Political parties outdo one another in blame game over the emotive issue

: With the Punjab Assembly elections closing in, the issue of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots is once again at the centre stage in the State, with all major political parties trying to play up the emotive issue.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Thursday sat on a one-day hunger strike in Mohali in support of families affected by the 1984 riots. They accused the Congress and the National Democratic Alliance government, in which Shiromani Akali Dal is a constituent, of trying to save the key accused in the riots.

The SAD raked up the issue on Punjab’s Statehood day, blaming the Congress of being “anti-Punjabi.”

The Congress, on the other hand, has slammed the AAP and the Akali Dal for raking up the riots at the time of elections, only to get cheap political mileage by exploiting Sikh sentiments.

The AAP recently wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the re-opening of all cases related to the 1984 riots, and having them investigated by a Special Investigation Team set-up by the Central government within the next three months. AAP leader Kanwar Sandhu had on Wednesday said all the closed cases pertaining to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots should be re-opened and re-investigated, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal given the right to have them investigated.

“We assure the nation that all cases would be taken to their logical conclusion within six months, if the Delhi government is allowed to re-open and re-investigate the cases of anti-Sikh riots,” said Mr. Sandhu, adding that even though the Modi government had constituted a SIT in 2015 to probe the 1984 riot cases, it had not taken any step to deliver justice to the victims.

Targeting the Akali Dal and the AAP, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday said in Chandigarh that the NDA government had failed to do anything in the matter despite being in power. “The Akalis and the AAP are trying to get cheap political mileage by linking me to the riots. I owe no explanation to anyone, much less the Akalis, who never raised the issue even once despite being in power, till it was election time in the State,” said Capt. Amarinder.

“The AAP has also chosen election time to raise the issue, with the clear intent of making political gains. The AAP has now been in power in Delhi for two years. But it did not even think of the issue till this moment,” he said.

On the Punjab Statehood day, CM Parkash Singh Badal targeted the Congress, saying: “How can any true Punjabi forget and forgive Operation Blue Star and the killing of innocents in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots?”