Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday joined the ongoing protest against the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case amid accusations of politicising the issue. On April 30, a Delhi court had acquitted Mr. Kumar giving him the benefit of doubt.
Mr. Kejriwal along with several other AAP leaders observed a day-long fast with Nirpreet Kaur who lost her father during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984. She has started her “indefinite fast” at Jantar Mantar demanding formation of a Special Investigative Team to look into the massacre of Sikhs.
While the protest was on, Delhi BJP leader Vijender Gupta arrived at the venue and tried to approach the stage when some members of the Sikh community and the AAP volunteers started shouting slogans asking him to leave.
Mr. Gupta accused the AAP of politicising the issue before leaving the venue. “People are playing politics over a very sensitive issue. My party has always maintained that what happened in 1984 was not a riot. It was genocide of people belonging to a particular community. We have always been demanding that all the culprits be arrested,” he said.
Mr. Kejriwal on the other hand denied that the AAP was politicising the issue.
“It was not only Sikhs who bore the brunt of the riots in Delhi. Muslims were massacred in Gujarat, Hindus were killed in Kashmir. Politicians have divided us for their vote bank. We are here to change this politics,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
