has come under attack himself from various quarters for defending Rahul Gandhi’s remarks during his foreign tour. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, leader of Akali Dal, has said that he should consider drowning himself in shame.
