Sam Pitroda should apologise for his remarks about 1984 anti-Sikh riots, he was out of line: Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said party leader Sam Pitroda should apologise for his remarks about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. In a Facebook post, Rahul said, “I think what Sam Pitroda_ji_ said is completely out of line and he should apologise for it. I think 1984 was a needless tragedy that caused tremendous pain.” “The former prime minister, Manmohan Singh_ji_ has apologised. My mother, Sonia Gandhi_ji_ has apologised. We all have made our position very clear - that 1984 was a terrible tragedy and should never have happened,” he said. Earlier on Friday, Congress had distanced itself from the “so what” remarks of Sam Pitroda about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and asked the leaders of the party to be careful and sensitive in future.

Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party abhorred violence of any kind against any person or group of people on the basis of caste, creed, colour, region or religion, adding that riots and violence had no place in the Indian society. [caption id=“attachment_6575451” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Image courtesy: Twitter/@RahulGandhi[/caption] Stating that the Congress had strived to ensure justice for the 1984 riot victims, he said the party continued to support the quest for justice and stern punishment for those found guilty in the anti-Sikh riots, as also the subsequent acts of violence, including the 2002 riots in Gujarat. “Violence and riots are unacceptable and unpardonable in our society.” “Any opinion or remark made by any individual to the contrary, including Sam Pitroda, is not the opinion of the Congress party. We advise all leaders to be careful and sensitive,” Surjewala said in a statement. He added that unlike the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had fielded a candidate charged with terror crimes and who was being lauded as the saffron party’s face by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, the Congress had shown the moral and political courage to punish the leaders accused of violence or involvement in the 1984 riots. With inputs from PTI