The Congress on Friday distanced itself from the controversial comments made by Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda, and said victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots must get justice.
“Any opinion or remark made by any individual to the contrary, including Sam Pitroda’s, is not the opinion of the party,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a statement.
The Congress asked party leaders to be “more careful and sensitive”.
“The Congress party believes that justice should be done to 1984 riots victims as also to 2002 Gujarat riots victims. We abhor violence of any kind, against any person or a group of people based on their caste, colour, region or religion. This is the essence of India,” the statement said.
On Thursday, Mr. Pitroda had reacted to the BJP’s allegation that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had been directly involved in the anti-Sikh riots following Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
“What about 1984 now? Talk about what you have done in the past five years. What happened in 1984 happened. What have you done?,” he is reported to have told news agency ANI.
The Congress questioned why the BJP fielded a terror accused [Pragya Singh from Bhopal].
“Unlike the BJP, which has decided to field a candidate charged with terror crimes and is being lauded as its face by none less than Shri Narendra Modi himself, the Congress party has shown the moral and political courage to punish people and leaders accused of violence/role in 1984,” Mr. Surjewala said.
